This particular shower comes from Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, which takes about 33 years to orbit around the sun and back near Earth, according to NASA's website. The comet was "discovered" twice: first in 1865 by Ernst Temple and then in 1866 by Horace Tuttle, which is where the comet's namesake comes from.

The annual Leonids meteor shower is due to peak next week, hopefully giving stargazers a treat to brighten up the dark winter evenings. The Leonids are due to show between November 3 and December 2 this year, and predicted to peak on the night of November 16, according to the American Meteor Society.