Stephan’s Quintet
written by: Craig R Kirchner
Galaxies in the Pegasus constellation,
discovered by Edouard Stephan,
photographed now by the James Webb telescope,
which is in an orbit
one million miles from earth.
This cluster is 290 million light years from us,
there are almost 6 trillion miles in a light year.
If a telescope in this Quintet
is photographing us, today, they are
witnessing the dawn of dinosaurs.
We cannot conceive infinity, but these numbers,
this vastness, make things we worship,
and worry about seem totally insignificant.
In my future, all five or ten years of it,
when I’m totally depressed by politics,
perplexed by the questions of religion, mortality,
or my inability to open anything child proof
without breaking a nail or chipping a tooth,
I will be consulting with Webb, Stephan,
and this photo to give it some big picture context.
- In The Corners - October 8, 2024
- Stephan’s Quintet - August 9, 2024
- Green Aura - June 6, 2024
