STARGAZERS are looking forward to a pre-millennium light show thanks to a meteor shower due to be at its best early tomorrow morning.

Providing clouds don't block the view, the sky looks set to sparkle with dozens of shooting stars from the Leonid Meteor Shower.

And local astronomers have said the spectacle could even eclipse the eclipse!

The Leonid's parent comet is Temple-Tuttle, named after the two astronomers who discovered it, which completes an orbit of the sun every 33 years.

Meteor showers occur when comets release particles in their wake that hit the Earth's atmosphere at over 130,000mph. The shower started in the early hours of today and is expected to reach a crescendo at around 2am tomorrow.

It will be particularly visible over Western Europe in the eastern sky around the constellation of Leo.

And astronomer John Keegan, of the Planet Earth Centre, Todmorden, said the shower could be a sight for sore eyes.

"We are hoping for a clear night sky. If so, thousands of meteors will light it up like sparkly rain. But if the sky is cloudy we might only see half a dozen or so meteors. It's not a guaranteed firework display," he said.

The Earth passes through the densest part of the Temple-Tuttle's tail every 33 years and the last time the Leonid Meteor Shower occurred astronomers reported up to 10,000 meteors a minute.

"The phenomenon will occur about 50 miles above the Earth, so the spectacle is dependent on good weather. If it's a good show, it will be spectacular, otherwise we will just have to wait another 33 years!" Mr Keegan added.

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