(April 2021; 31 years in space)
By Janice Surlin
“Double, double toil and trouble,”
Words to create a witch’s brew—
But leave it up to Hubble
To create this spectacular view!
“Star light, star bright,”
Hubble sees you day and night;
Launched aboard Discovery Space Shuttle,
1.4 million observations have come from Hubble!
H. G. Wells’ “The Time Machine” **
Couldn’t do what Hubble does,
Take us back 13 billion years to a young Universe
With stars and galaxies abuzz! ***
There are too many awesome facts
About Hubble in this poem to share,
But here are a few of which you might
Like to be aware:
Its size is compared to a large school bus,
24,500 pounds is what it weighs—
Its two 25-foot solar panels get energy from the sun, ****
Travels 17,500 miles per hour throughout its days!
Orbits the Earth about 340 miles above,
Each day around 15 times it circles the Earth—
Helps scientists map dark matter in the Universe—
All its observations are of incalculable worth!
Servicing our vehicles here on Earth,
Not a welcome but inevitable endeavor—
Servicing the Hubble Telescope,
Also necessary, however . . .
It takes a rocket to do it,
On a space shuttle, a 7-member crew—
Since 1990 there have been 5 servicing trips
For spacewalking astronauts to update or repair
What they “fly” up there to do!
The Hubble has lasted beyond all expectations,
And while servicing ended in two thousand nine,
It could function throughout this whole decade perhaps—
When the James Webb Space Telescope is launched in October, its Observations with Hubble will combine!
By now you can gather I’m fascinated by
The Universe—its origins, its existence, and ours—
All my reading, contemplation, and more reading,
Led to a book after writing for hours . . .
So, if any of you is spiritually inclined,
Please keep my new book, “The Greatest Mystery,” in mind—
It’s just a small book, with a big message you’ll find,
And each uplifting verse is enjoyably rhymed.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/099817002X/ref=rdr_ext_tmb
* “Monkey Head Nebula”: 6,400 light years from Earth—in miles:
3.7 x 1016 — located in the constellation Orion — it’s known
as a “stellar nursery” because of its many star births; “ultraviolet light from bright stars helps carve dust into giant pillars as shown.”
** One of my all-time movie favorites —the original version.
*** The light they emitted is now just being seen after crossing
Space for 13 billion years; the Universe is thought to be around
13.8 billion years old.
**** Powered by sunlight, its solar cells convert the Sun’s energy
into about 5,500 watts of electricity. Some is stored in
6 nickel-hydrogen batteries for when Hubble is in Earth’s shadow.
Average power usage is about 2,100 watts: average hair dryer
requires about 1,800 watts.
