Leonid meteor showers to light Winter skies

    Nature lovers should watch the skies Saturday, Nov. 17, for the Leonid meteor shower.

    Meteors will fall from the constellation Leo the Lion at approximately 10 to 20 meteors an hour.

    As a comet travels around the sun, it leaves behind a trail of dust. If the earth crosses paths with this dust, a meteor shower is the result.

    The first Leonid storm was documented in 902 A.D. by Chinese astronomers.

    The Tempel-Tuttle comet causes the Leonid meteor shower as it orbits the sun once every 33 years.

    December also will be a good month for astronomical events.

    Saturn and Jupiter will be visible during December in the evening and night sky.

    The Geminid meteor shower will occur Thursday, Dec. 13. The meteors will fall from the constellation Gemini at the rate of 30 to 80 meteors an hour.

    The first Geminid meteor shower reportedly occurred in the mid-1800s.

    The Geminid showers have intensified over the years and are now a spectacular annual event, according to astronomers.

    On Friday, Dec. 14, a partial eclipse of the sun will be visible across much of the United States.

    For interested, local astronomers, a lunar eclipse will be visible Sunday, Dec. 30, at 2:29 a.m.