Summer Awad, “Syllogism For Palestinian Grief”

Syllogism for Palestinian Grief
by Summer Awad

Jesus is Palestinian.
Jesus is God (or so they tell me),
Therefore God is Palestinian.
God is Palestinian,
And so the Mother of God lives in Gaza,
And there are so many of her,
And there are so many of her son, splayed
Like a cross on the floor of Al-Shifa Hospital.
And she picks up his flesh, limp and lifeless,
The color missing from his lips, the lips
That learned to give Mama boosa
Before he was weaned from her milk.
And the Mother of God is sobbing through a zaghroota,
She is wailing Yamma, Yamma, Habibi, in that curious way
That Arab parents address us by their own names.
Ibni shaheed, she cries, Yamma, Yamma, ibni shaheed!
Would all these Maryams have denied what God placed
In her womb, declined a boy destined to die,
Kan maktoob min al-bidaya, it was always maktoob
To lose him. Would she have gifted him back to God
Before it all began, refused to use her body
To usher him earthside?
The Mother of God pulls the white
Of the shroud back from her son’s face
To stroke his hair for the last time, takes a deep
Breath before committing him back to Allah.
God is Palestinian, and we have all killed him,
Snuffed him out, missile by missile.
But the Mother of God knows,
By a primal, maternal intuition,
Inno maktoob for him to rise again.

Summer Awad, “Syllogism for Palestinian Grief”

Weird and Wonderful Irregular Galaxies

Spiral and elliptical galaxies seem neatly put together, but what happened to irregular galaxies? Irregular galaxies have one-of-a-kind shapes and many look like blobs! Why do they look the way they do? Astronomers think the uniqueness of these galaxies results from their interactions with other galaxies — like when they pass close to one another or even collide!

Looking back at the early universe with the help of our Hubble Space Telescope’s “deep field” observations, astronomers can peek at galaxies millions and billions of light-years away. They noticed that these far-away galaxies appear unusually messy, showing more star formation and mergers than galaxies closer to the Milky Way.

We also see irregular galaxies closer to home, though. Some may form when two galaxies pass close together in a near-miss. When this happens, their gravity pulls stars out of place in both galaxies, messing up the neat structure they originally had as spiral or elliptical galaxies. Think of it like this: you happen to have a pile of papers sitting at the edge of a table and when someone passes close by the papers become ruffled and may scatter everywhere! Even though the two galaxies never touched, gravity's effects leave them looking smeared or distorted.

Some irregular galaxies result from the collision between two galaxies. And while some of these look like a blob of stars and dust, others form dazzling ring galaxies! Scientists think these may be a product of collisions between small and large galaxies. These collisions cause ripples that disturb both galaxies, throwing dust, gas, and stars outward. When this happens, it pushes out a ring of material, causing gas clouds to collide and spark the birth of new stars. After just a few million years, stars larger than our Sun explode as supernovae, leaving neutron stars and black holes throughout the ring!

Not all galaxy collisions create irregular galaxies — our Milky Way spiral galaxy has gone through many mergers but has stayed intact! And for some interacting galaxies, being an irregular galaxy may just be a phase in their transformation. We’re observing them at a snapshot in time where things are messy, but they may eventually become neat and structured spirals and ellipticals.

Irregular galaxies are similar to each other, but unique and beautiful because of their different interactions, whether they’re just passing another galaxy or taking part in a dramatic collision. Keep up with NASA Universe on Facebook and Twitter where we post regularly about galaxies.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

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melzinhaxuxu

3 years ago

Philippe Pottier - Dress by Jeanne Lanvin (1948)

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melzinhaxuxu

2 years ago

♫ Now Playing: Repercussions By Bea Miller | For @kikisrkive

♫ now playing: repercussions by bea miller | for @kikisrkive

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melzinhaxuxu

4 years ago

Let’s see it 😂👏🏻

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melzinhaxuxu

2 years ago

Beauty is truth, truth beauty

“Ode on a Grecian Urn” - John Keats / Mrs Dalloway - Virginia Woolf / “I died for Beauty - but was scarce” - Emily Dickinson / Arcadia - Tom Stoppard / The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K Le Guin

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