The late evening news of GMA7 this Thursday and Friday had us getting out to the street to see if the sky is clear for viewing the Perseid meteor shower, which we just learned is an annual celestial event in August. The Perseids or Perseid meteors are said to come from the constellation Perseus.
A good picture would be an awesome number of shooting stars streaking down in the dark of night.
Bulalakaw is what Pinoys call a shooting star, and we think that this is the allusion in the phrase "wish upon a star." The local belief is to tie one's handkerchief as a wish is made before the star vanishes.
There could have been as many as 50 to 70 bulalakaws to wish upon during an hour of heavenly show but the skies did not clear up. We wonder how many Pinoys sought a good viewing site so they can murmur to the heavens their long cherished dreams and wishes.
We missed too the scene stealers of the Perseid show--the trio of Mars, Venus and Saturn gathering around the Moon, an astronomical event that doesn't take place so often.
For a good read, you may check the Page One articles of Robert Nolin of The Sun Sentinel (Florida) and John Stanley of The Arizona Republic in the August 11 issues of these newspapers:
1. Planets, moon, meteors to grace night sky / Celestial events combine for good viewing by Robert Nolin, Sun Sentinel at http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-meteor-shower-20100811,0,3554089,print.story
2. Perseid meteor shower returns on Thursday night by John Stanley, The Arizona Republic at http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/08/10/20100810perseid-meteor-shower-arizona.html#image#ixzz0wXI4eOwa
The front page story of John Stanley was accompanied by this picture:
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