You'll be able to see these remarkable sites only if the weather cooperates! Keith McCord explains.

Thursday night it's a meteor shower-- which could be spectacular. On Christmas morning, it's an eclipse of the sun. And we haven't had one of those in awhile.

Solar Eclipse

Patrick Wiggins/Hansen Planetarium: "THE FIRST ONE WE'VE HAD SINCE 1954. AND WE WON'T HAVE ANOTHER ON UNTIL 2306 OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT."

If the skies are clear, we'll all be getting one more gift on Chrsitmas morning. A solar eclipse.

Not a major one here, but the moon will take a pretty good bite out of the sun!

WIGGINS: "ABOUT 9:30 IT WILL BE MAXIMUM, 20-30 PERCENT OF THE SUN WILL BE COVERED. AND IT'LL PRETTY MUCH BY OVER BY 11:00."

Remember you need to be careful if you want to observe the eclipse. Never look directly into the sun. Click here for links to viewing the eclipse safely.

Meteor Shower

Thursday night and early Friday morning, we're getting treated to a meteor shower.

WIGGINS: "WE COULD, IF THINGS WORK OUT RIGHT AND THE WEATHER COOPERATES, WE COULD SEE AS MANY AS 100 PER HOUR, OR THEREABOUTS."

Here's the deal: Every December, the Earth's orbit passes through debris left by the Comet Tuttle. Most years, we don't see much.

This year, though, scientists say the Earth is passing through a big cloud of comet dust, which could produce more than 100 shooting stars per hour!

WIGGINS: "IT COULD TURN OUT TO BE A REALLY GOOD SHOW. AND FOR THE HISTORY BUFFS OUT THERE, WE MIGHT MENTION THAT THE PARTICLES THAT WE'LL BE RUNNING THROUGH, LEFT IT'S HOST COMET, WHICH WAS THE COMET TUTTLE, IN 1405."

Those are some old shooting stars!

Need anything special to watch a meteor shower? Patrick Wiggins says the best piece of meteor observing equipment is a lawn chair!