Families, space geeks and insomniacs alike will get to witness some celestial fireworks this Memorial Day weekend thanks to a new meteor shower from a comet that, according to some forecasts, has the potential to trigger a spectacular meteor storm late Friday into early Saturday (May 23 and 24), Space.com reported.
An exquisite shower of stars, dubbed the May Camelopardalid, may put on a never-before-seen spectacle that has the potential to rival the Perseid meteor shower of August, according to NASA.
"Every year in August, the Earth passes through the orbit of a comet called Swift Tuttle, and we see meteors streaking across the night sky as pieces of debris from the comet enter the earth's atmosphere at more than 100,000 mph and burn up," ABC News reported. "The Perseid can be seen during the last week of July or first week in August."
Between 2 and 4 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, some forecasts show 200 to 1,000 meteors an hour, CNN reported.
As the peak of the shower is set to appear during our nighttime, North America will have the best position to get a glimpse since the debris will "radiate" from a position favorable for viewing, NASA said.
"We expect these meteors to radiate from a point in Camelopardalid, also known as 'the giraffe,' a faint constellation near the North Star," according to Bill Cooke, who heads NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office.
"New meteor showers don't come along that often. It'll be the first time in a generation that a new meteor shower will show up," according to CNN Meteorologist Sean Morris.
Camelopardalids refers to the constellation and the angle in our sky from where the meteors are set to appear, CNN reported.
If bad weather is a problem or you'd rather stay indoors, check out NASA's chat and live stream here.
The online community telescope Slooh.com will also offer two webcasts, one at 6 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT) and another at 11 p.m. EDT (0300 May 24 GMT) to chronicle the meteor shower, according to Space.com.
