Solar System Poems 30: Consider A Face

The gods and demi-gods of yore now circle up above,

decamping Olympus or Valhalla for inky space.

So when we hear their name and consider a face

it is crater-scarred and battered; science is what we think of

and we imagine touching them only with protective gloves.

Ceres, Oberon, Callisto now evoke a place

not a personality now gone that cannot be replaced

not a personality now gone that we have known and loved.

The gods and demi-gods of today, though numbered higher,

have given objects the honor of their name.

And thinking of them, as we often do

evokes not a rock devoid of living fire

but a loving, caring human worth their fame

like we will always remember Betty and Sue.

Solar System Poems 29: Earth's Soul Mate

I think we may have gone all the way

too quickly 

for the good of the relationship.

Years of schoolkid crushes

fantasies about "the first time"

turned to lust and competition

when someone else made eyes at you.

We checked you out

and made promises

to ourselves? To you? 

After a thrilling conquest

and few long weekends together

we got distracted. 

We told you we'd call

but month after month after month

we didn't.

We thought you'd "just" be the first

but you're still the only.

Once again others are making eyes,

talking about moving in

and giving you the 

long-term relationship

we apparently couldn't.

Our response is a shrug,

paying you attention on the cheap

and hoping the ebb and flow 

of it all covers the fact

that many folks see red

and would rather find a new conquest

or die trying

than return to your touch.

No way to treat Earth's soul mate.

Solar System Poems 28: Siren With A Lined Face

Siren with a lined face 

but gem of the system.

Her warm heart covered

by an icy shell

some would pierce for science.

Pushed by her neighbors

she flexes and shudders

to stay in shape, but some say

she still smokes

where nobody can see her.

Surveys say we should return,

flagship or armada,

but warring factions 

have the upper hand. 

We will attempt no landing there

with money caught

in a different web.

Put her image 

as your laptop background

but that's not quite the same-

it isn't, is it, my old friend?

Solar System Poems 27: Transient Joys Beyond Heaven's Gate

None who saw you will forget you,

a hairy, multi-tailed wonder 

stalking the skies 

as the century

wound down.

Your Japanese opening act

warmed us up well,

I couldn't imagine

how you'd top it,

but you did.

In the vivid sodium light

I see you still.

From the east end of

Speedway

to the desert

below Gates Pass,

in the red Celestron

I got for my bar mitzvah,

you pinwheeled across the sky.

I can still call up 

your memory,

you hanging over 

the Catalinas

in difficult times,

reminding me there is

a universe out there

beyond heaven's gate,

and transient joys

are no less joyful.

Solar System Poems 26: A Topic in Forums

Subject of discussion

in the old-school forums,

your namesake inspired chastity 

in the service of study

until the flames burned down.

Now you shine by 

the light of the Sun,

brighter than your comrades,

bright enough to be seen

by naked eye

had the virgins known where to look

And you still give a bounty

to planetary scientists:

Elements and spectra,

gravity and topography,

craters and mounds and cracks 

from the littlest planet.

Olbers would be proud

if knew where to look

to find him today.

Billions of years after

your own flames burned down,

you inspire discussion

in latter-day forums

with the light of a new dawn,

though I will not speculate on 

the chastity of those taking part.

Solar System Poems 25: Bask In Light Of Jove

Spat on by neighbors,

by gossamer ring you fly.

Barnard's other star.

Red, green, and icy,

formation a mystery.

Made here or moved in?

Mother closely held,

Red spot big as twenty moons.

Bask in light of Jove.

Solar System Poems 24: How Do You Plead?

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

despite news to the 

contrary 

and even a 

claim 

of responsibility by a 

"killer"

it is not clear that a 

crime

was even 

committed.

And if there were one, 

my client remains innocent. 

What is she accused of,

having an alias?

It was used without her permission.

You'd take one too if your name

were so closely associated with

chaos.

Being ambitious?

Indeed not. The media projected

ambition onto her.

If anything, my client was being stalked.

She bears a more than

superficial resemblance 

to the alleged victim.

Similar size,

similar airs,

similar background.

It would be more productive

for you to interrogate

the Easter Bunny.

Solar System Poems 23: You Exhale Ice

Though fiery on Earth

there you exhale ice,

the taste of comets still on your breath

from your youngest days.

Gashed by tiger claws,

your wounds still throb

with heat,

belying your white stare

more pale than snow.

The groans of your wild unrest,

cannot be heard, 

But standing in the right place,

we may yet see a rainbow.

Solar System Poems 22: Remaking Itself in Slow Motion

Captured from the deep 

by the god of the seas,

the battle was short but bloodless.

Nevertheless Neptune's retinue was 

doomed by this new arrival,

who may have given its freedom

so that others may escape.

Cousin to Pluto,

cold enough to freeze air.

There are still clouds and hazes,

with geysers spewing tarry dust

onto plains of ammonia and ice.

A world remaking itself in slow motion,

under the watchful eye of the god of the seas

who relentlessly pulls it

ever closer.

Solar System Poems 21: Luna's Little Buddy

It might fit in your room

without any trouble

and we wouldn't need Hubble

to continue its study.

It was our other moon

Luna's little buddy

for some time the past decade.

First thought to be manmade

it now seems to be rocky.

No more over Miami

or even Milwaukee

this Romeo's wandered

leaving much to be pondered

until it returns

as it will, we assume.

Solar System Poems 20: Horseshoes But No Hand Grenades

They race around the rings

evenly matched

a thirty second lead after 

twenty-two thousand marathons.

But even when running forever

thirty seconds can add up.

Orbit after orbit they race,

the inner moon slowly pulling away

then pulling closer to lap.

Horseshoes but no hand grenades,

the God of Transitions is called forth.

With seemingly no afterthought

the smaller moon gives way,

Inner moves to outer

and drops back.

The dance renewed

and the race goes on.

Solar System Poems 19: No, Dr. Cheng

Yes, it is an amazing object:

the first asteroid to be 

truly explored,

orbited and landed on,

The spacecraft did go

"all the way"

in that sense.

We expected craters,

but not the amount of soil,

nor the evidence of its motion;

the fine-grained ponds where

boulders get comfortable

and take off their outer layers

before our eyes.

And yes, you could

call the results "sexy",

and I agree it's an

amazing body,

the apple of our eyes,

and it turned people on

to how interesting 

asteroids can be.

But no, Dr. Cheng,

we will not be cataloguing your work

with the erotic literature.

Solar System Poems 18: The Inuit and the astronomers

The Inuit know Sedna lives 

in the icy deep,

flung to the bottom of the Arctic,

but there are many differing stories 

about how she got there.

So it is with her namesake,

who has gathered a pod of worshipers

hoping she grants good luck in their hunts.

In the slow, deep time of space,

where the Sun has little interest 

she circles, considering,

redder than blood, colder than ice.

The astronomers know Sedna orbits

at the outer reaches of the solar system,

retreating over 900 AU from the Sun,

but there are many differing theories

about how it got there.

Solar System Poems 17: The Keyhole Is Open

Born of violence, 

bigger than the pyramids.

It would not swallow the sun

but if allowed would part the seas

for a moment

before killing the first born 

and later born

as a set.

The heavens align. 

The door is closed 

but the keyhole is open.

It lost at roulette

but it holds a lottery ticket.

If it slithers through

we must take to the 

tenth region of the night,

call upon our wizards

and mimic the sun.

Solar System Poems 16: A Return to this Sprite

Found by Lassell in the British heavens,

the marmalade sky yielding icy gems.

Far from being at sixes and sevens,

a tidy four were spotted by his lens.

When Voyager arrived twelve decades later

it found our subject cut by valles and troughs.

The general lack of very large craters

suggests resurfacing (perhaps died off).

A return to this sprite remains uncertain

though none can arrive until decades hence.

Still, some look to reraise the curtain

and look to an encore with much suspense.

And when again a probe we dispatch

the science will be her own ex'llent match

Solar System Poems 15: Locked In Your Embrace

Even here in deepest night

we have each other.

Our path isn't like

what the others take.

They have been frustrating years,

learning that your 

expected promotion

turned into my demotion,

only learning hours after the others.

Still, that ship has sailed and 

new horizons await.

and even here in deepest night,

even as I may be losing my air,

even if I am forgotten in the future,

I am locked in your embrace, content 

with a face that sees only you.

Solar System Poems 14: Juicy Science

It is there in black and white

and also many shades of gray.

Majestically doing laps around the king

while his other lovers fly at twice, four times the pace

It is all there if you dig deep enough:

Ice and rock and metal.

Bigger than Mercury and more magnetic,

as neato-keen as its neighbors

if admittedly somewhat less groovy.

When we put our mind to it

it will surely offer us cups of

juicy science

even if there are no ships

buried in the shadows.

Solar System Poems 13: Bouncing between these worlds

Born in the deep until it was time for a change. 
One misplaced letter from being Pluto's best friend,it took 
a different path instead.

Sometimes it looks like a rock star, 
sometimes its hair is surprisingly long.
Perhaps no coincidence it prefers a co-dependent atmosphere?

Bouncing between these worlds 
it may not be long for the path it's on 
before moving somewhere closer to the sun. 
Wise, indeed.

Image copyright W. K. Hartmann, sheepishly used without permission (but I'll take it down if he wants).

Other space art of Bill's at http://www.psi.edu/hartmann/opc.html

Solar System Poems 12: Surely Not To Panic

There still is some confusion

regarding the solution

to exactly where this body was created

While long ago occurring 

the data's often blurring

and multiple answers may be demonstrated. 

Its spectrum reminiscent

in its strong sloped ascent

to comets it was captured perhaps

But dynamics workers 

and also conference lurkers

don't see how to make this object do laps

Some say impact made a dozen

but of all its cousins 

only a single still survives we fear. 

But even that sole linkage

has suffered some shrinkage

and whether they relate at all's not clear

And so the battle rages

in usual fits and stages

'twixt spectroscopist and celestial mechanic

If Merlin were living 

the advice he might be giving 

is not to fear and surely not to panic. 

Solar System Poems 11: Proceedings of the LNPSC

It could be on a list now

with the Sidera Lodoicea,

celebrating the 350th year

since Cassini's discovery,

trying to determine how

Herschel could miss it.

How easy to imagine!

Close-up images from Mariner 4,

in-situ data from Venera 6,

radar coverage from Magellan.

Our sister planet unvexed by

a nearby target.

And in joint sessions

at the LNPSC,

we'd look for creepy similarities,

family cataclysms,

and make plans flexible enough

to put humans on this moon

and bring them back safely to Earth

in some decade or another.

It is something of a shame

it is not a list of 

Decadal Survey priority targets

instead of on a list with

yeti, perpetual motion, and Zetans.

Since this one is even more obscure than usual, here's some background info from Wikipedia and Solarviews.  

Solar System Poems 10: Falcon and Masters

The peregrine soars 

sent by its masters to find

scientific prey.

Itokawa sits

battered but unchanged since the

birth of history.

Thirty month journey.

Confused but still determined,

the falcon alights.

The masters see all:

the seas of gravel and rock

through peregrine eyes.

Prey is elusive.

Masters call to return home

with talons empty.

Wounded but living,

with fifty more months of flight

the falcon obeys.

Air thick and fiery,

peregrine transforms itself

into a phoenix.

Masters see, grooming,

falcon's talons now covered

with priceless jewels.

Solar System Poems 9: Jupiter Has Loved Her, Too.

dark horse in a field of heavyweights

newcomer upstart, 

what can you have to offer?

no volcanoes

no oceans

can't bend a compass,

can't tip the scales.

you're like all the nymphs, aren't you?

bigger maybe, but no better.

spreading your dirt 

to the high-rent district,

onto our gleaming ramparts and palimpsests.

you're not from here,

you don't belong here--

one-night stands who overstayed.

She is not bright and flashy, no. 

And she has no PAC or senators on her side.

But she too is part of the story and 

we should come close enough to listen:

Jupiter has loved her, too.

---------

This one is thematically very similar to yesterday's, as is obvious.  Normally I'd separate them by a bit, but I have personal reasons for posting this today so I figured I'd just go for it...  I'm still going to try to only use planetary satellites and small solar system bodies, and since there are common themes in the science of those objects it's hard to make them completely unique...

Solar System Poems 8: One Of The Friends

She is a Titan, but no Titan.  

Sister to Rhea and Tethys in lore,

but better known in current tales

as one of the Friends.

Indeed she is more friend than kin

to those we call "regular"--

dressing in black, out of sync,

favoring retro 

and flying the wrong direction.

How many stories she could tell,

and what secrets lurk,

peeking out from inside!

Joining the TNO diaspora,

riding with the Centaurs,

greeting Cassini at the city gates

and consenting to a few pictures

before going on her own way.

Not Poems: Space Geek Music

Sorry to interrupt NaPoWriMo, but since this is mostly a music blog I figured I'd point to some songs I've done in keeping with this year's poetry theme.  Most of the music I've done is homemade, recorded on my laptop, and doesn't have great singing or playing (other than that, what's not to like?). I don't tend to write science songs, but the ones below have some space/astronomy content.  Most are hosted at BandCamp, though the last two are hosted here on the blog. The latter is a free download, the ones at BandCamp are "name your price", but that price could be free if you like, and you can listen before you download!

1. The Astronomers Song from 2003's In-Jokes With Myself
2. OBAFGKM from 2005's Do Not Tip Or Rock
3. Down On Vesta from 2011's Local Technique EP
4. We Didn't Start the Science from 2008's Cheese Course maxi-single (or something) 
5. We Didn't Start the Science (acoustic demo version) 

Solar System Poems 7: In Peace for All Mankind?

If things were different,

not a lot different but a little different,

we'd already know.

The images would have long been returned,

the chemical analyses long since finished.

No doubt, after more pleasurable grunts

kilos of soil would be examined 

from Irkutsk to Leningrad,

from Minsk to Baku,

from Gdansk to Sofia,

and Bolshoi Mir.

In Moscow the results would be heralded:

"Phobos proven captured", or

"Phobos a piece of Mars", or

surprise of surprises

"Shklovksy Correct!!!".

If things were different, 

if history were more flexible,

a bug found here, a wire soldered there,

a paradrop here, a coup attempt there,

the EVAs would be planned 

and soon Andropov Base will rise

on the edge of Stickney.

Solar System Poems 6: A String of Pearls

How long had you thought of this moment?

How many times had you swung past,

rehearsing your entrance?

You watched Jupiter for eons

wander drunkenly to and fro,

scattering your kin and imprisoning others,

waiting for your chance to dance with him

and die ecstatic in his embrace.

We could not believe our luck

to be born at the right time. 

We watched from any seat we could find:

from tiny telescopes the size of a newborn,

to the mightiest mirrors mankind had constructed.

Galileo, crippled but proud, 

turned his eyes to you in wonder.

Hubble, a punchline no longer

after redeeming himself in your light.

I watched from the cheap seats

in Mansfield, Ohio.

To us all, you were beautiful;

Jagged black rock made into

a string of pearls.

Solar System Poems 5: Am I Not A Planet?

Am I not a planet?

I am larger than Mercury, 

airier than Mars,

smoggier than Houston.

With dune seas that rival the Sahara

and gentle oily rains that fill my lakes

and drain again as seasons change.

Am I not a planet? 

You may pray for Gale crater to make you 

forget Utopia.

You may predict giant squid 

beneath slabs of ice 

thicker than the lithosphere.

But I have the stuff of life

coating my surface,

misting and sleeting.

Why shouldn't I be a planet?

Just because I fell to the siren

of a body stronger than me,

stronger than you,

who promised a ring?

Go back to your computer,

use as many decimal places as you like.

Change the words however you need

to include or exclude your favored bodies

until the words have no meaning.

Keep looking at the sky and

know what you're missing.

Here beneath my cloud I remain 

content in what I am,

content that my time will come.

Solar System Poems 4: Paris at 15 km/s

You were a late addition to the itinerary: 

A layover in Paris at 15 kilometers a second,

the last tune-up before the main event. 

But some of us enjoy Paris more than

spending time at the icy slopes.

You present the usual facade:

The pockmarked, scarred body

those in your neighborhood cannot avoid.

But what are you really about?

Where are you from? Who are your kin?

Surveilled from all angles, in light and in heat,

Your voice remains flat,

your face a gray, dusty mirror 

reflecting back the Sun.

You hide your secrets well.

Seven score years after your discovery,

we still know more about 

what you aren't

than what you are.

Solar System Poems 3: Outlandish Reds and Oranges

Dragged and squeezed by your neighbors, 

you lost the cool countenance 

still worn by your big siblings.

Instead you live! 

Donating plasma to the void,

painting in outlandish reds and oranges,

never settling on one look for long.

Four hundred years after your debut

you still impress your fans,

some plan to swing by fair Europa

when it's you they hope to see

when off to work they go.

It was said that your namesake 

was comforted by Prometheus

after Hera found you hidden in 

a cloud of Zeus' making.

Is that why you act as you do,

using Prometheus' gift

to make a cloud of your own?

Solar System Poems 2: Some Noble Creature In Her

Her central planet's rings are thin,

Not those that Saturn grace.

No storms (to Voyager's chagrin)

like those upon Jove's face.

None of her siblings have any air

Seen in data or math

And humans may never tread there:

Not flexible that path.

Yet the features that we've found,

Scarps, grooves, and coronae,

Give lie to the idea we're bound

To treat interest as phony.

For if this brave vessel was dashed all to pieces

Has been the subject of several theses.