Our poems depict, from the mirror’s perspective, the workings of an adaptive optics system that utilizes a pulsed dye laser.<\/p>\n
From Zachary Williams<\/p>\n
I\u2019m lost and adrift, searching through a vast black sea,<\/p>\n
Without a star to show me the way;<\/p>\n
I can only hope my helmsman\u2019s aim and judgment is true,<\/p>\n
I go whichever direction he points;<\/p>\n
It\u2019s as if his map is made to divulge only directions,<\/p>\n
It tells which way but not how far;<\/p>\n
Of all the places in the universe the sky is the ficklest,<\/p>\n
It distorts what seems to be clear,<\/p>\n
It creates a turbid cloud before the stars, a mirage,<\/p>\n
Making penetration a fool\u2019s task;<\/p>\n
If only there was a means to remedy this predicament,<\/p>\n
A veritable Sherpa of the stars;<\/p>\n
If only there was an intermediate step between us,<\/p>\n
Near enough and far enough away,<\/p>\n
Some sort of beacon to light up the capricious night sky,<\/p>\n
Technology will certainly find a way.<\/p>\n
From Andrew Spencer<\/p>\n
Check your wind speed and your barometers,<\/p>\n
Interference at 589 nanometers.<\/p>\n
Lazing with dye,<\/p>\n
You blast sodium in the sky<\/p>\n
As the ocean of air seethes above.<\/p>\n
I picked up your signal, more like a spell,<\/p>\n
Any disobedience, I can’t compel.<\/p>\n
My MEMs move up and down<\/p>\n
And all around<\/p>\n
To remove the blur.<\/p>\n
When I feel the stress and the strain,<\/p>\n
I don’t complain<\/p>\n
Because I’m flexible, a real contortionist.<\/p>\n
You can leave me dented, dimpled like a Titleist.<\/p>\n
But it’s not flight that’s got me all bent into shape.<\/p>\n
Milliarcsecond resolution,<\/p>\n
Clearly a solution<\/p>\n
To removing atmospheric noise<\/p>\n
Without playing with astronauts’ toys.<\/p>\n
After blasting off billions, Hubble needed glasses.<\/p>\n
Pulsation.<\/p>\n
Excitation.<\/p>\n
Computation.<\/p>\n
Actuation.<\/p>\n
The stars don’t twinkle anymore.<\/p>\n
From Andrew Shapransky<\/p>\n
The Radiation<\/p>\n
Amplifies your photons<\/p>\n
You stimulate me<\/p>\n
Optics adapted<\/p>\n
A new outlook on my world<\/p>\n
Shooting for the stars<\/p>\n
Now I am stronger<\/p>\n
I can do more for myself<\/p>\n
And more for others<\/p>\n
My friends, astronomers<\/p>\n
The Keck Observatory<\/p>\n
Mamalahoa<\/p>\n
Once, things were unclear,<\/p>\n
I love you so very much,<\/p>\n
Bright sexy laser.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Our poems depict, from the mirror’s perspective, the workings of an adaptive optics system that utilizes a pulsed dye laser. From Zachary Williams I\u2019m lost and adrift, searching through a vast black sea, Without a star to show me the way; I can only hope my helmsman\u2019s aim and judgment is true, I go whichever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":879,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1052"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1326,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1052\/revisions\/1326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/ltt\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}