Skip main navigation (Press Enter).
Log in
Toggle navigation
Search Options
Log in
Home
About Us
Press
Vision, Mission and Goals
Personnel and Boards
National Coordinators
AWB Affiliates
AWB Logos
Directory
Get Involved
Join AWB
Support AWB
Communities
All Communities
Programs
Solar Glasses Distribution
Donor Wall
Astro Arts
Astropoetry
One Sky, One Postcard
Global Astronomy Month
Global Astronomy Month 2024
GAM2024 Webinar: Getting Started With Your First Scope
GAM2024 Webinar: April 8 Solar Eclipse Watch Party
GAM2024 Webinar: Eclipse Ambassador Project with Shanil Virani
GAM2024 Webinar: Global Star Party
GAM2024 Webinar: Space Trash Signs
Asteroid Search Campaign - IASC 2024
Observing Challenges 2024
Discovering the Solar System
In the Footsteps of Celestial Police
Binocular Double Stars
Binocular Open Clusters
Lunar Explorations
In the Footsteps of Galileo
April Sky Maps 2024
Astronomy Accessibility Guidelines and Resources
GAM Logos
April Sky Maps
Observing Resources
Global Astronomy Month 2023
Observing Challenges 2023
Discovering the Solar System
Footsteps of Celestial Police
Lunar Explorations
April Sky Maps 2023
Asteroid Search Campaign - IASC
Observing Events
2024 Observing Program
Perseid Meteor Shower
Geminid Meteor Shower Live
2023 Observing Program
Milky Way Star Festival 2023
Beauty Without Borders - May 2023
Beauty Without Borders - 2024
2023 Solstice Photo Campaign
Venus and Jupiter Close Encounter March 2023
International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN)
World Space Week
Smartphone Astrophotography Workshops
The Moon and Saturn Meet in the Sky
Events
Browse
Discussion Posts
Library Entries
Members Reports
Help/FAQs
Buy to Support - AWB Store
Blogs
×
Celestial Diamond Necklace
By
Harley White
posted
05-27-2021 06:06
2
Recommend
Celestial Diamond Necklace
A huge diamond necklace in jewel store
adorns the heavens’ bespangled attire;
yet lest I’m thought reckless with metaphor,
if into this epithet we inquire
‘twas scientists who bestowed upon it
that moniker to extol its allure,
for such a title seemed owed to befit
the gorgeousness of that cosmic couture.
In constellation Sagitta it lies,
or otherwise as the Arrow renowned,
a dim formation that’s smallish in size
though back in Ptolemy’s time it was found.
The bright ring bejeweled nebula shown,
misnamed planetary by gazers past,
has jets which have fueled the gem out-blown
from stars at the center in stages last.
Two stars, it seems, in orbit together,
so close that communal aura they share,
send out jet-streams of gases in tether
resembling rare diamonds for millionaire
by virtue of knots with brilliance agleam.
Although in death throes, they’re dazzling the sky
with zillions of watts in each cosmic beam
around azure sphere that’s glowing on high.
The gas clouds of red above and below,
in sequence at left and to right, derive
from jets that have sped in turbulent flow
away from the middle in dying dive,
while still the how and the when stay hidden
within the mystique of the great unknown,
at least as this rhyme I pen unbidden
in starry-eyed wonderment’s lyric tone…
By dint of these peeks unveiled for mortals
that Hubble scope renders in stunning cast,
astronomy seeks to widen portals
for fathoming further the endless vast.
~ Harley White
* * * * * * * * *
Some sources of inspiration were the following…
Image and info ~ Hubble Views a Dazzling Cosmic Necklace…
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-views-a-dazzling-cosmic-necklace
Image and info ~ Jets from the Necklace Nebula ~ Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)…
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210518.html
Explanation: What celestial body wears the Necklace Nebula? First, analyses indicate that the Necklace is a planetary nebula, a gas cloud emitted by a star toward the end of its life. Also, what appears to be diamonds in the Necklace are actually bright knots of glowing gas. In the center of the Necklace Nebula are likely two stars orbiting so close together that they share a common atmosphere and appear as one in the featured image by the Hubble Space Telescope. The red-glowing gas clouds on the upper left and lower right are the results of jets from the center. Exactly when and how the bright jets formed remains a topic of research. The Necklace Nebula is only about 5,000 years old, spans about 5 light years, and can best be found with a large telescope toward the direction of the constellation of the Arrow (Sagitta).
Image Credit: ESA, Hubble, NASA; Processing: K. Noll
#poetry
1 comment
18 views
Related Content
Dazzling Cosmic Diamonds
Harley White
Added 01-03-2022
Blog Entry
Nebula Sea
Harley White
Added 08-09-2021
Blog Entry
Hubble Superbubble
Harley White
Added 12-10-2021
Blog Entry
Liberty Pareidolia
Harley White
Added 04-01-2023
Blog Entry
FAVOURITE NEBULA
Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
Added 09-21-2023
Blog Entry
Permalink
Comments
Andee Sherwood
05-27-2021 10:03
I love the way you brought your poem together at the end. This is truly a "diamond" of a poem!
Contact Us
Phone
+1 262 444 6217
Membership
Join
Benefits
Learn More
Privacy & Terms
About Us
Terms of Use
Copyright 2023. All rights reserved.
Powered by Higher Logic