Coloradans willing to bundle up beneath the stars this month will have the chance to enjoy four meteor showers.

While the nights in the mountains are growing colder, Colorado astronomy guide Mark Laurin — better known as Astro Mark — said that the end of daylight saving time on Nov. 2 means stargazing can commence an hour earlier.

Even spending five minutes stargazing can be a rewarding experience, Laurin said. To get the most out of the night sky, he recommends dressing warm, getting away from light pollution, and keeping cellphones off to help the eyes adjust.

“Put your down jacket on, and pull the hood up over your head,” he wrote in his November stargazing blog. “Step outside, and look up. Connect with this wonderfully expanding, mysterious universe above you, around you and in you. You’ll be thankful that you did.”

Northern Taurid Meteor Shower

The Northern Taurid Meteor Shower will peak on the night of Nov. 12, offering viewers an average of about five meteors per hour. Laurin described the meteor shower as a “can’t-miss celestial event.”

A meteor, often called a “shooting star,” is the bright streak of light seen when a small piece of space debris burns up in the atmosphere. A meteor shower occurs when the Earth’s orbit passes through a stream of debris left by a comet, causing a shower of shooting stars as the debris burns up in the atmosphere.

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Laurin said he is enthusiastic about the Northern Taurid Meteor Shower for three reasons. First, the meteor shower will be visible earlier in the night. Secondly, the shower also peaks one week after the full moon, so there will be an opportunity earlier in the evening to view meteors with less interference from lunar light. Finally, the shower’s radiant point is easily visible in the night sky.

To find the radiant point, where the meteors will appear to emanate from, he said stargazers should look toward the eastern horizon after 7:30 p.m., looking for the brightest star in the east. That star, Aldenbaran, will be just above the horizon and is part of the constellation Taurus. The radiant point will be a little above Aldenbaran, near the star Pleiades, which is also part of the Taurus.

Though the most meteors are expected around midnight, Laurin said the best time to view the meteor shower this year will be earlier in the evening since the light of the moon will cause more interference later in the night.

Leonid Meteor Shower

The Leonid Meteor Shower, which will be active from Nov. 6-30, is expected to peak on Nov. 17, with up to 15 meteors per hour.

The Leonid Meteor Shower is created by debris from the comet Tempel-Tuttle. Astrophysicists believe the debris stream that the Earth will pass through this year was likely the result of the meteor’s passing in 1767, Laurin said. Every 33 years, he said, the meteor shower becomes a storm with thousands of shooting stars per hour, compared to the 10 to 15 meteors per hour expected this year.

The best time to see the Leonid Meteor Shower will likely be in the early morning hours of Nov. 17, he said. To find the meteor shower’s radiant point, look slightly above the east-northeast horizon around 11 p.m. The radiant point will move west as the night progresses.

Orionid Meteor Shower

The Orionid Meteor Shower will be active between Nov. 13 and Dec. 6, with its peak on the night of Nov. 28. While the meteor shower will peak at nearly 20 meteors per hour, Laurin said the moon, which will be about one-quarter full that night, may interfere with the visibility of many of the meteors.

The radiant point for the Orionid Meteor Shower will be the constellation Orion, which will be on the eastern horizon around 8:30 p.m.

Alpha-Monocerotids Meteor Shower

Active from Nov. 15 to Nov. 25, the a-Monocerotids Meteor Shower will peak in the early morning hours on Nov. 21, but the shower is expected to average only about one meteor per hour.

“Go out there and give it a good shot, just don’t have high expectations,” Laurin said.

To spot the meteor shower, look toward the eastern horizon after 11 p.m. on the night of Nov. 20. The radiant point will be inside the constellation Canis Minor. The shower will be active through dawn on Nov. 21.

Because the moon rises and sets quickly on Nov. 20 as a waxing crescent, Laurin said it shouldn’t interfere much with the meteor shower, allowing for better viewing of some of the fainter, dimmer shooting stars.