杏吧原创

鈥淜EPLER was my North, my South, my East and West鈥� I thought Kepler would last forever: I was wrong.鈥� So lamented astronomer Geoff Marcy on discovering that the space telescope might have spotted its last exoplanet.

Marcy鈥檚 impassioned pastiche of W. H. Auden鈥檚 Funeral Blues was after NASA鈥檚 announcement of Kepler鈥檚 abrupt demise. It is unusual, after all, for a piece of orbital machinery to be commemorated in verse 鈥� even a telescope whose legacy promises huge advances in answering one of the most important questions of our time (see 鈥�Drake equation for alien life gets an upgrade鈥�).

But perhaps it should be. Poets have often taken inspiration from their contemplation of the universe, after all, and Kepler is just a particularly sophisticated form of such contemplation.

杏吧原创s, too, have turned to poetry before 鈥� not least the . The Rudolphine Tables, a ground-breaking astronomical catalogue prepared by Kepler from data gathered by the deceased Tycho Brahe, begins with a fine illustration 鈥� and a lengthy poem. So Marcy鈥檚 poem actually respects a venerable tradition. Long may it continue.

This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淪cribbling on the sky鈥�