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dmfalk
dmfalk's Gallery (180)

Poem: Pink and Yellow Fields (A tribute to Gliese 581)
Description: Ilene, a leptictidium out of time...
1268052468.dmfalk_gliese581poem.txt
Keywords poem 515, tribute 457, exoplanet 7, 581 5, gliese 4
Pink and Yellow Fields
=================
A tribute to the exoplanets of Gliese 581, a red dwarf star system 20.5 light-years away, with four known planets, including the first known rocky worlds found in a star's habitable zone.

By Dennis M. Falk
8 March 2010
==================
I stand in your pink and yellow fields
Under a pinkish-blue sky
Of your long midday

My feet feel heavy
For your bigger world
And warm red sun

I follow your crystalline river
Shade under black and brown trees
Taste your sweet fruit

Far away but nearby
First habitable worlds
So close!

Colours!
Red, pink, orange, yellow, brown and black
But no green

The air I breathe
Thick, warm, heavy
But not uncomfortable

Sounds!
Many animals
Flying, running, swimming

Home
Bright, furry creatures
Big eyes

I stand in your pink and yellow fields
And I call your worlds
Earth's sisters
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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by dmfalk
First in pool
Amy at Gliese 581
Song Parody Lyrics: "Foggy Days (1982)
Decimal Clock
Show 1 More Pool...
Song Parody Lyrics: "Foggy Days (1982)
[Poem - Spoken audio] Pink and Yellow Fields
First new poem in quite a while- This time, a tribute to one of the star systems known to have planets around them- And first known to have a terrestrial-type world in the habitable zone of any other star than our own Sun: Gliese 581, aka HO Librae. (Hey, I'm a Libra! This star is in my zodiac sign! :D )

We don't really know what's on these worlds, yet- Our search for exosolar worlds, while only less than 2 decades old, is still in its infancy, and we have yet to get down to Earth-mass planets within habitable zones-- Gliese 581 d, the third-discovered of four known planets, and the furthest out, with the approximate distance from its host star equal to that of Mercury from our Sun, is about 7 Earth masses, have a potential gravity about twice that of Earth's, and has the best chance for free, flowing water of any exoplanet, of the 500 exoplanets known as of this writing. (If you have an iPod touch or iPhone, get the free app "Exoplanets"- A bit heady, but not disappointing, if you're as interested as I for the search of these new worlds!)

Imagine standing on this world-- I could see my mousie, Amy, doing so, although a bit bewildered as to how she got there! :)

This is to always say "Dare to Dream!"

d.m.f.
Keywords
poem 515, tribute 457, exoplanet 7, 581 5, gliese 4
Details
Type: Writing - Document
Published: 13 years, 4 months ago
Rating: General
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18 Comments on this Submission
Leave a Comment...
unsent
unsent
12 years, 3 months ago
link
Edited 12 years, 3 months ago by Owner
I just explored Gliese 581 with Celestia :D

(While reading the beautiful poem of course)
dmfalk
dmfalk
12 years, 3 months ago
link
Celestia's a fantastic planetarium program, and had it been around when I got my first computer, I might've written more. :) It was exactly what I was looking for in an astronomy program when I was just starting out with personal computers. :)

Speaking of, I need to update my resource files for Celestia- Haven't done that since July! :P

"Pink and Yellow Fields" could fit any earthlike planet around any red dwarf star, but I did have Gliese 581d in mind when I wrote it, as this was well before the current crop of Kepler discoveries. :) And thanks for the compliment- I'm quite proud of this poem, and the beauty I imagine would be on such a world. :)

d.m.f.
unsent
unsent
12 years, 3 months ago
link
And if there is life on Gliese, you might have just got the colours well, D's reddish. Or at least Celestia says it is. Celestia also shows 5 planets around Gliese 581.
dmfalk
dmfalk
12 years, 3 months ago
link
Should only show four- In order from their host star, e, b, c, d. The de-facto exosolar planet naming convention assumes the hist star always as "a". There has been controversy over whether there's an f (beyond d) and g (between c and d), with current figures not supporting these planets' existence. What might be tripping these false readings is that Glise 581 d might have a moon or two. If it does, the planet's not tidally locked. (Simple tidal dynamo effect.)

But yes, the colours I imagine are based on the likely colours plants would most likely deflact, as these wavelengths would be at the peak brightness. This doesn't mean there won't be green or bluel only far less of it, in favour of black, brown, pink, red, purple, maroon, orange and yellow. (Our own Sun's peak energy is at the yellow-green mark, which is why green is so dominant in the visible light range. Ironically, plants reflect far more optical infrared, which makes them glow a whit or bright cyan in infrared-sensitive digital camera sensors, something I'm quite familiar with, having experimented in infrared photography.) Gliese 581's peak is just in optical infrared, just under optical red, so this would be about where plants would peak the most in colour.

This is of course the idea behind the pic of Amy at Gliese 581, which is used as a thumbnail for the poem. :)

d.m.f.
unsent
unsent
12 years, 3 months ago
link
Edited 12 years, 3 months ago by Owner
Those colours of plants are appealing. Purple. I like Purple.

And even if D doesn't have moons, technically, if it had a thick enough atmosphere it could have the temperatures even throughout both sides even if it was Tidally Locked.

And since it's at an orbit around as far away as Mercury is from Sol, it doesn't necessarily have to be Tidally Locked even if it has no moons. I hope there's some kind of life on the planets around Gliese 581. I also hope G is actually a moon.
dmfalk
dmfalk
12 years, 3 months ago
link
The dynamics of a tidally-locked planet's atmosphere are proving to be interesting, as we see this on Titan and, while not truly tidally-locked, Venus-- Both distribute their climates very well.

This would mean that even at the peak of the sunward side, it won't get too hot- Warm, but not uninhabitable. On the dark side, it would never get colder than say, the Arctic, but most likely just below 0 deg. F, much like the climate on the western side of Svalbard. The habitable zone would not be a narrow ring, but probably 75-80% of the planet. When I wrote the "Letter from Oberon" piece, this is exactly what I had in mind.

And so far, you're the only other person I know of to figure this out, but because the size of the host star is about 1/3 our Sun, its tidal pull will also be significantly less!

d.m.f.
unsent
unsent
12 years, 3 months ago
link
I had a course in Astrophysics when I was 16.
dmfalk
dmfalk
12 years, 3 months ago
link
*envious* They didn't know what to do with me when I was that age... :P Part of the problem, though, is that I'm not good at math, particularly division, so I could never get past basic algebra. :P

d.m.f.
unsent
unsent
12 years, 3 months ago
link
Compared to every single one of my friends in college, I am shit at Maths. I understand all these equations because I have a very good memory, since around 6 years of my life were wiped away from it years ago. I'm pretty sure I'm one of the worst mathematicians at Cambridge. It's also easy for me to understand all these concepts because when I was a kid, or at least, till the furthest place where my memory goes, I was always obsessed with the Universe, Particle Physics, and Trans-Universial Travel. I still am obsessed with all these things, but now even more.
Except, I don't think like most scientists do. I don't see most things as equations and problems with particles. I assume and imagine everything, then get someone to help me with the math, and then we get drunk off our asses (rarely...) :P
Oh and, Have a ★Star or Two★
dmfalk
dmfalk
12 years, 3 months ago
link
:D Very Adamsian of you!

I think we both fit cosmology best, of course in our own ways, because both of us see The Bigger Picture, and can appreciate the sheer beauty of our beloved Universe, being just as fascinated by the latest news in the various space science fields... Hell, Sagan would be creaming his pants, were he alive today, to see all the advances done since he passed on... :)

d.m.f.
unsent
unsent
12 years, 3 months ago
link
I wish Sagan was still alive. I have a few heroes in my life, and only 3 of the 10 or 15 are still alive.

Michio Kaku, Stephen Hawking and This actor who's name I can't remember for some unknown reason (maybe due to the fact I just watched Sherlock Holmes) who played in a Pirate movie. Or 4.
dmfalk
dmfalk
12 years, 3 months ago
link
Depp's an excellent character actor- Seems like character acting is a forgotten art at times, though... (Though I think Hollywood has largely lost its way, as this past year was the worst in quite a while for both movies & TV, and so they blame everyone else BUT themselves for their financial losses, of course. :P

I feel sorry for Hawking's incredible difficulty he's having now in communicating.

Oh, and while I'm at it, thanks for the +fave... :) I rarely thank anyone for +faves, but I do appreciate it when someone does- It means I'm doing something right. :)

d.m.f.
unsent
unsent
12 years, 3 months ago
link
You know, I can't believe I managed to forget Johnny Depp's name.
dmfalk
dmfalk
12 years, 3 months ago
link
His characters tend to be more memorable than himself. :)

d.m.f.
unsent
unsent
12 years, 3 months ago
link
Yes. Jack Sparrow - That crazy-ass muthafuckah with da rum.
dmfalk
dmfalk
12 years, 3 months ago
link
:D

'Bout the funniest pirate imaginable... :)

d.m.f.
FuzzFace
FuzzFace
7 years, 4 months ago
link
I like how you seem to make the impression as if you have been there.
dmfalk
dmfalk
7 years, 4 months ago
link
Thank you-- The mind's eye does wonderful things... :) And thank you for all your comments on my other writings! :) I'm glad my writing has left quite an impression! :)

d.m.f.
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