To comprehend beginnings,
and extrapolate the birth
in elemental plasma-energy
from background hum
of radio-waves,
to read expansion from the
gentle Doppler shift
in horizon galaxies
who to tries their best
to drift apart
in vacuum voids of nothingness.
But to understand and follow
scientists through
calculations, simulations
observations, confirmations
and maybe even publications
always leads to further,
deeper questions asked
on curvature or more dimensions,
on properties of mass
or why and when.
And when finally
you’re lost and understand
that only therein
in confusion, lies its horror
its beauty and magic of loss.
To celebrate its 28th anniversary in space the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope took this amazing and colourful image of the Lagoon Nebula. The whole nebula, about 4000 light-years away, is an incredible 55 light-years wide and 20 light-years tall. This image shows only a small part of this turbulent star-formation region, about four light-years across. This stunning nebula was first catalogued in 1654 by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodierna, who sought to record nebulous objects in the night sky so they would not be mistaken for comets. Since Hodierna’s observations, the Lagoon Nebula has been photographed and analysed by many telescopes and astronomers all over the world. The observations were taken by Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 between 12 February and 18 February 2018.
Today Merril hosts dVerse Poetics and inspire us to write poetry about science and theories. Being a physicist I chose to adress subjects where I have not worked and therefor do it with a layman’s curiosity.
—
May 7, 2019
The cosmos is pretty big, isn’t it? Too big to grasp. Even the solar system is on such a massive scale. It makes my head buckle under the strain.
Its vastness is such a hard thing to grasp…
This is superb, I was lost in your weaving of words.
I think everyone is a little bit lost, and the further you go, the worse is the map.
Indeed, made me smile.
I think you captured both the beauty and the difficulty of trying to understand the universe. It fascinates me to no end (which perhaps there isn’t, or is there?)–though I can’t really follow the actual science.
I can only follow in the first few steps, then I’m lost too.
🙂
It is so hard to comprehend all of these things that we cannot touch or see but when we do, it’s meteoric and, I agree, both horrific and beautiful!
I always see it as a journey… but there is always that part of a journey when you have to turn back and just hope you can find your way back
All that curiosity is self.perpetuating
We should let the scientists do the measuring if that’s their thing, and simply enjoy what we see.
Would it be facetious of me to give a facebook status of “It’s complicated” right now? We are each a mote in God’s eye* and let’s each of us hope we aren’t cried out.
*”The Mote in God’s Eye, ” is the title of a book by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle that I read many many moons ago.
I love when science and poetry converge in a big bang. It’s like a space flight.
You encapsulate the breadth and incomprehensibility of the universe in such eloquent verses!
Ah, embracing the beauty of confusion — I agree
Brilliantly done, Bjorne. And thank you for the photos and info on the nebula. It makes me want to know more about it.
When floating on theories it is very easy to get lost in space!
I like this combination of words.
“calculations, simulations
observations, confirmations
and maybe even publications”
– accurate and fun to say.
this prompt was made for your pen Bjorn – and you so tenderly too – especially liked
“to read expansion from the
gentle Doppler shift”
Spoken like a true physicist!
It’s intriguing to think that when we look out to the stars, all of it is already in the past.
Those last two lines most especially for me.
A wonder, this universe, this multi-verse. Sounds very poetic to me.
I love – and am disconcerted by – how you have beauty and magic along with horror and loss in that last stanza.
a great poetic play of universal confusion, delusion and bereavement set amongst the stars ..
I’ve always admired science folks who can think theoretically but in a practical way. You are obviously gifted left and right brained: physics and poetry!