Meteorite spotted streaking across Texas skies: How you can watch more in Leonid shower this weekend



>>> See spectacular images of Leonid meteors Houstonians can watch this year's Leonids Meteor Shower between midnight and 3:00 a.m. on Saturday.

>>> See spectacular images of Leonid meteors Houstonians can watch this year's Leonids Meteor Shower between midnight and 3:00 a.m. on Saturday. Photo: Jordan Lye/Getty Images Photo: Jordan Lye/Getty Images Image 1 of / 44 Caption Close Meteorite spotted streaking across Texas skies: How you can watch more in Leonid shower this weekend 1 / 44 Back to Gallery

Look, up in the sky! That was probably uttered by countless Texans Thursday night when a fireball was seen from Dallas to the Houston area.

Residents spotted the bright blue and orange meteor streak across the sky and end in a flash. Some witnesses even reported a sonic boom as it entered the Earth's atmosphere.

Meteorologists have speculated the meteor may be a part of the annual Leonid meteor shower.

If you want to get in on the shooting star action, Houstonians have a chance of witnessing the peak of this year's Leonid meteor shower between midnight and 3:00 a.m. on Saturday by looking east— as long as it's not too cloudy.

Put another way, Houstonians can watch the meteor shower by staying up on Friday night to catch its peak hours during dawn the next day.

NASA's chief meteoroid scientist estimated observers could expect to see about 20 meteors per hour.

The Earth began passing through the debris of 55P/Tempel–Tuttle, the comet responsible for the meteor shower, since early November.

To get a more detailed look at where and how to watch the Leonid, check out this online tool showing which constellations and what direction to look during the meteor shower.

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Fernando Ramirez is a digital reporter for Chron.com and Houstonchronicle.com. Read him on our breaking news site and on our subscriber site. Follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email him at Fernando.ramirez@chron.com.