This year's peak activity happens early Tuesday morning, with an expected 15 to 20 meteors visible per hour in the Northern Hemisphere, under dark skies. Viewing should be even better in the Southern Hemisphere.
When rocks from space enter Earth's atmosphere, the resistance from the air makes them very hot. This causes the air to glow around them and briefly leaves a fiery tail behind them - the end of a shooting star.
These two meteor showers are not high volume, but the Alpha Capricornids often produces very bright meteors, said University of Warwick astronomer Don Pollacco. For skygazers, one bright one is worth 20 faint ones.
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