FAVOURITE CONSTELLATIONS



-by SARM’s Astropoetry Master Club and Friends-

Coordinator: Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
Design: Florin Stancu

After an idea by Mihai Petrache
(initially debated on the SARM mailing list
by Romanian sky lovers from all over the world)


Polaris, Ursa Minor, and Neighborhoods
Photo: Eugen Florin Marc


In 2003
the American editor Emily Gaskin launched an international challenge:
the first issue of the web magazine Astropoetica had to be dedicated
to each of the 88 official constellations.
The results have represented not one, but two astropoetry anthologies:
-an international one, published as the first issue of Astropoetica;
-a SARM one, published in SARM Golden Astropoetic Gallery
(a joint project of Astropoetica and SARM).

This web project praises 5 years of existence
of the American web magazine Astropoetica
as both an echo and an avant-garde approach to that inexhaustible theme
of the constellations,
and also celebrates:
-125 years since Mihai Eminescu published “Luceafarul - the Evening Star”;
-101 years since Alexandru Anestin published “To Infinity”,
the most beautiful long astronomical poems in Romanian literature.



Winter Constellations
Photo: Alex(andru) Conu

*

CONSTELLATIONS

88 optical illusions crawl across the sky
Trailing myths and legends in their wake,
As Gods and monsters slowly fade away
We’ll find new shapes among the points of light
And tell ourselves new stories round the fire,
New myths and legends for a star-struck age.

-John Francis Haines (U.K.,
Leader of the Eight Hand Gang - British network of SF poets
and Editor of its newsletter Hanshake)-

*

AT THE GATE OF A PHOTON
(astro-photo-poem)



Not even a shadow has remained to me.
The nests of space have betrayed me.
I shall sleep at the gate of a photon
exiled because of his love for a blossom.

I have thought that,
with their
dreams of light,
the people
cannot wound the constellations.



-Dan Mitrut-

*

A SPECIAL GUEST

The October 2000 issue of the famous British magazine Popular Astronomy
announced the launching of A TOUCH OF POETRY,
a booklet with poems by David R. Keedy
(a well-known amateur astronomer who has given his name
to an award of the British Astronomical Association),
many of them being astronomical.
We are honored to republish here two of the astropoems of that booklet.

THE CELESTIAL ZOO

You’ve heard of bats in the belfry,
Bit what of animals up on high?
You might think its twaddle,
Even pie in the sky.

But it’s true we’ve great and small bears
And a lynx and a goat,
And a hare and a ram,
And a scorpion to note.

There is a fish, a toucan
And a very large swan,
And believe it or not two lions
When the day is gone.

We also have some dogs,
Both large and small,
A peacock and a wolf
And a giraffe who is so tall.

An eagle, a dolphin,
A dragon in the sky,
Some horses, a dove,
Even a swordfish and a fly.

A phoenix, a serpent,
And a bull who will gore,
And believe me, a water snake,
A crane and more.

Yes, this menagerie can be seen
Way up in the night sky,
They are groups of flickering stars
Upon which we can spy.

Huge suns in the universe
I can hear you say,
A celestial zoo
In our own Milky Way.

-David R. Keedy (U.K.)-

STARS

The gemmy suns in Orion shone
Diamantine in the sky,
The boldest of all star groups bar none
Now southing.

Red Betelgeuse was glowing bright
And Bellatrix nearby,
Great Rigel shining bluish-white
Saiph in attendance.

The belt of stars numbered three
The hanging sword,
Bejewelled and faint and quite misty
Great Nebula.

At Orion’s heels the bright Dog Star
Faithfully following,
Shining and flashing from afar
Red, white and blue.

The evening turned to deepest night
Starry pageantry changing
As the world revolved with all its might
Now stars appeared.

Procyon, the Little Dog, came into view
And snorting Taurus
And then there was a hint of blue,
When proud Leo rose.

‘Twas the dawn; the stars began to dim
Then the light, the day,
By the power of the one who’s known as Him
The stars were gone.

-David R. Keedy (U.K.)-







Two Sunsets, plus Orion and the Winter Triangle
Photos: Calin Niculae

*

YOU HAVE NO REASON TO ABANDON

If you are not a victim
of the infinite war
and your trajectory ripples
pathetically and unpredictably

You have no reason to abandon
the belief in your chances,
so transmit vital soul messages
to the cosmic wedding

It’s all you can do
forgetting any bother
from a constellation
to another

-Dominic Diamant-


Blue Snowball (NGC7662) in Andromeda
Photo: Catalin Mitu

*

As the weather is ugly
and we have not too many alternatives,
I’ve thought to ask you, my friends,
about your favourite constellations.

-Mihai Petrache-

*

CONSTELLATIONS
(wordle)



-Mandy Smith (U.K.,
one of the hosts of the British haiku blog project)-

*

HAIKU

Before the constellations,
sometimes planets dare
transient alignments

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-


Venus, Moon, Jupiter, November 2008
Photo: Valentin Grigore

*

HAIKU

Even deep underground
We can sometimes
See stars

-Galina Ryabova (Russia,
Professor-Doctor-Astronomer at Tomsk State University;
text performed during the Astropoetry Show
of the International Meteor Conference 2008 in Sachticka, Slovacia)-


Taurid Meteor 2008
Photo: Catalin Timosca

*

HAIKU

From every country
stars get together
to talk joyfully

-Nagatoshi Nogami (Japan,
Nippon Meteor Society;
text performed during the Astropoetry Show
of the International Meteor Conference 2008 in Sachticka, Slovacia)


Perseids 2008
Photo-Collage: Alexandru Tudorica

*

CONSTELLATIONS

From the murk of time
On the blackboard of infinity
The complicated notes of the Creator
Have remained written with dust of stars

Today many people try
To elucidate the enigmatical writings
In order to find the supreme knowledge
The truth

But the simple people
Cannot find their senses
And false prophets read in them
Destinies that refuse the accomplish

The scientists with profound minds
Search them and invent new postulates
Only the artists prefer to watch them
Hunting the synthetic formula of admiration

-Victor Chifelea-


Sky Lovers under Orion
Photo: Alex(andru) Conu

*

HUNTER OF MEN

Three fancy buckles
on leather belt boasted Jake
Orion-alike

-Steve Sneyd (U.K.,
Director of Hilltop Press
and Editor of the Data Dump newsletter)-


Orionid Meteor 2008
Photo: Catalin Timosca

*

Orion is the first.
And Gemini, and others…
But I have a strange attraction to Corvus,
which I saw through the window
one night when I was a teen-ager …

-Catalin Mitu-


M35 in Gemini
Photo: Catalin Mitu

*

CONNECTED TO STARS

Maybe we are similar to the stars,
but cannot embrace
their sublime nature yet.

We enjoy the passing beauties,
but delude ourselves that someday
we shall be similar to the stars.

The light of the constellations touches us.
Our noise moves them.
Maybe soon we shall communicate better.

-Ana Maria Scortan-

*

HAIKU

Seductive Antares -
see the Scorpion’s eye
forget his venom

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-


Scorpius
Photo: Eugen Florin Marc


Scorpius
Photo: Laurentiu Alimpie

*

I think the first is Perseus with his double cluster.
After that, Taurus with the Pleiades…
And all the constellations with open clusters
visible through a good binocular
or through a wide-field telescope…

-Mihai Cuzic-


Double Cluster in Perseus
Photo (1998): Zoltan Deak

*

SMALL

I feel so small
in the darkness
when I watch the stars…

I’d like to touch them
or to be just Perseus -
hero and constellation.

-Siriusa-

*

HAIKU

When Perseus rises
I feel that his sword cuts
my breath

-Gelu-Claudiu Radu-


Perseus
Photo: Attila Soo

*

EVOLUTION

You and the years go together.

Keeping dear places in your soul,
you will find yourself again to the end,
with a star that has known to look at you
from so many constellations.

Now the Earth is your rocking chair,
you dream of the sky lowering on Earth
and conducting you to another destiny.

-Nicoleta Petcu-

*

TANKA

eagles fly
in my dreams
tonight
I see Aquila in the sky,
no thunderbolts

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


Barnard’s “E” Dark Nebulae near Altair in Aquila
Photo: Maximilian Teodorescu

*

THE BLACK PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT…

… begins to embroider
the last temple of the skies,
and forests of stars flow
from Aldebaran to Zenith,
as waters in the delta of a thought.

-Adrian Sima-

*

THE CONSTELLATIONS

(haiku)

the constellations
like cosmic 'follow-the-dots'
play across the sky

(astropoem)

before such things as
drive-in theaters
on clear nights, the ancients would
sit together and draw pictures in the sky.

now we have become too busy
and no longer play such games,
too 'wise' to make up stories of fantastical figures
who taught us how to live.

but some of us still share with family and friends
the chance to glance back into time and space
relating to our children the old tales as we
watch the constellations as they pass.

-Arlene Carol (Turkey,
artist and poet; born in U.S.A.)-

*

HAIKU

Aldebaran,
Pleiades, Hyades, M1…
Owner, a Bull.

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-


Pleiades (in Taurus) and Zodiacal Light
Photo: Catalin Timosca

*

STELLAR BLESSING

Rustlings of stars in wings of nebula
catch you through the cosmic sound,
in the magic water,
in the first constellation,
in colors of time
on the foot of a galaxy,
in the last constellation.

You are in the new light
of a blue planet,
the sky puts on him your coat,
don’t be afraid,
your shadow is mine too.

-Irina Cristescu-

*

Sagittarius seems very interesting to me.
If you have an astronomical instrument,
you cannot bore with what you see there,
especially if you are in a place with a black sky.
The most visible winter constellation is certainly
Orion with the M42 Nebula,
a so “photogenic” subject.
I can add to my category of interest
the constellations: Gemini, Auriga, Perseus…
Ursa Major is also a constellation with abundant deep sky objects,
and Leo too.
Every time when I start to observations,
I make my “warm-up” with well-known
galaxies, nebulae, clusters of stars…

-Eugen Florin Marc-


Ursa Major
Photo: Eugen Florin Marc

*

TO A RUNNER AFTER METEORS

You know that in the heavens
a lot of shooting stars fly.
But you cannot use the Great Chariot
to go to the praised sky.

-Silviu Georgescu-

*

CELESTIAL BEACONS

A high longing,
a river flowing,
in the canopy of heaven
you become true.

Polaris and Yildun are brothers
as the sky and us.
Ursa Minor, Ursa Major,
who are you?

-Maxim Matvei (Republic of Moldova)-

*

GREAT CHARIOT

Bewitched by the mysterious story about the Great Chariot,
told by his father and nested in his small soul,
the boy sketched on a paper
the constellation appeared from the darkness of the night,
which made him dream of a heavenly trip…

Next morning,
the boy prepared his materials for the school,
took the breakfast, swept in the kitchen and,
being in a hurry,
forgot the story and trashed the Great Chariot.

-Ion(ut) Moraru-

*

HAIKU

Sagittarius -
centaur tattooed with
Messier deep sky objects

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-


Sagittarius Zone
Photo: Attila Soo

*

THEORY OF THE CONSTELLATIONS

I feel I am crowded
by my own jerky nature.

With my hands,
I throw golden and silver dust,
lay a bet with the void
and mimic it with a ruby measure.

I correct the average square aberration
with some sapphire fibres
under the quantity of abysses.

Slowly, I arrange a node,
stroke the distance
and stop to see
the names given by mortals
to my works:

Draco, Chariots, Pegasus…

-Lucian Boboc-

*

TANKA

hooves pounding
under the stars
I wonder
what it would be like
to ride Pegasus

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

*

MY CAPRICIOUS PEGASUS

When I was flying towards the stars
full of ecstasy,
Pegasus threw me back on Earth,
furiously neighing.

Devastated not by that fall,
but by the shame of the defeat,
I silently nursed myself,
accumulating energy until my recovery.

Now the restive flying horse
prowls over me,
but has not antennas to find
my flight strategy.

-Dominic Diamant-


M15 in Pegasus
Photo: Adrian Bruno Sonka

*

LEO

Leonids you amazed our world,
From a fire shooting constellation,
Stars flashing back-and-forth,
Outnumbering men's imagination.

The strongest of all meteor streams,
With so plenty of brilliant fireballs,
Upsetting people with terrible fears,
As it looks like heaven itself falls.

Is it coincidence these falling stars,
Have got their radiant in the Lion,
Such symbol of all conquerors of wars,
Rather than something like Pigeon?

Imagine terrifying firework from heaven,
Rushing out of Virgo, the fiery Virgins,
Of Coma Berenices its hair being shaven,
Out of Volans, of flying fishes origins.

Leo's constellation is such white raven,
Only some really touch to Leo's margins,
None will ever be so fabulous at heaven.

-Paul Roggemans (Belgium,
the main creator of the International Meteor Organization)-


M65 in Leo
Photo: Catalin Mitu

*

CONSTELLATIONS

Two girls in a station
talked about constellations.

As the train was delaying,
the Great Chariot invited them,
but one of the girls preferred the Balance
because it is more golden.

The other girl didn’t want confusions
because the constellations are illusions
(What is the Centaur? What is the Maiden?
The first is a fiction! The second, an invention!),
and finally she disappeared,
maybe abducted by some heavenly Lion.

Some ones say that now
she is still waiting in a station
in some far constellation.

-Boris Marian (Mehr)-

*

TOWARDS THE HEARTS OF THE CONSTELLATIONS
(astro-photo-poem without words)


Rays


Panoramic Sunset


Lunar South Pole Craters


M10 in Ophiucus


M 27 in Vulpecula

-Photos: Maximilian Teodorescu-

*

BENEATH AN ALIEN SKY
(astrofantasy)

43 light years from Earth
the native constellations
of another world
pass across the sky.

When the moon rises
from the Western Sea,
Shavrr, The Thief, flees
to the darker East.

The Exalted Mage Sste-Lan,
his long hair riding
a trail of stars,
follows close behind.

Jav, the six-legged beast,
takes the pole position,
his leathery trunk arching
in a parabola of light.

In the relativity
of space and time,
Earth remains invisible
as the farthest stars.

Yet still the sidereal
shapes of night remain,
arbitrary and bright
as any work of art.

-Bruce Boston (U.S.A.,
the first Grand Master of SF poetry)-


M33 in Triangulum
Photo: Catalin Fus

*

One day,
at an astronomical presentation for the large public,
someone asked me:
“What is the constellation
of the Sun?”

-Alexandru Conu-

*

Besides questions,
the astronomical auto-education would be good.
Send the people to the library!

-Alin Tolea (a Romanianman established in U.S.A.)-

*

Working at the Bucharest Municipal Observatory,
I also wonder how many things I’ve seen
(in the heavens and on Earth).

-Adrian Bruno Sonka-


NGC4565 Spiral Galaxy in Coma Berenices
Photo: Adrian Bruno Sonka

*

One day,
at an astronomical presentation for children,
I asked them:
“How many stars can be seen by the naked eye?”
“Millions”, answered ones.
“Billions”, answered others.
“2800”, answered a little girl.
“O.K., little girl,” I said, “but… how do you know that?”
“I’ve just read it.”

-Valentin Grigore-


Orion, and Mars in Gemini
Photo: Valentin Grigore

*

HAIKU

Always waiting:
Twin Brothers and Orion
for Sirius, the bright guide.

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe


Orion, Canis Major and Canis Minor with their Winter Triangle over Light Pollution
Photo: Raul Truta

*

TANKA

dogs bark
under Canis Major
I feel hunted
by a cell phone's
distant ringing

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

*

HEAVENLY DOGS

Sirius, Procyon…
ideals for each
earthly puppy

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

*

CANIS MINOR

Ptolemy found me
ahead of Orion,
trotting before him so bravely.

Two stars bright,
& no planets,
a mongrel, a runt,
an hour ahead of the hunt.

Canis Major's the one
who has all the fun, but
I draw your attention
before his ascension,
& in so doing,
I have a part in the action.

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


Orion in Run
Photo: Cristina Tinta

*

THE BLUE ROCKET
(variant)

A blue rocket
will fly inter-constellations

this is a strange rocket

civilized persons let me enter among them
smiling mysteriously
through their blue eyes

the rocket starts bluely

I need to talk about the importance
of this blue moment

everybody should know
only the last events

“you have not blue eyes,”
the persons around say to me very polite,
“so you must get down
at the first asteroid”

-Mircea Alexandru Popa-


Orion
Photo: Catalin Paduraru

*

WATCHING ORION
(Orionid meteor observations 2008)

I managed to get out for some visual observing for the Orionids on October 20-21,
in the last pre-dawn hour only due to a lot of fast-moving clouds that night.
Despite ~30% cloud cover throughout, and a LM of just +5.3 thanks to the Moon,
I was pleased to spot ten ORI in that time, suggesting ZHRs of maybe 50.
One fireball of mag -3, but a fairly normal overall magnitude distribution.
October 21-22 produced much better skies eventually,
as it was only after 3 a.m. that the rain stopped,
and the clouds drifted quickly away,
leaving me three hours of LM +5.5 skies to spot 54 ORI in.
ZHRs from that looked to have been ~55-70,
with a pretty typical run of magnitudes,
and about 40% trained meteors.
Event of the night was a mag -5 yellow-green ORI at 05:14 UT, two flares,
the terminal one brightest and leaving a 12-sec train,
that shot across just south of the Plough/Big Dipper in UMa.

-Alastair McBeath (U.K.,
Vice-President of the International Meteor Organization)-


Orionid Meteor 2008
Photo: Alex(andru) Conu

*

HAIKU

Orion -
celestial hunter who hunts hearts
in two hemispheres

-Stefan Oprea & Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-


Orion
Photo: Alex(andru) Conu

*

One night the sky was so beautiful…
Orion had risen,
Sirius shone like a diamond,
Saturn was in Gemini,
Jupiter in Leo…
Superb…
I put a coat on me and,
shivering with cold
and swearing at the wind,
I looked at M42.
Black bands crossing that nebula
colored in blue and dark red,
like a photography…
The heavenly colors are wonderful…
I also tried the Zeta Orionis Nebula, it was there!
And because the sky was so good,
I tried the close Flame Nebula too,
and I saw it like a thin veil,
and, from a side, like a black tooth,
Horsehead!!!

-Alin Tolea (a Romanianman established in U.S.A.)-


M42-M43 in Orion
Photo: Radu Gherase

*

ALSO HER NAME’S INITIAL

Three she sky-traces
Cassiopeia’s W
for woe, love-ending

-Steve Sneyd (U.K.,
Director of Hilltop Press
and Editor of the Data Dump newsletter)-

*

HAIKU

Cassiopeia -
a special double u
written by the Creator

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-

*

TRICKSTER STARS

Trickster stars
turn Cassiopeia's mild face to Earth,
but travel a few hundred light-years
and her new countenance appears:
she becomes some dreadful monster
with far too many teeth
and deca-parsec jaws

-David Kopaska-Merkel (U.S.A.,
Editor of Dreams and Nightmare - the magazine of fantastic poetry)-


Rise of Cassiopeia (Trails)
Photo: Attila Soo


Cassiopeia
Photo: Laurentiu Alimpie

*

CONSTELLATIONS

Votive lights
direct us
to the sky altar

-Iulian Olaru-

*

I like Lacerta.
It seems to sneak almost unseen among the other constellations.
And the Dolphin too.
And I very much like Lyra,
because it is the place whence K-PAX has come.

-Dragos Bora-


Lyra
Photo: Attila Soo

*

HAIKU

Stars weaved by
imaginary threads
into ancient figures

-Diana Maria Ogescu-

*

My favourite constellation is Andromeda
because when I was a child
I read about the Great Andromeda Nebula,
and afterwards I lived an enigma
until I saw it through the telescope...

-Cornel Apetroaiei-

*

HAIKU

Andromeda -
saved by Perseus,
adorned by a galaxy

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-


M31, M32 and M110 (Galaxies in Andromeda)
Photo: Mihai Curtasu

*

What do you say about the Swan
(or the Northern Cross)?
An ocean of stars
in any small astronomical instrument…

-Mircea Pteancu-


Cygnus (or the Northern Cross)
Photo: Attila Soo


Cygnus Area
Photo: Catalin Paduraru


Nebulae around Gamma Cygni
Photo: Cristina Tinta

*

ILLUSION

If I’d be Bootes,
I’d be a friend of Ophiucus,
and both of us would drive better
Serpens, Aquila, Hydra, Piscis Australis…
to the astronomers’s hearts.

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-


Jupiter in Ophiucus
Photo: Maximilian Teodorescu

*

AUSTRAL CONSTELLATIONS

When Marco Polo found
places and people
unknown in isolated Europe,
he told about those wonders
after his return.
But uselessly,
he was considered a big liar.

It is amazing that
other things and people exist over there,
but to say that in the southern spaces
there are other constellations
is an inadmissible, false hood.
So he was imprisoned for heresy
until his affirmations were confirmed.

That because many times
elementary things are incredible
for those ignorant fanatics,
who cannot see
the simplest verity.

-Zigmund Tauberg-

*

What do you say about the famous constellations
also visible in the south hemisphere?
Or, what do you say about the constellations
of the south hemisphere?
As a man hungry for heavens,
I continue to ask you, my friends:
What do you say about Centaurus and Omega Centauri?
(For me, the Omega Centauri cluster seems to be
a stellar flapjack!)
What do you say about the Southern Cross with its Jewel Box?
(There are so many NGCs and ICs
between the Southern Cross and the False Cross…
just like roasts in a barbeque!)

-Danut Ionescu (a Romanianman established in New Zealand)-




1. Spica (Alpha of Virgo) and Moon
2. Alpha of Centaurus; 3. Crux
4. Canis Major; 5. Orion’s Belt;
Photo: Danut Ionescu (Auckland, New Zealand, South Hemisphere)

*

HAIKU

in a cold field
on the other side of my world
the southern cross

-Gerald England (U.K.,
Editor of New Hope International
and Honorary Member of the International Writers and Artists Association)

*

What do you say about the Southern Cross
seen in other conditions
(4200 m altitude, 12000 km and 12 h distance from Romania)?
Aloha!

-Ovidiu Vaduvescu (a Romanianman in Hawaii)-


Crux over Gemini Observatory, Mauna Kea, Hawaii
Photo: Ovidiu Vaduvescu

*

UNOFFICIAL CONSTELLATIONS
(astropoetic drama)

Astropoet:

The constellations are groups of stars,
arranged conventionally,
logically and fantastically.
But what can we do
when groups of constellations or groups of stars
with personality
feel so free
that pretend more attention
and attack the convention?

Summer Triangle
(Vega, Deneb, Altair):

I deserve a cosmic award
for I involve three constellations
(Lyra, Cygnus and Aquila)
and live through music and flight.

Autumn Dipper
(Perseus, Andromeda and Pegasus):

I deserve a cosmic award
for I am the greatest dipper of the skies,
greater than the Big Dipper (Ursa Major),
the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor)
and the Milk Dipper (a few poor stars in Sagittarius).
In me, three constellations
boil of elegance.

Winter Triangle
(Sirius, Procyon and Betelgeuse):

I deserve a cosmic award
for I signify,
thanks to my three constellations
(Canis Major, Canis Minor and Orion),
a perfect hunt of dreams.

Winter Hexagon
(Rigel, Aldebaran, Capella, Pollux/Castor, Procyon and Sirius):

I deserve a cosmic award
for my paradox.
I involve seven giant stars
and only six constellations
(Orion, Taurus, Auriga, Gemini, Canis Minor and Canis Major),
and I am so giant
that no space explorer can avoid me.

Magellanic Clouds (Larger and Small):

We deserve a cosmic award
for our originality.
Leave Dorado and Tucana,
our constellation-hosts,
and think of us.
We are the only dwarf galaxies
that can be seen as a
cloudy, white and peaceful constellation.

Pleiades:

We deserve a cosmic award
for our beauty.
Even so tiny,
we are just a cluster of stars
dreamt by sky lovers
as the sweetest constellation.

Argo Navis (Carina, Vela and Puppis):

I deserve a cosmic award
for I am composed of three constellations,
so I am a super-constellation,
and with the star Canopus as my pilot,
I am the most impressive ship in the Universe.

Astropoet:

Your Highnesses,
I think my proposal is truly the best:
from time to time
the official constellations can take a rest.

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-


Pleiades in Taurus
Photo: Catalin Paduraru

*

CHRISTMAS CONSTELLATIONS
(variant)

This Christmas the stars
More numerous than ever;
That bright one I do not recall.
Each year my firmament
Seems to sparkle
More brilliantly;
More sadly
And new constellations
Cloud with soul
Night skies that once seemed dark.
When I join them
I will complete Triangulum
And point down the starry, starry road
To all these love illuminated
Ghosts of Christmasses past.

-David Turner (U.K.)-


Photo: Calin Niculae

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QUATRAIN

Dear sky lovers, sometimes I wonder
Regarding the marvellous Creation:
Can a planet with satellites be
as beautiful as a constellation?

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-


Saturn
Photo: Adrian Bruno Sonka


Saturn and Satellites
Photo: Adrian Bruno Sonka

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PSEUDO-LIMERICK

But Mother Gaia?
Inspired by constellations,
she always creates
her own illuminations
(or tender conflorations).

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-









Photos: Calin Niculae

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CONSTELLATIONS
(text of an astrofolk song by Dan Mitrut,
first performed by the author at SARM’s Cosmopoetry Festival,
Perseid Event, Targoviste, 1998)

(1)

Constellations rise, constellations set,
Those who understand them become better,
We are still scared of the pyre,
But our dreams still flow.

All of us know, it is not a chimera,
The sphere is available for anything,
Maybe this is the effect of tube
And the Universe is a cube.

(chorus)

Why are you so amazed?
This world is a mirror with an inverted image
And we don’t know to separate
The mystery from the farce.

(2)

Chiefs come and promise
Colonies on the moon,
But the people who drink from the heavens
Know it is not enough to have water.

The thought invites us towards other planets
Rather on imaginary ways than by rocket,
But who is the culprit
That we are slaves of machines?

(chorus)

Why are you so amazed?
This world is a mirror with an inverted image
And we don’t know to separate
The mystery from the farce.

(3)

Another millennium passes, other comets come,
We become older, they become nicer,
And the minds that fly towards the stars
Maybe are stolen by them.

Martians laugh at us because
Our authorities tax the sky,
We know this is a bad thing,
But nothing is new under the sun.

(chorus)

Why are you so amazed?
This world is a mirror with an inverted image
And we don’t know to separate
The mystery from the farce.

(chorus 2)

Why are you so amazed?
This world is a mirror with a sad image.
The miracle is…
It exists!

-Dan Mitrut-


Dan Mitrut during an astrofolk music recital
at SARM’s Cosmopoetry Festival, Perseid Event, Corbasca, 2002

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ASTRONOMICAL NAMES
(astrohumour)

I’ve heard that a planetarium list
announced that after the 2001 total solar eclipse
some people in Zambia and Zimbabwe
named astronomically their children:
“Totality” Zhou,
“Annular” Mchombo,
“Eclipse Glasses” Banda…

In Romania,
Constantin Parvulescu (1890-1945)
was a so remarkable astronomer in stellar astronomy
that an asteroid was named after him…
and he named his children
Antares (after the brightest star in Taurus)
and Carina (after a fascinating constellation).

So let me know
if you’ve heard about names like
“Meteor” Popescu,
“Comet” Ionescu,
or “Fireball” Georgescu…

-“Evening Star” Dimitrie Olenici-


Venus and Jupiter, “Evening Stars”
Photo: Costel Opriseanu

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STELLAR SCENERIES
(by Romanian young astro-photographers)


Photo: Sorin Careba


Photo: Mihai Curtasu


Photo: Monica Butnaru

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HAIKU

Praises to those constellations
finely outlined
by small star teams

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-


Hercules
Photo: Attila Soo

*

HAIKU

Praises to those constellations
finely represented
by great stars

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-


Vega (Alpha Lyrae)
Photo: Eugen Florin Marc

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HAIKU

Praises to those constellations
finely hosting
our proud Milky Way

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-


Milky Way in Cygnus (Northern Cross)
Photo: Radu Gherase

*
* * *
*

HAIKU

Constellations -
frames for a deeper study
of the universal wonders

-Andrei Dorian Gheorghe-


Central Part of M16 in Serpens Cauda
Photo: Maximilian Teodorescu

*

LINKS

Constellation Themed Issue in Astropoetica
http://www.astropoetica.com/constellationindex.html

The 88 Constellations in SARM Golden Astropoetic Gallery
http://www.sarm.astropoetica.com/contents.html

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© 2008 SARM
(Romanian Society for Meteors and Astronomy)