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Space Snowman

By Harley White posted 01-28-2022 07:02

  



Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Tan, Chalmers University of Technology / DSS / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America



Space Snowman
 
 
The anthropomorphic snowman harks back
at least to the Middle Ages we’re told
when crafters began to master the knack
of fashioning snow into figured mold.
 
Albeit the norm appears to be framed
from three big snowballs with added attire,
this snowman has two seen in full view named
where aspect of whole is there to admire.
 
The Snowman Nebula it has been dubbed,
although termed Sharpless Two Dash Three O Two,
as commoner tags are frequently subbed
for cloudscapes celestial, and this one grew
 
in constellation Puppis, or Poop Deck—
don’t snicker too soon, for it means ‘The Stern’,
but, if you must as did I, what the heck,
since my lexicon which I came to learn
 
said ‘a weather deck on top of a poop’,
and I not a Brit was thrown for a loop,
which caused me with gales of giggles to whoop
until my composure I could recoup.
 
Whether amused by my prattle or not
this cloud-painted shape a snowman evokes;
‘twas captured by Hubble in detailed shot
of nebula formed in broad cosmic strokes.
 
As emission nebula thus comprised
of gases so energy charged equipped
from huge stars nearby so were ionized
through hydrogen atoms electron stripped,
 
this Snowman of cloud diffuse has a glow
that shines with an inner light of its own
as seen in the sweeping swirls to and fro
of smaller section the Hubble has shown.
 
It’s spotted some six thousand light-years far
away in stelliferous heights o’erhead
from lazuline world where we earthlings are
and dreamy-eyed poets the heavens tread…
 
I’ve strayed from ridiculous to sublime
as verses of mine have meandered ere
beyond any seeming ‘reason and rhyme’
yet tied to my stargazing love affair.
 
 
~ Harley White
 
 
* * * * * * * *
 
 
Some sources of inspiration were the following…
 
Image and info ~ Hubble Surveys A Snowman Sculpted from Gas and Dust…
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2021/hubble-surveys-a-snowman-sculpted-from-gas-and-dust
 
Explanation: The Snowman Nebula, also known as Sharpless 2-302, is an emission nebula that resides in the constellation Puppis in the southern sky, about 6,000 light-years away from Earth. If you’re wondering why this nebula is named the Snowman when it doesn’t look very recognizable in the larger featured image, it’s because this particular picture only captures a fraction of the nebula’s total shape. To see this image in its larger context of the nebula, the Hubble scientists also shared the bonus image on the lower left. The smaller image on the left shows the nebula in its entirety. It has a dual-lobe shape, with one round lobe being considerably larger than the other. It is this configuration that gave the nebula its name, with the appearance of a snowman on its side.
 
Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / J. Tan, Chalmers University of Technology / DSS / Gladys Kober, NASA & Catholic University of America.
 
 
#poetry
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