COSMOPOETRY INTERNATIONALS XXI:
BET ON PLANETS
or
THE SMALL OLYMPICOSMOPOETRIADA
OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM



-by SARM Cosmopoetry Master Club and Friends-


1 JANUARY 2016 - MOON AND JUPITER OVER TARGOVISTE
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore
(president of SARM)-







PLANETS IN THE MORNING SKY
-astro-art-poem by Adrian Bruno Sonka
(coordinator of the Admiral Vasile Urseanu Bucharest Municipal Observatory)-

What would a man see at 7 o’clock each morning
in the second part of January 2016, in the direction of the sunrise?

1. That man would not be bored
because he would see with his naked eyes, four planets.

2. That man would not be bored
because he would see how those planets quickly moved day after day.

3. He would observe that each of those planets had a particularity:
one rapidly moved, one was bright, one was orange and one was tinier.

4. He would find that Venus was the bright one,
Mercury the fast one and Mars the orange one.

5. The 4th planet was… not so appreciable.

6. The man would be delighted because
the fastest planet was becoming brighter day by day.

7. That man would ask himself how much closer
Mercury and Venus would get to one another.

8. This question would make him
continue to watch the sky into the month of February.

9. In February, that man would remark that
the light appears earlier and so he should start watching the sky also earlier.







Corollary:

Is a man who watches the sky on every morning at 7 o’clock
really normal?

FIRST IMAGES IN 2016
(1. Comet Catalina near Arcturus
2. The Pleiades
3. M66)
-photographic poem by Maximilian Teodorescu-







INCONCLUSIVE VIEW
-by Bruce Boston (USA,
the first Grand Master of Science Fiction Poetry)-

Far as the most powerful
telescopes can reach,
still no sign of Heaven.

VEIL NEBULA
-photo by Marian Lucian Achim-



ABOUT JANUARY 2016 IN TARGOVISTE
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-











ONLY ON EARTH
-by Iulian Olaru-

Only on Earth
you can obtain a ticket
toward eternity

CRESCENT NEBULA
-by Marcel Linshoten (Sweden)-



JANUARY 2016 - LUNAR AND ASTRAL EPISODES IN TARGOVISTE
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-



















CONVERSATION WITH THE MOON
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

I said to Selene:

“I am a nephew of Endymion
and I love you,
so I’m going to become an astronaut
just because I intend
to conquer you!”

Selene replied to me:

“I’m sorry,
Endymion was unique
and I’m afraid that
you are just an idiot,
or rather a
moving stupid earthly spot.”

JANUARY MOON 2016
(1. 12 January, with the star Lamda Capricorni
2. 18 January
3. 23 January)
-photographic poem by Octavian Stanescu-







A GAME OF ASTRAL POOL
-by Marge Simon (USA,
laureate of the Rhysling Award)-

Jupiter picks Io for his cue ball,
racks up four planets neat,
chalks his stick and breaks.
His eyes aligned on shining spheres,
he runs the table clear:

Whacks Mars off to a corner hole,
slams Mercury and Saturn
into pockets parallel.
With Venus as his 8 ball,
he sinks her with a kiss.

Sun rises,
game over.

JANUARY MORNING SKY WITH PLANETS
-photo by Valentin Grigore-



NOVASPHERE
-by Tit Tihon-

The gravitational force is smittenly big,
it seems the laws of physics taunted.
Suddenly over the hypocenter of creative consciousness,
existence sinks into a black hole.

Where does the Universe hide?
Thoughts rove through the consciousness of the new sphere,
materializing desert illusions over planets,
the constellation of immortality lit by the darkness.

Knowledge created by Internet networks
on the terrestrial novasphere, beyond the atmosphere,
earthlings lost in pyramids of time,
teleporting themselves through telescopes into constellations.

M13
-photo by Maximilian Teodorescu-



COSMIC CASINO
-by Kim Goldberg (Canada,
winner of the Rannu Fund Poetry Prize for Speculative Literature)-

cosmic casino
planets align, the gold
spills forth

24 JANUARY 2016 - PLANETS’ ALIGNMENT OVER TARGOVISTE
-photo by Valentin Grigore-



FORWARD
-by Dominic Diamant-

We go forward
it’s the sense of history…
where will we arrive?

How we will defeat
the days of history…
does anybody know?

Even Stephen Hawking
can make mistakes…
why should I cry?

CRECENT NEBULA FROM MY PRIVATE OBSERVATORY
-photographic poem by Cristian Danescu-







RISE FROM THE STARS
-by Larry Jaffe (USA,
coordinator of Dialogue among Civilizations through Poetry Readings 2001-2004,
founder of Poets for Human Rights)-

They marched
the women of Earth
young and old alike
their arms sweeping
from side to side
with strides of unity, dignity
and simple pride.
Their heads held high
divinity in their wake
confidence brimming their eyes
they moved across the planet
as if they were one.

The women of Earth
guided by principles
of allegiance and equality
dedication and care
marching in a ripping tide
of strength
and perseverance
walking on the opposition
as if it was on water
they marched.

I see women
walking in revolution
right arms raised high
in worker’s salute
as they stride
through planet Earth
highways, boulevards and paths
crisscrossing villages, town, cities
and countries.

I see women rising from the stars.

EARTH AMONG THE STARS
-photos by:
1. Robert Oprea
2. Marcel Jinca
3. Valentin Grigore-







WATCHING THE LIGHT
-by Iulian Olaru-

Watching the light
the seed of life
can germinate

SOLAR CONFLUENCES AROUND THE WORLD
-photos by:
1. Thilina Heenatigala (Sri Lanka) - Indian Ocean
3. Emmanuel Schwalb (Israel) - Thailand
3. Casper ter Kuile (Holland) - Teide Volcano (Canary)
4. Yasuhiro Tonomura (Japan) - Mount Fuji (Japan)









MELTING LEAD
-Deborah P Kolodji (USA,
California Regional Coordinator, Haiku Society of America)-

melting lead
of our surface anger
Venus time-out

MOON AND PLANETS - 27 JANUARY 2016
-photo by Valentin Grigore-



ETHEREAL REVERENCE
-by Victor Chifelea-

On the cosmic canvas
tears of stars,
frantically dancing,
search the impeccable model
for a pleasant countenance
in front of the winning Sun.

SUN
-photographic poem by Maximilian Teodorescu-







AS KEPLER
-by David Asher (UK,
born in Scotland, residing in Northern Ireland, astronomer at Armagh Observatory,
discoverer of asteroids and predictor of meteor shower maximums)-

As Kepler showed us,
Planets will always orbit,
Keeping Nature's laws.

PLANETS, PLANETS…
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-







CREATION
-by Tit Tihon-

At the crossroads created by nebulae
through galaxies lost in cold matters,
a planet hides.

A spiralled chain, conceived in millennia,
silently twirches in astral replies,
the Internet veils new waves,
human collective consciousness.

The hope promised by the light of life
rolls through the Milky Way,
shouts of elements stop near the new living creation,
beyond the announced apocalypse,
beyond a new constellation,
the Cross of Einstein.

COCOON NEBULA
-photo by Emil Pera-



WINTER LUNAR SEQUENCES
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-















FROM THE 1ST QUARTER OF 2017
(Moon, Stars over the Badeana Reservation, Meteor, Jupiter and Satellites)
-photographic poem by Ciprian Vantdevara (coordinator of the Barlad Observatory)-









THE HINDU TEMPLE
-astro-photo-tanka (2001, Singapore) by Gerald England (UK.
editor of New Hope International,
honorary member of the International Writers and Artists Association,
laureate of the Ted Slade Award)-

the Hindu temple
through the open doorway
people at prayer
over them in a dark sky
sickle moon and Jupiter



JUPITER
-photo by Adrian Bruno Sonka-



JUPITER
-photographic poem by Maximilian Teodorescu-







REMOTENESS
-by Zigmund Tauberg
(born in 1927)-

Uncountable worlds are in the Universe,
planets similar to Earth which can contain rational life,
civilization, or space technique,
so their inhabitants could travel
to discover new planets.

We have brothers in the Universe,
but we cannot meet them,
we are too far.

If our life would be much longer,
many daring people
would launch to other stars,
right through the music of the spheres.

But not now.

We are just a violin,
the future is the bow.

COSMOPOETRY AWARD



TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE 2016 IN INDONESIA (MARCH 8TH)
-photographic poem by Catalin Beldea-











CRAWLING HEADFIRST INTO THE FUTURE
-by David Kopaska Merkel (USA,
editor of Deams & Nightmares,
former president of the Science Fiction Poetry Association)-

It had to be a dream
a four-sun system cast its lights
across the shadows
whilst round the stars
cold belts of stone and ice
danced Möbius figures, traded partners
zipped, unzipped themselves again
their recombination, physical, exact
save for a cumulative uncertainty
on which Lord Randomness could act
a myriad planetoids
awhirl in that inconstant, show
each step, your partner might melt or burn
might be flung out into the glinting night
no system so complex could e’er exist
and yet
it did, within my mind
itself held by molecules
fragile, complicated, right
protected for an instant
from a universe of night,
that open-ended cooling tale of death
sweet sequel to birth’s brightest light.

ALPHA AND BETA CENTAURI OVER NAMIBIA
-photo by Varadi Nagy Pal-



AURORA BOREALIS IN NORWAY
-photo by Casper ter Kuile (Holland,
member of the International Meteor Organization)



GLOBAL ASTRONOMY MONTH 2016
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

Not just Atlas’ globe
but also our world’s globe
together for us

GLOBAL ASTRONOMY MONTH 2016 IN ROMANIA
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-

























THE TRAVELLERS
-astro-photo-poem (cosmopoem) by John Goldsmith (Australia,
Celestial Visions producer,
member of The World at Night)-









COSMOPOETRY AWARD



ASTEROID WITH SATELLITES
-astro-art-poem by Adrian Bruno Sonka
(coordinator of the Admiral Vasile Urseanu Bucharest Municipal Observatory)-

It is obvious!
Respect is a notion
that has disappeared in the solar system!
Any piece of matter shows the arrogance to have satellites!

In this… respect,
the asteroid (130) Elektra is incredibly impertinent,
having not one, but two satellites!

It is as big as eight Bucharests
and has two satellites as big as two districts (7 km and 5 km),
that rotate 336 times around the asteroid
while it revolves once around the Sun.

This rock defies any limit of reasonability
because its satellites should not be over there.
They have a similar composition,
so they slowly detached from it a while ago.

Elektra defies us along with a few other asteroids with two satellites,
most of them placed between Mars and Jupiter.

But the conspiracy of shame continues beyond Neptune,
where all seems to be rotten,
and the biggest “asteroid”, Pluto has… five satellites!

Things don’t go normally in our galactic corner,
and the culprits continue to be unmasked by astronomers.

Here is a shame list (asteroids with two satellites)
from the main belt of asteroids.



MATCH-HEAD
-by Kim Goldberg (Canada,
winner of the Rannu Fund Poetry Prize for Speculative Literature)-

match-head of blackness
striking across the vast
fireball of sun

SOLAR DETAILS
-photo by Gabriel Corban-



A COMET
-by Dominic Diamant-

Flying on an orbit
a comet hurt me.
Can you cure me?

C2013 US10
-photo by Vlad Dumitrecu-



FACE
-Deborah P Kolodji (USA,
(California Regional Coordinator, Haiku Society of America)-

the unsolved
back to haunt him
face on Mars

JUPITER, MARS AND ISS WITH BEAM MODULE
-photo by Maximilian Teodorescu-



EVENING WITH SATURN
-by Iulian Olaru-

Evening with Saturn
companion in the sky
in this corner of Heaven.

SATURN
-photos by:
-Danut Ionescu (New Zealand,
born in Romania)
-Vlad Dumitrescu
-Constantin Sprianu







EXCUSE OF A BLACK HOLE
-by Bruce Boston (USA,
the first Grand Master of Science Fiction Poetry)-

Don't blame me!
I eat to survive,
just like you.

IRIS NEBULA
-photo by Iosif Bodnariu-



INFATUATION
-by Dominic Diamant-

The black hole
which could swallow me
surprisingly vaporized.

Don’t think you are great.
Who does see you
in infinity?

MAGELLANIC CLOUDS OVER NEW ZEALAND
-photo by Alex Conu-



HEAVENLY BODIES
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

Terra never sleeps
joyous heavenly bodies
awakenings of light

HEAVENLY BODIES
-photographic poem by Maximilian Teodorescu:
1. Moon
2. Moon-Venus Occultation
3. IC 349
4. ISS and Moon
5. M51
6. Solar Prominence-













THE TRANSIT OF MERCURY IN 2016 ACROSS… THE EARTH
-astro-art-poem by Adrian Bruno Sonka
(coordinator of the Admiral Vasile Urseanu Bucharest Municipal Observatory)-

This is great moment,
which can be seen by all the sky lovers from the Sun.



Thus, on May 8, 2016,
from specific places of our star from the Orion Arm,
we can see two planets,
Mercury and Earth,
superposing.

And because Mercury is closer,
it will pass over Earth.

The two planets have similar magnitudes (-3.8)
and apparently similar dimensions.

In reality,
Mercury is smaller than Earth (four times),
but it is two times closer.
So that, also apparently,
Mercury represents 15 seconds of arc,
while Earth has 17 seconds of arc.

I have to inform you that for this vision,
the inhabitants from the southern hemisphere of the Sun
will be advantaged.
The phenomenon will start at about 14:35 (GMT on Sun),
the maximum will be at 14:38, and the final at 14:42.
Only 7 minutes, but so important in the life of a star!



Question:

Do intelligent beings exist on Earth,
able to observe how Mercury passes
over the disc of our star?

SOLAR CONFLUENCES IN THE HOLY LAND
(Netanya 1 and 5, Tel Aviv 2, Eilat 3, Rishon Le Zion 4)
-photographic poem by Emmanuel Schwalb (Israel)











LUNAR CONFLUENCES IN ROMANIA
-photographic poem by Mihai Manea-







SOLAR CONFLUENCES IN THE USA
(Long Beach, Lower Falls - Yellowstone Canyon,
Mount Ranier, Sky Highway, Mukiteo)
-photographic poem by Bogdan Ioana (USA,
born in Romania)











MAY 2017 IN DAMBOVITA COUNTY
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-



















BETWEEN US
-by Deborah P Kolodji (USA,
(California Regional Coordinator, Haiku Society of America)

all that’s between us
Mars opposition

MARS
-photo by Maximilian Teodorescu-



MARS OPPOSITION
-astro-art-poem by Adrian Bruno Sonka
(coordinator of the Admiral Vasile Urseanu Bucharest Municipal Observatory)-

During May-June 2016 Mars was in the most favourable position in its orbit
to be observed from Earth.

The distance between the two planets is closest during this time period,
so the disc of Mars is larger than normal.

Hold your hand, raise a finger, look at the nail.
Take your fingernail and imagine that you cut it into 200 pieces.
Raise one of them, hold it in your hand and look at it.

Mars appears as large as the piece of your nail.



BEYOND THE STARS
-by Larry Jaffe (USA,
coordinator of Dialogue among Civilizations through Poetry Readings 2001-2004,
founder of Poets for Human Rights)-

I had no rocket ship
or transporter room

For my journey
I used the finest
spiritual technology
known to mankind

Liftoff occurred
precisely at noon
August 4, 2005

My expedition
took me through
many universes

Some I owned
Some I worshipped
Some worshipped me

But I knew there was more

I would not take up space
shifting beyond

Warp drive was slow
compared to the spiritual intention
of a turbocharged being

Arrival occurred
precisely at 10 pm
May 16, 2014

It was a long
exhilarating journey

Seeking true self
beyond the stars

THERE ARE MOMENTS WHEN TIME STOPS
-photo by George Tanase-



CALIFORNIA NEBULA
-photo by Marcel Linshoten (Sweden)-



RETURN
-by Tit Tihon-

The spaceship, programmed for the third cosmic speed,
passes over the planet of life on the hyperbolic orbit,
the hypnotion of the novasphere was automatically connected,
recording on board the signals of welcome.

The native planet sent greetings to the astronauts,
and the coordinates of the new terrestrial cosmodrome
for the spaceship XXII, which decollated in the third millennia.

Welcome home!
We await you on the Platform 10,
connect your bionic computers from the board,
your physical safety is already programmed,
Martian robots direct your landing.

From a short astronomical distance,
the commander murmured thunderstruck:
“This is not possible!”

His planet had disappeared
and a bud had appeared in the abyssal void.

EARTH!
-photographic poem by Ciprian Grigorescu-













THE TRANSIT OF MERCURY ACROSS THE SUN 2016
-astro-art-poem by Adrian Bruno Sonka
(coordinator of the Admiral Vasile Urseanu Bucharest Municipal Observatory)-

Perhaps the most expected phenomenon in 2016
was the transit of Mercury across the Sun.

Because Mercury is placed between Earth and Sun,
from time to time we can see it passing over the Sun.



If you miss this transit,
you can partially see the next ones on
November 11, 2019 and November 13, 2032.

If you don’t want to see this transit,
you can go to Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica.

And if you want to see the transit of Earth across the Sun,
you have to go to the planet Mars on November 10, 2084.

Do you really want to know from what places on Mars
you can see it?

TRANSIT OF MERCURY IN TIMISOARA
-photo by Octavian Stanescu-



IN TRANSIT
-by Marge Simon (USA,
laureate of the Rhysling Award)-

Mercury shoulders his backpack,
stuffed with many a mythic tale,
to traverse the route
across his mother’s face.

Along his way,
he takes many selfies
to prove he’s truly still there.

MERCURY TRANSIT IN TIMISOARA
-astro-photo-poem by Starchild-



Gentlemen,
there are some clouds,
but it is visible.

Mercury is quietly walking
on the solar disc!



TRANSIT OF MERCURY IN TIMISOARA
-photo by Andrei Juravle-



MERCURY TRANSIT
-by Mircea Pteancu-

In the town of Arad
show in random rounds
dictated by clouds.

MERCURY TRANSIT
-photo by Cornel Apetroaei (Germany,
born in Romania)



MERCURY TRANSIT
-astro-photo-poem by Dimitrie Olenici-

In Horodnicul de Jos
it was a sky clear like a tear
during the morning time
and I thought I’ll produce a hit.

But during the noon time
a small invisible wind
began to blow and to bring
big black clouds.

However, I took a photo
of Mercury and a sunspot over the Sun
just when,
quoting the Romanian poet George Cosbuc (1866-1918),
“the clouds revenged a little,
but stayed crowded”
not “over the village”,
but in the direction of the Sun.



MERCURY TRANSIT
-astro-photo-poem by Catalin Cretu-

In Iasi the Sun appeared after 16:00,
so I could quietly see the encounter:
Helios-Hermes!



TRANSIT OF MERCURY
-by Kim Goldberg (Canada,
winner of the Rannu Fund Poetry Prize for Speculative Literature)-

transit of mercury
black eye of prehistoric
sturgeon not yet born

TRANSIT OF MERCURY
-photographic poem by Ciprian Grigorescu-













MERCURY ACROSS THE SUN AFTER NEW HORIZONS ACROSS PLUTON
-astro-photo-poem by Dan Uza-



The transit of Mercury across the Sun
is a relatively rare phenomenon,
which happened today, May 9, 2016,
and will happen again on November 11, 2019.



In Cluj-Napoca it was a cloudy day
and only close to the evening the sky became clearer.

I observed the Sun (with Mercury and a few sunspots)
at about 19:00 through my dobsonian telescope.



And because Mercury is the first planet in the solar system,
I remembered that the last planet, until 2006, was Pluton,
which became the first, dwarf planet after that!

(Why do some people say Pluton,
after the Greek god of underworld,
and others say Pluto?)

In July 2015 New Horizons
(probably the most important space mission in the last years)
realized a flyby of the Pluton system.

Among the first images with surface details,
a zone seemed like a heart,
giving birth to the first jokes on social networks.

But the Americans don’t know
that we (the Romanians) have our own Pluton:
a village in Neamt County!



MERCURY TRANSIT
-photographic poem by Maximilian Teodorescu-







MERCURY’S MONOLOGUE ACROSS THE SUN
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

I went through the solar system
for some shopping
and I felt lucky:

I was the closest planet
who could see
the Sun giving light
for free.

MERCURY TRANSIT
-phototgraphic poem by Valentin Grigore-







MERCURY SUNSET
-Deborah P Kolodji (USA,
(California Regional Coordinator, Haiku Society of America)-

Mercury sunset
these 3 days without you
feel like 2 years

MERCURY TRANSIT
-photo by Ciprian Vantdevara (coordinator of the Barlad Observatory)-



PLANETARY BET
-astro-art-poem by Ion(ut) Moraru-

I see Mercury transiting the Sun,
then I go to the Moon
where a 3D human colony awaits me.

Above Venus,
careful winds carry me over a gonflable town among the clouds.

I go in the opposite direction and go to Mars,
hoping that the god of war will not be in conjunction with me.

I salute the robots
sent from Earth to asteroids.

Then Jupiter,
near which I dare to stop on its satellite, Europa
and look for extraterrestrial fishes.

The ring of Saturn calls me, too,
so I stop on the satellite Titan,
swimming a little in its methane seas.

Then I think to bet on an exo-planet and
carried by a laser toward our neighbor, Alpha Centauri,
I’ll send you an email with this astro-artwork…



A KIND OF SATELLITE
-astro-art-poem by Adrian Bruno Sonka
(coordinator of the Admiral Vasile Urseanu Bucharest Municipal Observatory)-

Sometimes a person can be
“a kind of friend” to you.

Just like the asteroid 2016 HO3, who is
“a kind of” satellite of Earth.

Normally, you are the satellite of a body
when you turn around it.
The Moon is the Earth’s satellite,
Titan is the satellite of Saturn,
Earth is the satellite of the Sun.

The small asteroid 2016 HO3 is a satellite of the Sun,
but it is considered “a kind of” satellite of Earth
because it turns round the Sun at a similar distance to the Earth,
with the same rotation speed.

Incidentally, that asteroid is close to Earth now,
will remain over here for a while
and deserves to be watched.

In December 2016
it will pass through the fields rich in galaxies of the constellation Virgo,
will get apparently closer to Arcturus,
will climb to the north of Bootes and
get lower through galaxies to Virgo, Hydra and Crater.



In astronomy, such an object is named “quasi-satellite”
because it doesn’t remain close to Earth forever (such as the Moon).

So this asteroid is the “quasi-friend”
of our planet.

And just like good friends,
quasi-satellites come and go.

THE SATELLITE MOON!
-photo by Jan Ovidiu Tercu (coordinator of the Galati Observatory)
and Andrei Marian Stoian -



ATMOSPHERE
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

Not just nitrogen
and oxygen but also a
great show of colors

ATMOSPHERICS
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-

















PAINT IT BLACK
-by Bruce Boston (USA,
the first Grand Master of Science Fiction Poetry)-

At the dead heart
of a collapsar
lies a locked door
to another universe.

DSO
(M57, NGC 7331, M27)
-photographic poem by Maximilian Teodorescu-







OVER A PLANET
-by Tit Tihon-

Over a planet, the wind slowly breezes,
Oort’s Cloud at the border of the worlds,
the earthlings believe in gravity,
but they seem to keep their eyes closed.

CELESTIAL GEOMETRY WITH SATURN AND MARS
-phototgraphic poem by Valentin Grigore-







THE SKY IN THE DANUBE DELTA
(with M51 and NGC 7000)
-astro-photo-poem by Razvan Rabei-



I recommend the Danube Delta accompanied by a telescope,
the sky is irreproachable.

Together with my family, bar and boat,
Jupiter and Mars were two fine companions
and the Milky Way was a story.





PRE-SUMMER SOLSTICE
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-















SUMMER SOLSTICE
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

What is this?
A festive breath during Earth’s revolution,
Summer Solstice,
The maximum demonstration of light
Against the abyss.

SUMMER SOLSTICE WITH THREE PLANETS
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-











FAR SUN
-astro-art-poem by Adrian Bruno Sonka
(coordinator of the Admiral Vasile Urseanu Bucharest Municipal Observatory)-

On July 4, 2016 our planet was at the furthest distance from the Sun
but we didn’t notice because we were too busy shopping.

Here is the apparent magnitude of the Sun seen with the naked eye
from other planets (if it wouldn’t blind you),
at aphelion (the greatest distance from the Sun);

beyond Jupiter, the Sun is not visible as a disc,
but like an extremely luminous point:



Just because the planets don’t turn round the Sun in circles,
there are the differences between the furthest Sun and the closest Sun:

Earth:
five million kilometers (3% smaller as apparent diameter);

Mercury:
twenty-three million kilometers (50% smaller as apparent diameter);

Pluto:
2.9 billion kilometers (two times smaller,
but here, the apparent diameter of the Sun - 1.1 minutes of arc -
make it appear like a point).

But what do you say about a sky object from which
sometimes you can see the Sun appearing like a wheel of pressed cheese,
and at other times like a pea?

This is Comet Halley,
that periodically (every 76 years) gets closer to the Sun,
and if we would travel on it,
we would see the far Sun 35 times smaller than the close Sun.

So nothing is fixed.
Not even the importance of these data.

STARS OVER GRAN CANARIA
-photo by Alexandru Stelea-



DUTCH OPEN TELESCOPE IN LA PALMA
-photographic poem by Casper ter Kuile (Holland)-















MILKY WAY OVER GRAN CANARIA
-photo by Attila Munzlinger-



SOMEWHERE IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

Canary Islands:
stars, landscapes, astro-cities -
special perception

CANARY 2016
AND THE WORLD’S LARGEST TELESCOPE
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore
(Gran Canaria 1-3, Tenerife 4-5, La Palma 6-8)-

















PERSEIDS 2016
-photographic poem by Alex Spoiala-





BRIGHT ARROW IN THE SKY
-by Alfredo Caronia (Italy,
residing in Romania,
co-discoverer of five asteroids)-

Cries to the moon
uneasy and splendid,
impetuous, wheezing,
floating to the last dip,
fiery and evanescent;
vanishes in the cosmic silence
a meteor, heir and witness
of more powerful bodies.

A PERSEID
-photo by Radu Brotoiu-



SKIES!
-photographic poem by Ciprian Vantdevara
(coordinator of the Barlad Observatory)-









SARM’S PERSEID CAMP 2016
PART I RUNCU
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-









PERSEIDS
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

Perseus’ spirit
inspires August sky lovers
I am a winner

SARM’S PERSEID CAMP 2016
PART II CINDREL
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-



















PLUTO
-by Gelu Claudiu Radu-

“Pluto - a planet.”
“No, it is an asteroid.”
“Do you wanna bet?”

PLUTO
-photo by Lucian Curelaru-



CELESTIAL AVATAR
-by Dominic Diamant-

Call me what you want, crazy planet or disordered star,
accuse me of bad comportment,
I have been always the same
and I assume my candid peculiarity.

I’ve always fought impossible tries
being seen as a foreign corpuscle
but these don’t impress me
I have my own cosmic flight.

My law which can keep me high and invincible
is beyond any border
it is to give light with the magic of love
from my inexhaustible combustion.

And maybe Someone would think of me
in the ethereal cosmic dance.

When my whole avatar is heavenly,
how could I miss this divine chance?

DEEP SKY OBJECTS
(NGC 7331, IC 495, M31)
-photographic poem by Mihai Dumitrica-







A TOUR
-by Iulian Olaru-

A tour of the solar system -
always return
to the first love!

ARTWORK BY ROMANIAN CHILDREN 2016
-a national exhibition made by Suceana Planetarium at Barlad Observatory,
and photographed by Valentin Grigore-

































I FEEL
-Deborah P Kolodji (USA,
(California Regional Coordinator, Haiku Society of America)-

red light absorption
I feel so blue Neptune

NEPTUNE AND TRITON
-photo by Lucian Curelaru-



SARMIZEGETUSA
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

Dacian Capital
astronomic sanctuaries
Romania’s seed

EXPEDITION TO SARMIZEGETUSA
-photographic poem by Maximilian Teodorescu-







VENUPITER CONJUNCTION
-astro-art-poem by Adrian Bruno Sonka
(coordinator of the Admiral Vasile Urseanu Bucharest Municipal Observatory)-

A beautiful approach between Venus and Jupiter
took place in 27 August 2016,
the two planets were very close one another
(apparently half of the lunar disc).



In the next years we will see
many other conjunctions of the brightest planets,
some of them during the morning hours,
others during the evening time.

Venus + Jupiter = Venupiter

I personally wait for the supreme one:
Venus will cover Jupiter on November 22, 2065!

VENUS-JUPITER CONJUNCTION
-photo by Alin Tolea (USA,
born in Romania)-



HUNTERS OF PLANETS ON THE VOIVODES HILL
(Venus-Jupiter conjunction, Mars and Saturn)
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-











SATURN-MARS-ANTARES
-astro-photo-poem by Mircea Pteancu-

About the Saturn-Mars-Antares “triumvirate,”
on September 1, 2016 this became an isosceles triangle.

Watching the three heavenly bodies through a binocular
was a new experience:
-all were very close to the visual field periphery,
where the optical aberrations become visible and add beams;
-plus the striking differences of colors;
-plus the intense scintillation of Antares.

In combination, all produced a barely accessible kaleidoscopic image.

But watching the three heavenly bodies with the naked eye
was much easier…
and a charming experience.



SOMEDAY
-by Tit Tihon-

Someday all the regrets will perish
along with the blame which hides them.

The Universe will ask the earthlings:
“How did you spend your time
without living?”

SOLAR HALO
-photo by Andrei Nica-



NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS IN NORWAY
-photo by Alex Conu-



RAINBOW
-photo by Cristian Bulugea-



SMALL STAR, BIG PLANET
-astro-art-poem by Adrian Bruno Sonka
(coordinator of the Admiral Vasile Urseanu Bucharest Municipal Observatory)-

Sometimes the neighbors produce surprises
(like in a block of flats).

On August 24, 2016
the European Southern Observatory announced
the discovery of a telluric planet, a little more massive than Earth,
which turns round the closest star, Proxima Centauri.

So the planet is small, red and… close.

The distance toward it in light years seems reasonable: 4.23.
But if you transform this into kilometers, you have
39,959,524,677,596 (almost 40 thousand billion).

You could also consider that it is 267,112 times further from us than the Sun,
but one after the other,
that means the planet is… far.



MOON, SATURN, MARS
-astro-photo-poem by Mircea Pteancu-

Yesterday evening (September 9, 2016) I went to the bank of the Mures River;
it was full of bikers and dogs
that had invited their masters for a walk.

But the amateur astronomer,
along with his tripod,
was the most recent amusement.

The “digi” generation:
“Uncle, do you see the Moon?”

The “beer” generation:
“Why do you measure the road?”

A cyclist:
“I know you and your telescope.
Would you come at darkness
to show us the planets?”

After solemn promises, they left me alone.

I liked especially the moonlight
reflected in the river,
the terrestrial scenery harmoniously completing
the celestial show.



LUNAR PHENOMENON
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

Is it a shadow
(from solitude) on Moon’s face?
Penumbral eclipse!

LUNAR PENUMBRAL ECLIPSE
(September 16, 2016)
-photos by
Lucian Hudin
Sorin Hotea
Lucian Curelaru
Vlad Dumitrescu
Ciprian Vantdevara











COLORED MOON
(AND CRATER COPERNICUS)
-photographic poem by Maximilian Teodorescu-







THE TREE-MAN
-by Boris Marian Mehr-

A man grew old like a tree,
his roots touched the centre of the Earth,
his crown lifted and embraced the Universe.

God asked him:
“What are you doing?
Don’t you see you disturb my job?”

The old man shrugged his branches:
“We do what we can.”

DEEP SKY OBJECTS
(Mellote 15, M33. IC 405, M45)
-photographic poem by Razvan Rabei-









MISTY ASTRO-PHOTO-POEM
-by Casper ter Kuile (Holland)-

One night, returning home from work...
the sun is already down
and there is a thin mist right on the top of the meadow.
Seen very seldom, this is really special.



But hard right up to the plate
with just to get the phone in the hand...



PHENOMENA
-by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

Terra never sleeps
heavenly phenomena
awakenings of light

METEORS OVER JAPAN
-photographic poem by Yasuhiro Tonomura (Japan)-







AURORA BOREALIS OVER NORWAY
-photographic poem by Alex Conu-







TAURIDS 2016
-astro-photo-poem by Valentin Grigore-

At the Priseaca Lake near Targoviste
I spoke with Mars
about the Moon.



The activity of the Taurid meteors is not high,
but it is a pleasure to observe them,
especially because they are capable of surprises,
spectacular fireballs can appear at any time.



NEAR THE FOREST
-astro-photo-poem by Dan Mitrut-

On a morning I was to fish out signs,
and I prepared the phone to put in evidence better
an optical phenomenon produced because of me:

fogbow!



CROWNED SUPERMOON IN TIMISOARA
-photo by Valentin Grigore-



FANTASTIC AIRGLOW NEAR TARGOVISTE
-astrotipuritura by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
photos by Valentin Grigore-

Is this light just stellar snow?
No, it is fantastic airglow!







INDIVISIBLE
-intercontinental cosmopoetry cooperation:
haiku by Bob Eklund (USA, Astronomers Without Borders’ Astropoetry Blog editor)
photo by Valentin Grigore (Astronomers Without Borders coordinator for Romania)-

White Venus, red Mars
setting in Earth's deep blue sky...
One Solar System.




COSMOPOETRY AWARD



I OBSERVE SO I EXIST
(excerpt from an essay)
-astro-photo-art-poem by “Metalgibson” (Republic of Moldova)-

The sky is the place where I must be,
but I was not born at the adequate moment.
I always wanted to live in the future,
where a inter-stellar trip will be something usual.



When I was a child I watched the Milky Way,
which looked so mysterious,
and I thought that thousands of civilizations are over there,
but I stayed here,
unable to travel though space.

That’s why at first I obtained an objective
and the sky seemed like something unreal,
from another world (not like in pictures)…
and then I began to build telescopes
to make other people love astronomy…



The Milky Way with so many stars one near another
is something fantastic,
as if someone used a sprayer to splash the canopy of heaven
with many points of white paint…

MILKY WAY
-photo by Andrei Nica-



MILKY WAY IN GRAN CANARIA
-photographic poem by Attila Munzlinger-







MILKY WAY
-photo by George Tanase-



HYMN
-by Tit Tihon-

We have conquered a new galaxy
that enslaved relativity,
on the planet of life,
Einstein decomposes into gravity
the poetry of space in the light.

Hymns of glory rise,
lit by the divine Sun.

Beams of soul shine,
far of the Milky Way,
road of future.

Theories known from old times
light up the Orion Belt.

ORION AND A METEOR
-photo by Valentin Grigore-



ORION NEBULA
-photo by Maximilian Teodorescu-



ORION’S HORSEHEAD NEBULA
-photo by Razvan Rabei-



VENUS IN THE SKY
-by Iulian Olaru-

Venus in the sky
impulse to not fall
from brightness

VENUS AND MOON
-photo by Valentin Grigore-



SPONTANEOUS
-by Iulian Ionescu-

Bet on planets?
Billiard / roulette in the Universe!

EASTER VEIL NEBULA
-photo by Andrei Bacila-



ON DRACULA’S TOWER IN TARGOVISTE
WITH THE MOON, VENUS AND MARS
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-



















STORY OVER THE HILL
-photo by Adrian Zota-



CATCH A FALLING STAR
-by John Francis Haines (UK,
leader of the Eight Hand Gang - British network of sf poetry)-

Why does everyone
Have a meteoric rise,
When meteors fall?

FROM TARGOVISTE TO THE PRISEACA LAKE
FOR THE GEMINID METEOR SHOWER
-photographic poem by Valentin Grigore-













OUT DARK LIGHT
(Winter Equinox)
-astro-art-poem by Steve Sneyd (UK,
laureate of the Peterson Trophy
and editor of Data Dump – SF/F/H/DF newsletter)

Sun wheel returns us
older into new time come
rebirthing shine run



BACK INTO THE NATURAL WORLD
-by Arlene Carol (USA,
residing in Turkey)-

on earth these days, it seems that chaos reigns among the inhabitants.

there's no escape except to turn off all forms of media, phones, computers...

to meld back into the natural world
to live our lives simply as humans once did...

drink in the night sky with awe
and see a randomly structured cosmos...
breathe in the possibilities that exist out there for peace
and by some form of visual osmosis, invite it into our souls.

PLANETARY FLIGHTS
-photo by Valentin Grigore-



THREE HUMAN CONDITIONS
-astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

1. To love the blue planet on which you live
and its inhabitants.
2. To adore the Sun and the heavenly bodies
which are left to shine during the night time.
3. To fly all the time
with your inner being.



*

Coordinator: Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
President of SARM: Valentin Grigore
Cultural counselor: Arlene Carol
Design: Florin Alexandru Stancu

*

© 2016 SARM
(Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy)