Showing posts with label Star-gazing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star-gazing. Show all posts

Guest Post: Twinkle twinkle little star

A few months back, while sweating away over my dissertation I asked Snowy if she would be kind enough to write a blog post for me. Being the genuinely kind person she is, she heartily agreed. I hope you enjoy what she wrote as much as I did. Thank you very much Snowy.

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Dawn was breaking, the whole world was fast asleep but she was wide awake. Her mind and eyes tired, but full of questions. Sleep ran away from her, and today she was tired of chasing. As she stared at the heavens, a smile emerged on her lips. How could one not stare at the beauty above with awe? The stars twinkled mischievously as though they were hiding a secret from her. A secret she would so often ponder on those rare but peaceful moments. It was breath taking. Her arm’s itched to reach up and pocket herself a little diamond. One that would warm her with it’s resonating light and could be worn as a talisman around her neck when time’s were hard. Sighing with longing, reality hit her like a whip hits bare flesh. Sharp and painful. She gazed down and in front of her saw the path she took everyday to make her dreams come true. How ironic it was, that it was paved with nothing but broken dreams. Filled with paddies of flowers and thorns, it meandered like a river twists and turns - maybe it represents the unforeseen turns her life took? Instantly, she shook her head. She diverted her attention back to the velvet canopy above. No, she wouldn’t think about that. Not today. Why waste a beautiful night contemplating on bitter thoughts? She had tasted the flavour of bitterness before; it had almost engulfed her. Infected her even! She would seek refuge in the stars tonight.

Then she begin to think. What if the sky was just a canopy? An intricate architectural overlay which could only be looked at - never touched. Or a mirror? Reflecting a reverse image of all that took place down below. Maybe, behind it lay the secret of the heavens? That no human can ever bear to know. What if the luminous stars were a reflection of the bittersweet symphony playing below? And what of those stars that shone quietly and just as luminously as the moon? Heavily underestimated, overlooked and forgotten. But then again, it was all quite simple. They represented the people on earth who shone quietly and as luminously as the moon. Who silently emitted rays of light into even the darkest corners of the earth. The Saints. The one’s who flourished out of the media spotlight - who never made a dictionary definition of themselves or insisted their name be uttered by many. They were happy to be remembered by a few. A supernatural phenomenon which scientists and physicians were oblivious too, but which philosophers ached to know. When alive, they lit the earth and when dead, they lit the sky. So so beautifully - one’s eyes have to blink a thousand times to capture the serene miracle. Guiding all the lost souls below in the dark but so iridescently. These stars - are more than just pretty, glowing specks of light. They were symbol’s of hope. Why?
Because
they
never
stopped
shining.

Snowyy ★
@Snowyy_
http://snowyy22.tumblr.com/

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Unfortunately I do not have a source for the picture used in this post, for which I apologise.

Let’s dance in style, let’s dance for a while. Heaven can wait, we’re only watching the stars…

Around the World in 80 Telescopes

When I was young, about 13 or so, my dad brought me a telescope and microscope to explore both the micro-universe and the macro-universe. They were modest things; the telescope had a maximum zoom of 400x and the microscope’s zoom was 200x. I used to love standing out in the garden during the depths of the night, just staring up at the stars and following planes. As I grew older and astronomy no longer had a place in the physics curriculum my star gazing days were left behind. Instead, my eyes were turned away from the heavens and towards the universe that lies within us, and here I am today studying all about it. Recently, I saw a link to The sky at night on BBC Iplayer, which sent me hurtling back to the nights of stargazing. The sheer size, magnitude and beauty of the universe, here at home on earth and out beyond the reach of my little grey telescope is awe inspiring and extremely humbling. So I decided to collect some beautiful pictures from NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the day website and share them with you. Each picture has an explanation, and caption which you can view by clicking on it. Enjoy!

Trees, Sky, Galactic Eye

A Galilean Night

 Old Faith-Full Moon

Noctilucent Cloud Storm Panorama

The Milky Way Over the Badlands

The Milky Way Over Devils Tower

A Triple Sunrise Over Gdansk Bay

Aurora Over Edmonton

Earthrise

Orion's Horsehead Nebula

The Butterfly Nebula from Upgraded Hubble

The Seagull Nebula

The Whale and the Hockey Stick

Whirlpool Galaxy Deep Field

Sculpting the South Pillar

Smile in the Sky

You remember once I said smiles can be found any where if you look hard enough? Well there’s a smile in the beautiful photograph above. See if you can spot it.

Holy Quran 67:4

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Title: Forever Young – Jay Z ft. Mr Hudson
All Photographs – Taken from http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
Holy Qur’an, Surah Al Mulk, Chapter 67 : Verse 4