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Alexander Krivenyshev
Guttenberg, NJ
01/19/2022
06:49 pm

Image Details:

Constellation Orion (with Betelgeuse and Rigel) over Manhattan, New York (single photo).
Here is a Poem "Inhabitants of Betelgeuse", by M. McArt, from the "Popular Astronomy" magazine: A Review of Astronomy and Allied Sciences,
Planet Notes, Providence, R. I. , Feb. 1921:

Inhabitants of Betelgeuse,
Do you take interest in the views
Of men of science who discuss
The parallax and radius
Of your gigantic star ?
And in the deep design of fate
Are you e'er swayed by love or hate ?
And are you plagued with hopes and fears,
With politicians, profiteers,
Diplomacy and war ?

Have you discovered how to fly
Through countless leagues of azure sky ?
Can your rich men, imperious,
Take little jaunts to Sirius,
Returning the next day ?
And when you send an etherplane
Out on a trip to Charles's Wain,
Do you get word by radio
If it is forced through rain or snow
Across the Milky Way ?

Inhabitants of Betelgeuse,
Do kindly let us have some news
Of how the last election went
In yonder starry firmament
Beyond our blazing sun.
And if you have a baseball nine
Please condescend to drop a line
Of sympathy for those who reeled
Before the victors on the field
And praise for those who won.

Inhabitants of Betelgeuse,
Please don't get mad if someone does
Pronounce to rhyme with "news" and "views,"
With "booze" and "lose” and “overshoes,”
The title of your sphere.
If you who live on Betelgeuse
Can hear our telephonic buzz,
We call to you with all our strength,
O'er fancied wire of untold length,
“A gay and glad New Year."

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