There’s a good chance, but no guarantee, of a strong meteor shower tonight over North America. The May Camelopardalids come from the dust debris trail of the periodic comet 209P/LINEAR, a little known and not very bright comet discovered in 2004 that orbits the sun every 5.1 years. According to Sky & Telescope:

What’s got dynamicists excited, however, is that Earth might might plow right through relatively dense strands of debris shed by the comet long ago. This should create a strong burst of “shooting stars” on May 24th.

Several predictions suggest you might see anywhere from 100 to 200 meteors per hour from a dark location free of light pollution. That means you could perhaps see one or two meteors per minute. Some (but not all) dynamicists think there’s even an outside chance that the celestial spectacle could briefly become a meteor “storm,” with more than 1,000 arriving per hour! (But it’s also possible that the display might be weak, with just a few dozen meteors visible per hour even in a dark sky.)

The meteor shower should peak around 3 am EDT. If you don’t have a clear sky, you can watch online at Slooh.

More at:

• Ready for May’s Surprise Meteor Shower? – Sky & Telescope
• NASA, Sky-Watchers to Look for May Camelopardalids Meteor Shower-  NASA
• New meteor shower may burst into meteor storm Friday night – Washington Post
• A once-in-a-lifetime meteor shower may be on its way – Los Angeles Times
• Infographic: Beautiful, brand-new meteor shower? Fingers crossed – Los Angeles Times
• How to Photograph a Meteor Shower – Sky & Telescope