Star gazers may be disappointed tonight.
Clouds rolling into metro Atlanta will likely make it difficult to view the Leonid meteor shower, a local astronomer said. The best time to catch the light show will be between midnight and 4 a.m., according to April Whitt, an astronomer at the Fernbank Science Center.
The Leonid shower peaked last night, NASA says, but its light show of comet crumbs can be seen for the rest of the week.
But local weather forecasts have light showers over the area throughout the night, which means the view may be hazy. The forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies with a 40 percent chance of showers and a low in the mid-40s.
If that's the case, just wait a year. The Leonid meteor shower -- named for the constellation Leo -- is an annual event.
The shower is basically light show of comet crumbs caught up in the Earth’s gravitational pull as the planet swings through the debris field.
“You’re essentially seeing these crumbs rub against air molecules, and that creates the light you see as they come shrieking through the upper atmosphere, pulled in by gravity,” said Whitt.
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