DHAKA: A meteor shower late on Friday and early Saturday is captivating countless astronomers and amateur skywatchers with the promise of a falling-star show unlike any ever before seen.

The Camelopardalids meteor shower could start for North American viewers at early as 10:30pm on Friday (0230 GMT Saturday), astronomers say.

This "potentially spectacular show," according to the US Naval Observatory, should be visible in the United States and Canada, anywhere with a cloudless night sky.

Unfortunately, the rest of the world is likely to miss out.

The peak is expected between 3am and 4am (0700-0800 GMT), according to Bill Cooke, head of the National Aeronatics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Meteoroid Environment Office in Huntsville, Alabama.

"However, I would recommend folks get out a bit earlier, just to be safe," Cooke said.

Astronomers aren't sure what this meteor shower will look like as they have never seen this one before.

"Meteor showers are like the weather. They are a little bit hard to predict," said Paul Wiegert, associate professor at the University of Western Ontario.

This meteor shower originates from the trail of dust behind a small, dim comet known as 209P/Linear. The debris gets tugged into Earth's orbit this year by the force of gravity from Jupiter.

Meteor showers consist of space rocks that burn up upon hitting the top of Earth's atmosphere, producing a bright flash of light that gives the appearance of a falling star.

Source: Al-jazeera

BDST: 1239 HRS, MAY 24, 2014