new filk: Search for Solar Planets

[Arthur T.]

Title: Search for Solar Planets
ttto: Nessie, Come Up by Dr. Jane Robinson

With Mercury's orbit precessing,
Verrier looks around for the cause.
For we can compute to degrees quite minute;
Orbits follow implacable laws.
Round sunspots might be Vulcan's transit,
Yet somehow the orbits don't match.
But soon, he is sure, he'll catch sight of its spoor,
And the news, it will make quite a splash.

Why is that planet missing?
Mercury's orbit is wrong.
When will that sphere
Show through bright and clear?
The evidence for it is strong.
I can't see you yet,
But you're there I bet.
I cannot just move along.
Where is that planetoid?
Vulcan, I'm quite annoyed.
Vulcan, I cannot be wrong!

Now Uranus broke the old thinking
That all of the planets were known.
But its orbit's perturbed, let us find what disturbs.
What is in that peripheral zone?
A big planet must be the culprit.
Our math shows the scopes where to seek.
And it will be sublime, at that moment in time,
When we prove that this is good technique.

Planet 8 must be out there.
Effects that it makes are strong.
With math as my guide,
Position's implied,
And I know where you must belong.
I state that it's there.
To find it I'll dare,
Though I hope it won't take long.
But where is that Planet 8,
Planet 8, Planet 8?
I know that I am not wrong.

See Lowell, he plots perturbations
Of Neptune, whose orbit is off.
But no one can see what he knows there to be.
He can sense that they're starting to scoff.
He's careful with his calculation.
He looks where that orb ought to be.
He's been searching that sphere for half his career,
But he hasn't yet lost his esprit.

Planet 9 must be out there.
I cannot believe I'm wrong.
When will our 'scopes
Catch up to my hopes,
And show you where you must belong?
The blink shows no jump,
But I'm not a chump,
I know that the search is long.
But where is that Planet 9,
Planet 9, Planet 9?
Where has it been all along?

Some Kuiper belt objects have orbits
That shouldn't occur just by chance.
One planet-sized rock is all that the whole flock
Needs in order to warrant their dance.
A ten thousand year or so orbit
Will put it where it's hard to see.
If the math doesn't lie, Brown and all his allies
Will find it in two years, or three.

Planet 9 must be out there.
Effects that it makes are strong.
Though Pluto's been dumped
This new one is trumped
And to planethood it will belong.
With crafted technique,
Our telescopes seek.
We hope the search won't take long.
But where is that Planet 9,
Planet 9, Planet 9?
When can I stop singing this song?



My lyrics copyright 2017 by Arthur Tansky. License granted for
non-commercial, non-political archiving and performance as long as:
1. copyright notice is maintained, and
2. no money changes hands.

--
Arthur T. - ar23hur "at" pobox "dot" com

Guessing a lyricist's opinions from his songs is as futile as
guessing an author's opinions from his novels.

[Gary McGath]

On 2/11/17 3:24 PM, Arthur T. wrote:
> Title: Search for Solar Planets
> ttto: Nessie, Come Up by Dr. Jane Robinson

Good one.


--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

[Kay Shapero]

In article <1fsu9c9v27vi1nch4...@4ax.com>,
art...@munged.invalid says...

>
> Title: Search for Solar Planets
> ttto: Nessie, Come Up by Dr. Jane Robinson

Interesting... :)

--

Kay Shapero
FAQ at http://www.kayshapero.net/filkfaq.htm
Address munged, use kay at kayshapero extension as per website.

[Lee Gold XP]

On 2/11/2017 12:24 PM, Arthur T. wrote:
> Title: Search for Solar Planets
> ttto: Nessie, Come Up by Dr. Jane Robinson
>
>

> Planet 9 must be out there.
> Effects that it makes are strong.
> Though Pluto's been dumped
> This new one is trumped
> And to planethood it will belong.
>

> My lyrics copyright 2017 by Arthur Tansky. License granted for
> non-commercial, non-political archiving and performance as long as:
> 1. copyright notice is maintained, and
> 2. no money changes hands.
>

A trumped card is overwhelmed by the trump.
Even the 2 of trumps will beat an Ace or King of a non-trump suit.
I think that what you really mean is

Though Pluto's been dumped

This new one's not trumped

--Lee Gold

[Arthur T.]

In Message-ID:<o901h2$c0k$1...@dont-email.me>,

Lee Gold XP <lee....@ca.rr.com> wrote:

>On 2/11/2017 12:24 PM, Arthur T. wrote:
>> Title: Search for Solar Planets
>> ttto: Nessie, Come Up by Dr. Jane Robinson
>>
>>
>> Planet 9 must be out there.
>> Effects that it makes are strong.
>> Though Pluto's been dumped
>> This new one is trumped
>> And to planethood it will belong.

<snip>

>A trumped card is overwhelmed by the trump.
>Even the 2 of trumps will beat an Ace or King of a non-trump suit.
>I think that what you really mean is
>
> Though Pluto's been dumped
> This new one's not trumped

I was using "trump" as in "Proclaim or announce with or as if
with a fanfare" (from my computer's dictionary). But if it's causing
confusion, different wording might help.

What do you think of any of these?

There's Pluto's raw deal,
But this one is real,

And to planethood it will belong.

Though Pluto's left out,
This time I've no doubt,
That to planethood this will belong.

Though Pluto's dismissed,
This one must exist,

And to planethood it will belong.

[Lee Gold XP]

I like the third one best.
Barry faintly agrees.

What do other people think?

--Lee

[Arthur T.]

In Message-ID:<o923nj$tul$1...@dont-email.me>,

Ah, but do you like it enough? If not, I could continue working
on it.

[Lee Gold XP]

On 2/27/2017 5:12 PM, Arthur T. wrote:
> In Message-ID:<o923nj$tul$1...@dont-email.me>,
> Lee Gold XP <lee....@ca.rr.com> wrote:
>
>>> Though Pluto's dismissed,
>>> This one must exist,
>>> And to planethood it will belong.
>>>
>>
>> I like the third one best.
>
> Ah, but do you like it enough? If not, I could continue working
> on it.
>

Yes, I like it enough.
If you do too, I'll lock it in place.

--Lee

[Arthur T.]

In Message-ID:<o92jsq$lh6$1...@dont-email.me>,

Lee Gold XP <lee....@ca.rr.com> wrote:

>On 2/27/2017 5:12 PM, Arthur T. wrote:
>> In Message-ID:<o923nj$tul$1...@dont-email.me>,
>> Lee Gold XP <lee....@ca.rr.com> wrote:
>>
>>>> Though Pluto's dismissed,
>>>> This one must exist,
>>>> And to planethood it will belong.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I like the third one best.
>>
>> Ah, but do you like it enough? If not, I could continue working
>> on it.
>>
>
>Yes, I like it enough.
>If you do too, I'll lock it in place.

...And it's good enough for me.

I must admit that even *I* questioned my use of "trumped". But
then I said to myself, that I know what I mean so it should be okay.
Thanks for pointing out that it wasn't.

[Gary McGath]

On 2/27/17 12:52 PM, Arthur T. wrote:

> I was using "trump" as in "Proclaim or announce with or as if
> with a fanfare" (from my computer's dictionary). But if it's causing
> confusion, different wording might help.

That definition doesn't show up on dictionary.com, or in my
Merriam-Webster, so I'd say it's obscure.

>
> What do you think of any of these?
>
> There's Pluto's raw deal,
> But this one is real,
> And to planethood it will belong.
>
> Though Pluto's left out,
> This time I've no doubt,
> That to planethood this will belong.
>
> Though Pluto's dismissed,
> This one must exist,
> And to planethood it will belong.
>

I like either the second or third.

In looking up the word, I noticed that Merriam-Webster defines
"trumpery" as "worthless nonsense." Rather prescient of them. :)

[Rick Hewett]

A harper tells me that Gary McGath said:
> On 2/27/17 12:52 PM, Arthur T. wrote:
>> I was using "trump" as in "Proclaim or announce with or as if
>> with a fanfare" (from my computer's dictionary). But if it's causing
>> confusion, different wording might help.
> That definition doesn't show up on dictionary.com, or in my
> Merriam-Webster, so I'd say it's obscure.

It can't be *that* obscure; it's used with that sense in at least one
relatively well-known biblical context (...and Wikipedia thinks that
Asimov used that as the title for a short sory...).

--
..Rick Hewett http://www.hewett.org/
Kryten: Just because I look like Herman Munster's stuntman doesn't mean I
can't appreciate art! -- [Red Dwarf "Legion"]

[Lee Gold XP]

On 3/4/2017 12:08 AM, Rick Hewett wrote:
> A harper tells me that Gary McGath said:
>> On 2/27/17 12:52 PM, Arthur T. wrote:
>>> I was using "trump" as in "Proclaim or announce with or as if
>>> with a fanfare" (from my computer's dictionary). But if it's causing
>>> confusion, different wording might help.
>> That definition doesn't show up on dictionary.com, or in my
>> Merriam-Webster, so I'd say it's obscure.
>
> It can't be *that* obscure; it's used with that sense in at least one
> relatively well-known biblical context (...and Wikipedia thinks that
> Asimov used that as the title for a short sory...).
>

We're discussing "trump" a *verb*.

Isaac Asimov's "The Last Trump" uses "trump" as a noun.

--Lee Gold