Take in a nighttime meteor shower

Step outside this weekend and catch the celestial show known as the Leonids meteor shower.

The Leonids -- named for the constellation Leo in which they appear -- are visible each November when the Earth crosses the tail of dust and debris from the Comet Tempel-Tuttle. As the bits of dust vaporize in the Earth's atmosphere, they leave glowing trails.

"The meteors you see are predominantly tiny particles like sand," said Phyllis Lang of Cary, an amateur astronomer and member of the Raleigh Astronomy Club. She plans to look for them from her driveway. "The Leonids can produce bright, bright meteors."

The shower should be visible tonight and early Monday, weather permitting. To see them, look to the northeast between midnight and dawn.

The display should peak with about 15 meteors per hour about 5 a.m. Monday, said Mike Castelaz, astronomer and director of research and education at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute in Rosman.

This year's show will compete with a waning moon, which will wash out the dimmer meteors.

Jon Stewart-Taylor of Chapel Hill, an amateur astronomer and member of the Chapel Hill Astronomical and Observational Society, said meteors are best observed with the naked eye. That allows you to see more of the sky than looking through binoculars.

"The exciting thing about a meteor show is something happens," Stewart-Taylor said. "The meteors move across the sky. It doesn't take any kind of equipment to observe them. You take a sleeping bag or lawn chair, go outside and look up."