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Color Explosion

They say you can’t hear explosions in space,
But you can you see them?
Can you see the color?
Can you feel the rich purple,
Spread across the deep, ink of God’s first landscape?

God loves to finger paint,
To redecorate with the pieces and colors scattered about.
He works in oranges and yellows,
Painting against a star-speckled canvas,
Blowing up the darkness,
With glorious, color and light.

This is part of my “Inspired by Space” Series.


Title: Cygnus Loop Supernova Blast Wave

Full Description:

This is an image of a small portion of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, which marks the edge of a bubble-like, expanding blast wave from a colossal stellar explosion, occurring about 15,000 years ago. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) image shows the structure behind the shock waves, allowing astronomers for the first time to directly compare the actual structure of the shock with theoretical model calculations. Besides supernova remnants, these shock models are important in understanding a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, from winds in newly-formed stars to cataclysmic stellar outbursts. The supernova blast is slamming into tenuous clouds of insterstellar gas. This collision heats and compresses the gas, causing it to glow. The shock thus acts as a searchlight revealing the structure of the interstellar medium. The detailed HST image shows the blast wave overrunning dense clumps of gas, which despite HST’s high resolution, cannot be resolved. This means that the clumps of gas must be small enough to fit inside our solar system, making them relatively small structures by interstellar standards.

A bluish ribbon of light stretching left to right across the picture might be a knot of gas ejected by the supernova; this interstellar “bullet” traveling over three million miles per hour (5 million kilometers per hour) is just catching up with the shock front, which has slowed down by ploughing into interstellar material. The Cygnus Loop appears as a faint ring of glowing gases about three degrees across (six times the diameter of the full Moon), located in the northern constellation, Cygnus the Swan. The supernova remnant is within the plane of our Milky Way galaxy and is 2,600 light-years away. The photo is a combination of separate images taken in three colors, oxygen atoms (blue) emit light at temperatures of 30,000 to 60,000 degrees Celsius (50,000 to 100,000 degrees Farenheit). Hydrogen atoms (green) arise throughout the region of shocked gas. Sulfur atoms (red) form when the gas cools to around 10,000 degrees Celsius (18,000 degrees Farenheit).

Image Number:PR93-01

Date: January 1, 1993

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God’s Moon

God’s moon
His creation
Man’s monument
Our variation

Guardian of night
Obelisk for the dead
Reflecting light
Lifting our heads

The best of us
Cannot touch the skies
Cannot pierce the veil
Where God Himself resides
And so He descends
And walks upon the Earth
And dies for us
To show us our worth

This is part of my “Inspired by Space” Series.



Title: Supermoon Lunar Eclipse

Full Description: A perigee full moon, or supermoon, is seen behind the Washington Monument during a total lunar eclipse on Sunday, September 27, 2015, in Washington, DC. The combination of a supermoon and total lunar eclipse last occurred in 1982 and will not happen again until 2033. Photo Credit: (NASA/Aubrey Gemignani)

Image Number: NHQ201509270103

Date: September 27, 2015

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Going Back into the Unknown

What awaits us beyond the atmosphere?
Why is it the unknown,
That we most fear?

New stars, new planets—life rediscovered—
At escape velocity,
Our strife is uncovered.

Each of us, exploring creation,
Have fallen short,
In our cosmic relation.

We press on into the space between stars,
Hoping for light,
Knowing that You are never too far.

This is part of my “Inspired by Space” Series.



Title: STS-26 Return to Flight Launch

Full Description: The Return to Flight launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery and its five-man crew from Pad 39B at 11:37 a.m. September 29, 1988, as Discovery embarked on a four- day, one-hour mission.

Image Number: 88PC-1001

Date: September 29, 1988

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God, the Artist

God paints
Creates
Whether anyone sees
Anyone appreciates

We taint
Desecrate
Even though He loves
We still hate

Brilliant Creator
Artistic King
Aesthetic qualities
In planetary rings

This is part of my “Inspired by Space” Series.



Title: Saturn’s Rings

Full Description: This Voyager 2 view, focusing on Saturn’s C-ring (and to a lesser extent, the B- ring at top and left) was compiled from three separate images taken through ultraviolet, clear and green filters. On August 23, 1981, when it acquired these frames, Voyager 2 was 2.7 million kilometers (1.7 million miles) from the planet. In general, C-ring material is very bland and gray, the color of dirty ice. Color differences between this ring and the B-ring indicate differing surface compositions for the material composing these complex structures. More than 60 bright and dark ringlets are evident here; the small, bland squares are caused by the removal of reseau (reference) marks during processing.

Image Number: PIA01531

Date: August 23, 1981

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Safe Landing

Falling, falling, falling
Burning, burning, burning
Who will catch me?

Snap! Suddenly, falling, slowing
Splash! Suddenly, floating, swimming

Danger to deliverance
Hell to home
In an instant
We are safe

This is part of my “Inspired by Space” Series.



Title: Apollo 9 Splashdown

Full Description: The Apollo 9 Command Module “Gumdrop”, with astronauts James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart aboard, splashes down in the Atlantic recovery area to conclude a successful ten-day, Earth orbital mission. Splashdown occurred at 12:00:53 p.m. (EST), March 13, 1969, only 4.5 nautical miles from the prime recovery ship, U.S.S. Guadalcanal.

Image Number: S69-27465

Date: March 13, 1969

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Drifting Comfortably

Drifting comfortably
Not a care in the world
Not even in the world

Weightless, worry-less
Basking in the earth-light
Rotating, revolving
Everything is alright

White speck, white star
One man can only go so far
Further up and further in
Soon he’ll walk the earth again

This is part of my “Inspired by Space” Series.



Title: Backpacking

Full Description: Mission Specialist Bruce McCandless II ventured further away from the confines and safety of his ship than any previous astronaut ever has. This space first was made possible by the Manned Manuevering Unit or MMU, a nitrogen jet propelled backpack. After a series of test maneuvers inside and above Challenger’s payload bay, McCandless went “free-flying” to a distance of 320 feet away from the Orbiter. The MMU is controlled by joy sticks positioned at the end of the arm rests. Moving the joy sticks left or right or by pulling them fires nitrogen jet thrusters propelling McCandless in any direction he chooses. A still camera is mounted on the upper right portion of the MMU. This stunning view shows McCandless with the MMU out there amongst the black and blue of Earth and space.

Image Number: SPD-GRIN-GPN-2000-00 1156

Date: February 7, 1984

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