Cosmic Crab Poem by Harley White
Cosmic Crab
The Nebula Crab got its picturesque name
from portrayal resembling those creatures
drawn by William Parsons of stargazer fame
like crustacean with decapod features.
This faint supernova remnant in Taurus
is clearly shown thanks to the Hubble scope
as though filament threads on background porous,
a sight suggestive of many a trope.
On the fourth of July in ten fifty-four
‘twas by Chinese astronomers spotted
plus seen during day for around a month more,
thus with epithet "guest star" allotted.
That gaseous complex of tendrils and strands
measures ten light-years for the time being,
spreading perpetually as it expands,
from rotating pulsar center fleeing.
It's M1 in the Messier catalogue,
also called NGC one nine five two,
with a ghostly dead star that's lost in the fog
of mysterious wispy cloudscape view.
The neutron star middle is massive as Sun
but with size of only a little town,
yet that bright mosaic arrangement was spun
into gossamer form of great renown.
Through Hubble assemblage exposures varied
the colorful image attained its birth
with blue, green, red, orange together married,
six thousand five hundred light-years from Earth!
This oddly termed Nebula Crab can evoke
fabulous dreams about cosmical realms
and fires of poetic inventiveness stoke
with scene spectacular that overwhelms.
What wondrous vision might we be perceiving? —
a peek at another celestial world
where intricate channels lead in their weaving
to unknown domains in dimensions curled?
No matter whether our reveries wander
further than science hypotheses lie
to twilight zones past the limits of yonder,
there'll always be more than meets mind or eye…
Image explanation ~The Crab Nebula, the result of a supernova noted by Earth-bound chroniclers in 1054 A.D., is filled with mysterious filaments that are not only tremendously complex but appear to have less mass than expelled in the original supernova and a higher speed than expected from a free explosion. The Crab Nebula spans about 10 light-years. In the nebula's very center lies a pulsar: a neutron star as massive as the Sun but with only the size of a small town. The Crab Pulsar rotates about 30 times each second.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Hester, A. Loll (ASU)
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8/28/2026 7:28:29 PM # rel_20260827T145718Z_a0f1bd3
Your last three stanzas did not let me down, fabulous dreams of cosmic realms indeed! ! ! twilight zones past the limits of yonder is expected from that beautiful mind of yours, whenever I read your poetry I am taken on a journey to the unknown, you are such a rarity my friend, thank you for continuing to post your cosmic works of poetic art! ! !
Ah, there you are! Always such a pleasure to see that you have read and commented on my poems! For me, you are a rarity yourself! You seem to enter into my poems in a profound way and this makes my efforts feel worthwhile! Thank you for marvelous words!