Top Thirty-One DSO

TOP THIRTY-ONE DSO

Astro-haiku by SARM and Friends
Artworks and collages by Calin Niculae (Collection 1997)
Design by Gabriel Ivanescu

PROLOGUE:

Deep Sky Objects

nebulae of hope
galaxies of friendship
clusters of love

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

M6 Open Cluster

M76 Planetary Nebula

Perseus my love
Let us dance the night away
With the dawn, we fade.

-Arlene Carol Brill (Turkey)-

Stupid Trader

No prices for my
Pleiades - said an angry bull
in a star market.

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

GALLERY

M1 (the Crab Nebula in Taurus)

then in new daystar
seers saw world end - now ghost crab
just pinches sleepers

-Steve Sneyd (U.K.,
Editor of Hilltop Press)-

.

M2 (globular cluster in Aquarius)

heavenly pool -
a globular cluster
swims in space

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

.

M6 (the Butterfly Cluster in Scorpius)

Starry wings
light year migration
Morpho flight

-Marge Simon (U.S.A.,
Editor of Star*Line - Journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association)-

.

M7 (Ptolemy’s Cluster in Scorpius)

magnificent cluster of lights
much smaller than
Ptolemy’s mind

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

.

M8 (the Lagoon Nebula in Sagittarius)

a celestial flower
blooms in Sagittarius -
star midwife

-Deborah P. Kolodji (U.S.A.,
President of the Science Fiction Poetry Association)-

.

M11 (the Wild Duck Cluster in Scutum)

glorious quack
giving birth to a
cluster of stars

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

.

M13 (the Great Hercules Globular Cluster)

Sportive temper,
the universe plays
a ball of stars.

-Zigmund Tauberg (SARM)-

.

M16 (open cluster associated with the Eagle Nebula in Serpens Cauda)

a nice eagle
resting on an immense snake -
pillars of the Big Bang

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

.

M17 (the Omega Nebula in Sagittarius)

the omega nebula
to the left of the Father
a wound of light

-Dan Mitrut
(Vice-President of SARM)-

.

M20 (the Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius)

right ascension
three-lobed appearance
my declination

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

.

M24 (Milky Way Patch)

fluid scenery
star cloud with open cluster
thirst for the Milky Way

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

.

M27 (the Dumbbell Nebula in Vulpecula)

first found nebula
in the last named constellation
is Goldilocks there?

-Gerald England (U.K.,
Editor of New Hope International)-

.

M31 (the Andromeda Galaxy)

Andromeda, chained
To the rock, screaming for help -
Where is Perseus?

-John Francis Haines (U.K.,
Leader of the Eight Hand Gang science fiction poetry network)-

.

M33 (the Triangulum Galaxy)

Observing your stars,
I hope intelligent life
Lives in YOUR bright arms.

-David Turner (U.K.)-

.

M34 (open cluster in Perseus)

Twinkling diamonds,
secure from being stolen,
as big as giants.

-Paul Roggemans (Belgium,
General Secretary 1988-1996 of the International Meteor Organization)-

.

M40 (Double Star WNC4 in Ursa Major)

a double star -
a couple of lovers
in a cosmic population

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

.

M42 (the Great Orion Nebula)

on Hunter’s sword blade
star births inscribe runes killers
here won’t stop to read

-Steve Sneyd (U.K.,
Editor of Hilltop Press)-

.

M44 (Praesepe, open cluster in Cancer)

The beehive of the Crab
gives nectar of stars.
Taste the light!

-Valentin Grigore
(President of SARM)-

.

M45 (the Pleiades in Taurus)

seven sisters some
see but more or less each count
how stone circles fool

-Steve Sneyd (U.K.,
Editor of Hilltop Press)-

.

M51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy in Canes Venatici)

Ship Poe’s words spun
down Norway’s maelstrom reverse
spilling whirlpooled stars

-Steve Sneyd (U.K.,
Editor of Hilltop Press)-

.

M57 (the Ring Nebula in Lyra)

tune of the lyre
perfect like a
cosmic ring

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

.

M63 (the Sunflower Galaxy in Canes Venatici)

Far away in the Universe
a sunflower watches
my telescope

-Ion Moraru (SARM)-

.

M64 (the Blackeye Galaxy in Coma Berenices)

Watchdog galaxy
from Coma Berenices
keeps an eye on you

-Iulian Olaru (SARM)-

.

M76 (the Little Dumbbell, Cork, or Butterfly Nebula in Perseus)

Insult of insults!
Who dares to name me Dumbbell!
I am Butterfly!

-Arlene Carol Brill (Turkey)-

.

M81 (Bode’s Galaxy in Ursa Major)

walk in the great chariot
and repose on a
spiral galaxy

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

.

M82 (the Cigar Galaxy in Ursa Major)

a fine galaxy
and a soul restriction
no smoking please

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

.

M83 (the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy in Hydra)

monstrous being
on the edge of the heavens
a galactic gesture

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

.

M87 (Virgo A elliptical galaxy)

Cluster of galaxies?
Or Heavenly Vestals?
A certain champion…

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM)-

.

M97 (the Owl Nebula in Ursa Major)

Bored of rodents
an owl flies in the great chariot
among the stars

-Boris Marian (SARM)-

.

M101 (the Pinwheel Galaxy in Ursa Major)

Pinwheel Galaxy:
M101, a spiral,
Was found by Mechain.

-David Asher (Northern Ireland,
Armagh Observatory)-

.

M104 (the Sombrero Galaxy in Virgo)

Joyous maiden -
what a galactic sombrero
she shows us!

-Dominic Diamant (SARM)-

HAPPY EPILOGUE

Last night I couldn’t resist
and I tried to fructify, by my lunette, the incredibly clear sky,
which a cleaning wind had gifted us
(with small and likeable Saturn,
big and beautiful Venus in sickle phase -
and I didn’t know to say who the “evening star” was,
as magnificent Jupiter dominated in the South-East
with his famous belts and Galilean satellites).

Using my reflector, which I had called “Betelgeuse”,
I didn’t want to frisk between the Messier objects
by offending them with only a few minutes of observations.
On the contrary, I leisurely watched a lot of them,
in spite of the light pollution that governs my district,
and I was very impressed by that new meeting
with the old deep sky object friends,
thanks to my reliable ally “Betelgeuse”.

-Mihai Iahim (Astroclub Bucharest)-

…or…

UNHAPPY EPILOGUE

In a winter night, we loaded ourselves with a lot of
instruments, clothes and fur caps
for a Messier Marathon.
I would say we became small robots,
or rather Messier cosmonauts.

But after a while,
some discreet clouds advanced as an uniform canvas,
which thickened itself, reducing the celestial magnitude.
I would say the sky became the
Messier Total Diffuse Nebula.

-Razvan Ciomartan (SARM)-

…or…

Back to M17

even as a nebula
omega is not an end
alpha is close

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe (SARM,
project coordinator)-