Alpha Aurigid meteor shower can be seen from a belt across China Tuesday, and can be observed in the small hours on Tuesday and Wednesday, astronomers said Monday.

"It's better to view the shower at around 2 a.m. Tuesday since the moon is expected to fall then," said Yan Jiarong, astronomer from Jiangsu Astronomical Society in east China's Jiangsu Province.

People living between 30 degrees and 40 degrees north will have a good chance of seeing the shower, Yan added.

Despite a small meteor shower, with enough patience, chances are people can still see dozens of shooting stars, Yan said.

Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning are also good observation times, said Yan.

But the astronomer warned that the meteor shower forecast may not be as accurate as that of eclipses, so it is possible that observers can't catch a glimpse of the falling stars.

Delta Aurigid meteor shower, another one from the same constellation, is predicted to be active between Sept. 18 and Oct. 10 and peak on Sept. 29.

A meteor shower is a celestial event in which some meteors are observed to shine in the night sky. The meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speed.

Auriga is a constellation in the northern sky. Its name is Latin for "charioteer" since its stars shape like the pointed helmet of a charioteer.

(Xinhua News Agency August 31, 2009)