Stargazers may have a rare view of the Leonid Meteor Shower as the comet, Tempel-Tuttle passes the Sun.

The Astronomical Society of Bermuda's Eddie McGonagle told The Royal Gazette, "each year at this time the Earth's orbit takes it through a mass of cometary dust, which has the consistency of fine sand, although the individual particles can be miles apart. The particles spew out of a comet's icy body when it nears the Sun, which it has done every 33 years, since 1333."

He said, Tempel-Tuttle remelts as it passes the sun, releasing a fresh batch of debris, which eventually spreads all the way around the path. When the Earth's yearly orbit intersects with such a path, it results in a fireworks display as the fine particles (known as meteors) incinerate as they hit the atmosphere.

On average, Earthlings would see about ten meteors per hour from the annual intersection of orbits, however when the comet is close to the sun, this number increases dramatically and we are at the tail end of this close encounter at the moment. Somewhere over the Earth we expect to see thousands of meteors over a brief period.

Mr. McGonagle said: "Unfortunately the downside from Bermuda's perspective is that the two peak periods are predicted, 4 a.m. and 10.40 am GMT on Tuesday, November 19. This places the first peak on our northeast horizon about midnight on Monday and the second near to sunrise. Also a full moon also hampers our viewing potential.

"With a little luck we may just catch some coming from the Leo constellation as it rises at 11.30 p.m. even the overhead moon may not be able to dim these brilliant streaks hurtling in at 150,000 miles per hour, parallel to the Earth's surface."

He added: "By dawn the meteor shower will have climbed to an overhead position along with Leo, hence they are called Leonids, and with the setting moon surely we should catch some at the second peak. I certainly hope so, because it is another 30 years before Tempel-Tuttel returns."