There’s been some BIG SPACE NEWS! Fans of Astro Poetica will already know how much I love BIG SPACE NEWS but this is extraordinary. Two neutron stars have been observed colliding and sending out gravitational waves. This will lead to a whole new way to see the Universe!

A neutron star is a very small (just 12 miles across) star which is SO BLOOMING HEAVY that a teaspoon of it has a mass of 12 BILLION TONNES. And when two neutron stars collide the result is so much energy that rare elements (like GOLD) are formed.

This all got my poetry wig twitching and so I wrote this poem!

They were playing football side by side
when the ball was passed but then went wide
so she dove first, he followed after
(we’re still not sure which one was dafter)
and from this one not great decision
there came a cracking head collision
two mighty noggins hit so fast
the noise we heard would last and last
beginning with a mighty shout
and then with shockwaves reaching out
these ripples rocked and split apart
(with a sound some said was like a fart)
the children vanished out of sight
merging into one great light
which lit the sky and then went dark
leaving us stood in the park
looking to the makeshift goal
which had become a new black hole.

—

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Image credit: NASA.