Mother Earth, it's shower time. The planet won't be awash in
water early Saturday, but rather meteors. It's part of an annual
astronomical event known as the Leonid meteor shower, falling in
mid-November as the Earth passes through debris from Comet
Tempel-Tuttle. "We're predicting a normal year of 15 to 20
meteors per hour," said Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid
Environment Office, according to a story on the space agency's
website. The fun begins Friday night, with the peak activity
expected around 4:30 a.m. ET the next morning, according to
NASA. For those wishing to wish on a shooting star, Cooke
recommends bundling up, getting away from the city lights and
lying on your back (assuming you are able to still stay awake in
doing so). One thing that stargazers have working to their
advantage, assuming clouds don't muddle the festivities, is the
fact the moon is in a crescent setting, meaning its light is
less likely to obscure the show. Thankfully, there's no chance
the Earth will crash into Comet Tempel-Tuttl