Merry Astronomical Christmas

I ran across this and thought it worthy of passing along............



The Observer’s Night Before Christmas


Twas a night in December and in those dark skies
Was so much to view there, to my great surprise.
The planets did shine with reflected light
The moon, it hung low, and just out of sight.

Then, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a bright meteor, a Geminid, I fear.
It lit up the sky and then went away,
It was so awesome that I wished it could stay.

I turned to see Saturn and watched it with awe
I couldn’t believe all the detail I saw.
The rings were so sharp and easy to see.
From A ring to B ring as well as Cassini.

And then on to Jupiter with all of its bands;
The Red Spot was crossing, a sight to command.
The moons did their dance around its huge face,
And I watched it in wonder, just rooted in place.

And then as I stood there alone in the dark
I thought that I heard a faint jolly word, “Hark!”
And into my vision a big sleigh did arrive
And in it a red-suited elf who did drive.

And as I stood frozen in stunned disbelief
I soon gladly discovered to my great relief
That he was a new friend who wanted to view
All the night sky sites with my telescope, too.

Deep sky objects beckoned as they came into view
The Horsehead and Pleiades and M42
I showed him many objects throughout that long night
He chuckled and exclaimed as he watched in delight.

And when he was finished, he climbed up on his sleigh
He tossed me a gift and then went on his way.
His kind words I’ll share with you, it seems only right,
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"


From the Willingboro Astronomical Society

Wayne Howell:
I ran across this and thought it worthy of passing along............

The Observer’s Night Before Christmas
Twas a night in December and in those dark skies
Was so much to view there, to my great surprise...

Ouch! Nope, sorry. Not worthy. Please don't take this personally, but
the original is a masterpiece of such beauty and grace that for someone
with toddler-level grammar to re-write it seems a travesty.

"The moon, it hung low..." !!?? Help!!

Davoud

"The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
gave the lustre of midday to objects below..."

--
usenet *at* davidillig dawt com

Well, call me low brow!

I liked it!

Davoud wrote:

Wayne Howell:

I ran across this and thought it worthy of passing along............

The Observer’s Night Before Christmas
Twas a night in December and in those dark skies
Was so much to view there, to my great surprise...

Ouch! Nope, sorry. Not worthy. Please don't take this personally, but
the original is a masterpiece of such beauty and grace that for someone
with toddler-level grammar to re-write it seems a travesty.

--
Tom Rankin - Programmer by day, amateur astronomer by night!
Mid-Hudson Astronomy Association - http://jump.to/mhaa

When replying, remove the capital letters from my email address.

On 12/02/03 22:36 +0900, Tom Rankin wrote:

Well, call me low brow!

I liked it!

I have to shave above the bridge of my nose; otherwise, I'd only
have one eyebrow.

I liked it, too.

trane
--
//------------------------------------------------------------
// Trane Francks Tokyo, Japan
// Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.
// http://mp3.com/trane_francks/

I purchased a 24x36 poster of the Seven Sisters for my son's room.

Its the first light, wonderful night sky, we saw through the Astroscan.

"Oh Mom, there's thousands of stars."

Cathy



Wayne Howell wrote:
I ran across this and thought it worthy of passing along............



The Observer’s Night Before Christmas


Twas a night in December and in those dark skies
Was so much to view there, to my great surprise.
The planets did shine with reflected light
The moon, it hung low, and just out of sight.

Then, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a bright meteor, a Geminid, I fear.
It lit up the sky and then went away,
It was so awesome that I wished it could stay.

I turned to see Saturn and watched it with awe
I couldn’t believe all the detail I saw.
The rings were so sharp and easy to see.
From A ring to B ring as well as Cassini.

And then on to Jupiter with all of its bands;
The Red Spot was crossing, a sight to command.
The moons did their dance around its huge face,
And I watched it in wonder, just rooted in place.

And then as I stood there alone in the dark
I thought that I heard a faint jolly word, “Hark!”
And into my vision a big sleigh did arrive
And in it a red-suited elf who did drive.

And as I stood frozen in stunned disbelief
I soon gladly discovered to my great relief
That he was a new friend who wanted to view
All the night sky sites with my telescope, too.

Deep sky objects beckoned as they came into view
The Horsehead and Pleiades and M42
I showed him many objects throughout that long night
He chuckled and exclaimed as he watched in delight.

And when he was finished, he climbed up on his sleigh
He tossed me a gift and then went on his way.
His kind words I’ll share with you, it seems only right,
"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"


From the Willingboro Astronomical Society