Strange Universe

05/08/2020 –  Poem a Day Compilation



There’s a planet in our universe

With the wonderfully inventive name

Of HD 131399Ab

Which plays a very dangerous game.



Luckily, it’s located very far

From this tiny planet we call home

Around 340 light years away

Making safe our little biome.



But in the constellation Centaurus

Scorpion-1b, as we’ll call it for short,

Has a unique relationship

With the suns it wishes to court.



If Scorpion-1b were to be found

In our solar system by chance

It would dwarf even Jupiter and

Make astronomers take a second glance.



Its system has not just one sun,

Not two, but three suns in total

Linked to them in fine balance

And, by their gravity, it is motile.



Its orbit is extraordinarily long,

Taking 550 earth years to complete;

Around the biggest of the three stars

It meanders without missing a beat.



The other two stars are locked,

Orbiting each other in a kind of dance

Whilst also orbiting the central star

A magical thing upon which to glance.



For somewhat just over a century

Scorpion-1b has constant daylight

With all three suns visible

Beaming their rays so bright.



At other times during the year

The suns will rise and set

Giving a spectacular triple feature

Any photographer would pay to get.



But finding a place to stand

Might be hard going, you know,

What with it being a gas giant

It has no surface on which to go.



It’s unlikely to harbour any life

(conditions being unfavourable at best)

With liquid iron falling as rain

An umbrella would not stand the test.



It is a young planet, to be sure.

Only 16 million years, give or take.

And that gives us plenty of time

For discoveries aplenty to make.



So next time you search the skies

Be reminded of Scorpion-1b

And the billions of worlds left to find.

Oh, what treasures are left to see!