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Tribute to Bob Eklund

By Andrei Dorian Gheorghe posted 2 days ago
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TRIBUTE TO BOB EKLUND (1998-2021) Astro-photo-poem by Andrei Dorian Gheorghe and Florin Alexandru Stancu (design) (Author’s note: I took the pictures below in August 2021) As an astro-haiku expert, he founded the Astropoetry Blog when he was 82 years old, becoming a world leader in astropoetry. I remember with much pleasure our dialogues by email for the good of astropoetry. I was convinced he was immortal. That's why when I walk through the solar system with my own rocket I'm sure I'll find him in a sunspot, or in a lunar crater, or even in Jupiter’s red spot just writing a new astro-haiku. ...
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THE MOON GLOW

By Mirosław Wójcik posted 3 days ago
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Image details: The Moon Credit: © 2012 Mirosław Wójcik THE MOON GLOW in memory of Bob Eklund It is sad news that in the recent days, Bob has heard - paraphrasing Harley's White words - "the cosmos call". Nevertheless, I think he can now experience this amazing, breathtaking feeling because in heavens, in blue heavens together with our mortal, transitory body is gliding his immortal soul... Bob enjoyed once "The Moon glow". Therefore, I am republishing this poem to commemorate him as the creator of the Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) AstroPoetry Blog, a poet and an AWB fellow who always advised me how to draw better verses. ...
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This Insubstantial Pageant

By Harley White posted 4 days ago
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This Insubstantial Pageant Upon our stage we romp and rage in Goldilocks’s golden cage amongst colossal cosmic crowd with spark of liveliness endowed of pomp and circumstantial fate, whose worth we underestimate, in constant discontentment caught ‘and sicklied o’er in cast of thought so enterprises turn awry’, with not an inkling as to why. Oh actors in this earthly scene, what do your frantic antics mean? ‘The heartaches and the thousand shocks that flesh is heir to’ come in flocks, while nature tenders wherewithal if we but list her earnest call in lieu of inner outer din that sends the senses in a spin. ...
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Peace Deployed - In Honor of Bob Eklund

By Andee Sherwood posted 6 days ago
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Bob Eklund will always be remembered as a beloved mentor and friend to all of the poets found in our AstroPoetry blog. He was always available to help a poet with their work and provided kind and heartfelt feedback for all. As an Amateur Astronomer, Bob motivated others to become more involved in the science of astronomy and to look up more often, to observe the glorious beauty of the night sky. The following poem is one which Bob enjoyed and I am reposting it in his honor. . Peace Deployed No one noticed the sunset tonight As the final flame disappeared in the sea. No one paid attention to the beauty outside. All eyes glued to computers ...
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AWB Statement about Afghanistan Crisis

By Frances Azaren posted 8 days ago
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AWB Statement about Afghanistan Crisis Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) is deeply concerned by the situation in Afghanistan. This concern is first and foremost for the people of Afghanistan, particularly those groups that are most vulnerable, including women and children. The current crisis has generated a great deal of uncertainty and worry for many in our extended AWB community. We join the global call for safeguarding and respecting human rights of all those in Afghanistan and around the world. As a leading voice of astronomy enthusiasts, educators and scientists in the global astronomical community, AWB puts particular emphasis on the ...
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From the classroom to the end of the galaxy - School students build telescopes in Israel

By Eden Orion posted 13 days ago
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It all started over thirty years ago. I read the book "Black Box" by Amos Oz. The book describes a letter exchange between a pair of divorced parents Alexander and Ilana. Their son - Boaz, is in the gaping abyss. Boaz finds a part of his wandering soul between his two parents in the construction of telescopes. In some of his letters to his father he asks him to purchase and send him components for telescope making from the United States. In some letters Boaz tell his father little about the practical knowledge he acquires in the field of optics. Of course, this is not the essence of the book and, to be exact: It is all about a page and a half. These ...
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Cosmic Calling

By Harley White posted 13 days ago
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In memory of Bob Eklund, I am again posting my pantoum “Cosmic Calling”. In our correspondence, he told me the poem was a favorite of his. So I am presenting it here as an homage to Bob, the creator of the Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) AstroPoetry Blog. Bob Eklund was my original Stellar Muse and inspiration for my astro-poems. We also shared many email conversations about poetry and literature which I still miss. He will always be with me in spirit! Cosmic Calling The cosmos calls us when our day is done as gazes turn above to starry spheres, concealed in presence of the sovereign sun, while once again the dark ...
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Help classify Perseids

By Victoriano Canales Cerdá posted 15 days ago
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Since this August 29 there is a contest organized by the Sky Sounds Project (Spain), which consists of classifying the highest number of echoes caused by the Perseids between the 11th, 12th and 13th of this month of August. To participate you must enter the account created on the Zooniverse platform, where you will have all the instructions for the activity. You have all the information of the activity in: https://cslab-upm.github.io/sonidosdelcielo/prensa/1-2021-08-25-concurso-perseidas (Spanish) The winner will get a meteorite of great scientific value, an unclustered ataxite called DJEBEL KAMIL, found in Egypt in 2009.
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Nights of the Shooting Stars 2021 august 12-13-14

By Raoul Lannoy posted 15 days ago
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This year, the Nights of the Shooting Stars, in Belgium, were kind of an opportunity to see our friends after all those months . At the Eurospace Center, on the 12th, there were about 1.300 persons (for the day). There had been works, renovations at the place (the greatest european Space camp) and we had to figure out were to park, were to expose and were to show the stars. Several clubs were showing their activities and enlarged astronomy pictures by their members. I went to listen to a conference about Newspace. Then, after supper, I went to the observation site. We could see planets, the Moon, the Milky Way and several Perseids ! At our observation site in ...
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Tugging Triplet Galaxies

By Harley White posted 16 days ago
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Tugging Triplet Galaxie s Far from terrestrial fighting and fears by Hubble spied in Lynx constellation, over seven hundred million light-years beyond our orbit of habitation, a scene from theatrical cosmic play appears to be showing on giant stage of triple galactic tug-of-war fray where great gravitational wills engage. The system UGC Four Six Five Three in Atlas of those ‘peculiar’ is filed with galaxies ‘weirder, wondrous’ to see by Halton Arp astro-watcher compiled. This topical stargazer, unconvinced along with some others that redshifts meant Big Bang cosmological was evinced, proposed conversely they ...
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Star Party 2021 - Cyberspace, Sri Lanka

By B.G. Eranga Thilina Jayashantha posted 18 days ago
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Star Party 2021 - Cyberspace, Sri Lanka. The Largest Astronomy Observation Competition in South Asia Star Party , Sri Lanka is the Largest High-School level Astronomical event in Sri Lanka and it is organized annually by Anandian Astronomical Association and Astronomical Society of Mahamaya Girls' College, Kandy which are the pioneering schools of Sri Lankan high-school based Astronomy. In every year, the event held in a specific day at Peradeniya University premises for 15 hours overnight. Star party , Sri Lanka the event has a legendary history of 17 years which has been associated with its quality and the scope. The event consists of the first-ever ...
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ROCKS' RUN

By Mirosław Wójcik posted 23 days ago
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ROCKS' RUN T hey often say us that only we live in a constant rush Meanwhile, high above mundanity of man's matters, another peculiar run takes place Very spectacular but much more temporal than seems to be our presence The rocks from outer space * simply try to reach the planet EARTH Maybe they just compete or it's a well-though-out subject of somebody's bid Nevertheless, the finish is drawn by a blue line and bright trace. Mirosław Wójcik | August 24, 2021 | Poland * The constellation Perseus. #poetry
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Perseid Meteor Shower Event in Belvoir Fortress, Israel

By Eden Orion posted 28 days ago
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Hello to all of you. Last Thursday I had the opportunity to conduct an Astro Event for all ages in Belvoir Fortress , Jordan Valley, Israel. The place is quite dark and it was arranged by the National Parks Authority to more than 2000 visitors at a time. more than 1500 people attended and came. Since it is COVID 19 time, We did not want the visitors to look directly through the eyepieces and instead I connected a camera to the scope and via the computer we were able to project the images in LIVE to a big screen . Along the projections we gave some talks about the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter and about Meteor showers in general. At 23:00 we ...
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Astronomical vanlife in the French Alps

By Michel Deconinck posted 28 days ago
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I spend one full week on the road to use the dark sky of the french alps. Visit of the AstroValberg event You can probably see on the foot of the pannel the spot made to light the sky... Lot of work here... Anyway that was a nice event with lot of publicity and the help of different local clubs, the public was there too Two nice footpaths are proposed to show astronomical planets and other celestial objects or explaining the concept of light pollution in the forest. After the visit I was looking for a better place to observe the very bright (naked eye visibility easy) recurrent nova RS Oph, the nova in Cassiopea and the beginig of ...
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Sun Sonnet

By Harley White posted 29 days ago
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Sun Sonnet The sun is ruler of our earthly realm. O’er solar planets it maintains its reign, each morning taking luminescent helm for daily doings in our world’s terrain. The varied rocky planets had a time perhaps with weather mild, when water flowed, where life might well have blossomed in their clime upon an evolutionary road. But neither orbits nor sun’s heat are set for stars show spans of years by billions gauged and globes which then could host a live vignette shut down their stage as stellar sphere has aged… If other planets once had welcome air, what came to pass with any beings there? ~ Harley White ...
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ISS (from SARM’s Perseid Camp 2021 - Part I)

By Valentin Grigore posted 08-16-2021
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ISS (from SARM’s Perseid Camp 2021 - Part I) By Valentin Grigore and Andrei Dorian Gheorghe #poetry
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ISS (from SARM’s Perseid Camp 2021 - Part I)

By Valentin Grigore posted 08-16-2021
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ISS (from SARM’s Perseid Camp 2021 - Part I) By Valentin Grigore and Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
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SUMMER METEORS (from SARM’s Perseid Camp 2021 - Part I)

By Valentin Grigore posted 08-13-2021
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SUMMER METEORS (from SARM’s Perseid Camp 2021 - Part I) By Valentin Grigore and Andrei Dorian Gheorghe #poetry
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SUMMER METEORS (from SARM’s Perseid Camp 2021 - Part I)

By Valentin Grigore posted 08-13-2021
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SUMMER METEORS (from SARM’s Perseid Camp 2021 - Part I) By Valentin Grigore and Andrei Dorian Gheorghe
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