The meteor shower last night was hyped as the greatest of the century, and those who missed it will still have a chance to catch some shooting stars.

Experts predict this year's meteor shower will be so big that stargazers will still be able to see some stray meteors tonight. Penn State Astronomy Club Vice President Brandon Aldinger said that, even tonight, spectators will be able to see more of the show.

"You won't see thousands, but you might see an extra 10 or so," Aldinger said.

The annual Leonid meteor shower usually produces only a few visible meteors per hour, but last night's shower was expected to bring an unprecedented 2,500 meteors per hour. The shower is called Leonid because the meteors appear as though they are coming from the constellation Leo.

Astronomy club President Christa Hasenkopf said those who want to view meteors tonight should go a few miles out of State College, or go to a roof for a better view.

"Basically, anywhere there's not light," she said.

The astronomy club planned a trip off campus around 3 this morning to get a better view of the meteors. The club doesn't try to view the meteors from campus -- even through the telescopes on top of Davey Lab -- because it's too bright to get the best possible view.

Astronomy club Secretary David Kiger said the best time to view the meteors was around dawn today. This morning's display was the second peak of the meteor shower. The first peak occurred around 11 last night but was best seen from Europe.

The meteors are dust particles from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which makes its way around the sun once every 33 years. Kiger said the last time Tempel-Tuttle could be seen was in 1998. He said the dust trails left by the comet tend to form clumps, and these clumps are what we see as meteor showers.

The shower last year was also considered to be better than usual, producing more than 1,500 meteors per hour.

Kiger said he and about 30 people stayed up last year to watch the shower, but some left before the show was over.

"A group of six of us stayed all night," he said.

Hasenkopf said one of the most interesting aspects about meteors is that the particles people see in the sky are only about the size of a grain of sand. Because they are travelling at 150,000 miles per hour, they are visible to the naked eye when they burn due to friction.

Leonid meteors have been known to strike the surface of the moon. Because the moon has no atmosphere, the debris hits the moon's surface with an impact 10,000 times greater than dynamite.