A majority of the world sleeps in the early hours of the morning, but the night sky was worth taking a look at early this morning when the Leonid meteor shower arrived.The Leonid shower has happened every year around November for centuries, said astronomy professor Juhan Frank. “The Leonids are one of the most spectacular meteor showers visible in Louisiana,” Frank said.He said the shower should still be visible this evening for those viewers who want to catch the end.”Every year the Earth goes through the same place in its orbit as it goes around the sun, and at some points we cross the path of debris left by comets,” Frank said.Though the Leonids are harmless to casual observers, the meteors pose potential risks to astronauts leaving the atmosphere for missions like working on the International Space Station.”Anytime you’re out in space, you’re worried about debris hitting the shuttle or the astronauts on space walks,” said Leroy Chiao, a former NASA astronaut who currently works for the White House-appointed Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee. “The debris is traveling at about 17,500 miles per hour, so they are a danger, but the chances of being hit are very small.”Chiao said shuttle missions are planned around large meteor showers like the Leonid to reduce the risk of an accident.The Leonids were expected to be particularly intense this year over Asia, where viewers could see more than 300 meteors an hour, said Bill Cooke of the Meteoroid Environment Office of the Marshall Space Flight Center in an e-mail to The Daily Reveille.”The Leonids are noted for producing spectacular displays, such as the one over North America in 1883, which gave birth to meteor astronomy,” Cooke said.University students planned to see the show in open areas around Baton Rouge with little light pollution. Megan Holland, elementary education junior, said she planned to watch the show on the Parade Ground. Amy Wright, psychology junior, said she wanted to see the Leonid shower because it was predicted to be one of the biggest meteor showers of the decade, and she had never seen a meteor shower before.Dustin Howard, mass communication sophomore, said he watched the show with his friends in the BREC soccer fields on Burbank Drive.”I found out about the event through Facebook,” Howard said. “[My friends and I] usually try to keep track of [meteor showers].” The “Leonids Meteor Shower 2009” Facebook group gained 887,663 members by Monday evening.The meteor shower is predicted to peak at 3 p.m. today, Frank said. But he said the meteors were most visible early this morning.- – – -Contact Emily Slack at [email protected]