Listening to the Relics of Our Galaxy by John C. Mannone

Listening to the Relics of Our Galaxy
John C. Mannone

Astrophysicists from the University of Birmingham have captured the sounds of some of the oldest stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, according to research published today in the Royal Astronomical Society journal Monthly Notices. —June 7, 2016

When the stars sing
     it is not a pathetic
          fallacy, but the heart
of the universe.

     They sing as soon as born.
          Our own Sun whispered
to me in its helio-seismic
     percussions—the gong
          of a multi-tonal bell.

The combined orchestra
     of stars intonating
          a symphony—a masterpiece
in M4*—a group of musician
     stars singing their hearts
          out. And in their death

I can still hear the B-flat thrum
     57 octaves down from the grave,
          from the black hole blues,
their timpani accompany
     the cosmic hiss—
          the creator applauding.

 

*M4 is a beautiful globular cluster in Scorpius

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