This year's forecast includes...meteors!

As the world turns and our part of the planet turns dark, the night sky comes alive. Did you happen to catch any of the Leonid meteor shower that occurred on Tues. Nov. 17? It was barely visible in the U.S. because the peak time was 4:45 a.m. when it was too light out, according to Tonic.com. Professor Mark Turski from the Deptartment of Environmental Science and Policy gave some insight on the meteor shower. "I got up at 5:45 am this morning and went outside," he said. "It was clear but since I was looking southeast into Plymouth and PSU's light pollution I only saw a few that late," he added. The name "Leonid" refers to the constellation "Leo". Tonic.com gives an explanation of the meteor shower, and the comet called "Tempel-Tuttle" which creates the debris that is the shower itself. When the planet moves through this comet's "trail of crumbs", the result is a spectacular meteor shower if it's visible to you. As found on Spacedaily.com, the comet comes to the inner solar system every 33 years and is usually in Nov., where Leo is found. Unfortunately, the best place to view the Leonid meteor shower this week was in Asia. If you didn't get your fill of meteors from this shower though (I actually fell asleep and missed the peak time to try and gaze) there's another one coming up in the near future. Around Dec. 13 the Geminids meteor shower will be at its peak. This shower is unique because the meteors do not come from a comet like in most showers, but actually are from an asteroid. Another tricky shower is the Quadrantids, which peak around Jan. 3. According to Meteorshowersonline.com, they can be difficult to see because there are only 10 to 60 meteors per hour at the maximum. NASA.com is a great place to poke around at current projects, calendars of events, and basically everything one would want to know about outer space. Space has fascinated humans since day one and we've come a long way even in the past 400 years with the invention of the telescope. Knowing how much is out there gives one perspective of life on Earth-if we really are all that is out there then we're the luckiest creations of all. Whether or not you actually get a chance to see a meteor shower this year, it's at least special to think that we're moving through some beautiful things in outer space. Although Asia was definitely the best place on the planet to be during the Leonid shower, keep an eye out for upcoming showers visible in the U.S. Grab some friends, blankets and hot cocoa this winter and happy gazing!