The Draconid meteor shower is expected to light up the North American sky, but like almost all meteor showers, viewers can expect it to be hit-or-miss, Discovery News reported.

Monday night's spectacle is known to be unpredictable, but it will not cost you any sleep, like most meteor showers. Instead of having to wait up until midnight, often the best viewing time for a meteor shower, the show is expected just after sunset.

Around this time every year, dust from Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner flies into the Earth's atmosphere, creating a trail of bright ionized gas known as the Draconid meteor shower. It gets its name from the place in the sky where it will take place. If you were to lie down with your feet pointing north, the meteor shower would be taking place above in the constellation Draco (the dragon).

According to science news blog EarthSky, this year's shower will not be quite as exciting as the last year's lively one. It is for this reason the Draconid meteor shower is especially unpredictable. One year, the shower may be lively, but next year's may not be.

"The Draconid meteor shower produced awesome meteor displays in 1933 and 1946, with thousands of meteors per hour seen in those years," EarthSky reported.

In 2011, the annual meteor shower produced an estimated 600 "shooting stars" per hour, which is an impressive figure.

Although being in the Northern Hemisphere is an ideal global position to see the show, location does matter. As with any meteor shower, the best place to view the shooting stars will be an area with as little surrounding lights as possible, with a wide-open view of the sky. Additionally, the best way to see the shower at its fullest will be to lie flat on your back.

If you are experiencing stormy weather, had to work an extra couple hours, or miss the show for any reason, there will be a second opportunity to see the Draconid meteor shower tomorrow night, same time, just after sunset.