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Heart of the Planet Pluto
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Gary McGath
Jul 14, 2015, 3:39:37 PM7/14/15
to
Early this morning, this song grabbed me by the throat and demanded I
write it. It may still get a bit of polish, but for obvious reasons I
want to have it out today.
The Heart of the Planet Pluto
Words: Gary McGath, Copyright July 14, 2015
Music: Fred Small, "Heart of the Appaloosa"
In the outer Solar System, past the giant balls of gas,
There lies the distant Kuiper Belt, of thinly spread-out mass.
And Percival L. Lowell said that Neptune's off its course.
There's something massive pulling it; we've got to find its source!
Then Clyde Tombaugh found an object, called it Lowell's Planet X,
Out at the very edge of what a telescope detects.
This little dot on film received the symbol of P. L.
And it got its name from Pluto, the ancient god of Hell.
Chorus:
New Horizons comes to greet it,
Sending pictures across the great divide.
"The planet is through," so they said at IAU,
But the heart of the planet Pluto never died.
In the night came the astronomers to cast a careful eye
With their logbooks and their telescopes directed at the sky.
They ran their calculations, with disposition stern,
And studied the distant planet, its mysteries to learn.
In the shadow of the mission the planet seemed to shrink,
For Lowell's numbers were all wrong, or so they had to think.
Its orbit was eccentric, in and outward it was hurled,
And the word would come from IAU: This is no proper world!
Chorus
They sent a resolution bringing anger, grief, and pain:
It is no more a planet: Dwarf planet is its name.
They condemned it to the Kuiper belt, as just an outsized stone.
It hadn't cleared its neighborhood, and so it must begone!
But a probe named New Horizons had been launched that very year.
It would take almost a decade at Pluto to appear,
And the old school saw its strategy, the thought came to their mind
To wait until the flyby when they'd see what it would find.
Chorus
Three billion miles of flying, through the Solar System hurled,
The probe arrived at Pluto, past all the other worlds,
At last it sent back pictures of every side and part
And showed what none had guessed: it was a planet with a heart!
New Horizons sent the image of the heart so bright and clear.
The planet might be frozen, but it was full of cheer.
It bore a Morse Code letter H, perhaps it meant Hello,
Or Hell, or maybe Heaven. We're never going to know.
Chorus
Data sent back here is coming at a crawling data rate.
At 4K bits a second, we will have a year to wait.
The astronomers named Lowell and Tombaugh both would say,
"They have given up our planet, but it won't go away."
And now the final proof remains of New Horizons' worth
As the data comes together in a map that's sent to Earth,
Of the panoramic detail of every ridge and hill.
Wait for all those pictures, the planet Pluto's living still!
Chorus
--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
Tomorrow's Songs Today: The History of Filk http://www.mcgath.com/tst
write it. It may still get a bit of polish, but for obvious reasons I
want to have it out today.
The Heart of the Planet Pluto
Words: Gary McGath, Copyright July 14, 2015
Music: Fred Small, "Heart of the Appaloosa"
In the outer Solar System, past the giant balls of gas,
There lies the distant Kuiper Belt, of thinly spread-out mass.
And Percival L. Lowell said that Neptune's off its course.
There's something massive pulling it; we've got to find its source!
Then Clyde Tombaugh found an object, called it Lowell's Planet X,
Out at the very edge of what a telescope detects.
This little dot on film received the symbol of P. L.
And it got its name from Pluto, the ancient god of Hell.
Chorus:
New Horizons comes to greet it,
Sending pictures across the great divide.
"The planet is through," so they said at IAU,
But the heart of the planet Pluto never died.
In the night came the astronomers to cast a careful eye
With their logbooks and their telescopes directed at the sky.
They ran their calculations, with disposition stern,
And studied the distant planet, its mysteries to learn.
In the shadow of the mission the planet seemed to shrink,
For Lowell's numbers were all wrong, or so they had to think.
Its orbit was eccentric, in and outward it was hurled,
And the word would come from IAU: This is no proper world!
Chorus
They sent a resolution bringing anger, grief, and pain:
It is no more a planet: Dwarf planet is its name.
They condemned it to the Kuiper belt, as just an outsized stone.
It hadn't cleared its neighborhood, and so it must begone!
But a probe named New Horizons had been launched that very year.
It would take almost a decade at Pluto to appear,
And the old school saw its strategy, the thought came to their mind
To wait until the flyby when they'd see what it would find.
Chorus
Three billion miles of flying, through the Solar System hurled,
The probe arrived at Pluto, past all the other worlds,
At last it sent back pictures of every side and part
And showed what none had guessed: it was a planet with a heart!
New Horizons sent the image of the heart so bright and clear.
The planet might be frozen, but it was full of cheer.
It bore a Morse Code letter H, perhaps it meant Hello,
Or Hell, or maybe Heaven. We're never going to know.
Chorus
Data sent back here is coming at a crawling data rate.
At 4K bits a second, we will have a year to wait.
The astronomers named Lowell and Tombaugh both would say,
"They have given up our planet, but it won't go away."
And now the final proof remains of New Horizons' worth
As the data comes together in a map that's sent to Earth,
Of the panoramic detail of every ridge and hill.
Wait for all those pictures, the planet Pluto's living still!
Chorus
--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com
Tomorrow's Songs Today: The History of Filk http://www.mcgath.com/tst
Lee Gold XP
Jul 14, 2015, 5:20:49 PM7/14/15
to
On 7/14/2015 12:39 PM, Gary McGath wrote:
> Early this morning, this song grabbed me by the throat and demanded I
> write it. It may still get a bit of polish, but for obvious reasons I
> want to have it out today.
Please let me know if and when you decided you've polish it enough.
> Early this morning, this song grabbed me by the throat and demanded I
> write it. It may still get a bit of polish, but for obvious reasons I
> want to have it out today.
I'd like it for the October Xeno.
#162 (August) has already been published.
Astrid Bear says that some of Clyde Tombaugh's ashes were on New Horizons.
So I looked and found
http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/13/us/nasa-pluto-new-horizons-clyde-tombaugh-ashes/
--Lee
Gary McGath
Jul 14, 2015, 5:26:51 PM7/14/15
to
To one person on Twitter, the "heart" on Pluto looks like the head of a
cartoon dog. I think I can see that.
Kay Shapero
Jul 14, 2015, 11:52:52 PM7/14/15
to
In article <mo3of0$ehh$1...@dont-email.me>, ga...@REMOVEmcgathREMOVE.com
says...
--
Kay Shapero
FAQ at http://www.kayshapero.net/filkfaq.htm
Address munged, use kay at kayshapero extension as per website.
says...
>
> Early this morning, this song grabbed me by the throat and demanded I
> write it. It may still get a bit of polish, but for obvious reasons I
> want to have it out today.
>
>
> The Heart of the Planet Pluto
> Words: Gary McGath, Copyright July 14, 2015
> Music: Fred Small, "Heart of the Appaloosa"
>
Applause!!!
> Early this morning, this song grabbed me by the throat and demanded I
> write it. It may still get a bit of polish, but for obvious reasons I
> want to have it out today.
>
>
> The Heart of the Planet Pluto
> Words: Gary McGath, Copyright July 14, 2015
> Music: Fred Small, "Heart of the Appaloosa"
>
--
Kay Shapero
FAQ at http://www.kayshapero.net/filkfaq.htm
Address munged, use kay at kayshapero extension as per website.
Arthur T.
Jul 15, 2015, 12:51:38 AM7/15/15
to
In Message-ID:<mo3of0$ehh$1...@dont-email.me>,
Unfortunately, I can't remember the tune. I'll have to dig up
my CD that has it and listen again. In the meantime, I can tell you
that the verses scan pretty well to "The Mary Ellen Carter".
--
Arthur T. - ar23hur "at" pobox "dot" com
Gary McGath <ga...@REMOVEmcgathREMOVE.com> wrote:
>The Heart of the Planet Pluto
>Words: Gary McGath, Copyright July 14, 2015
>Music: Fred Small, "Heart of the Appaloosa"
Good song, and good choice of tune.
>The Heart of the Planet Pluto
>Words: Gary McGath, Copyright July 14, 2015
>Music: Fred Small, "Heart of the Appaloosa"
Unfortunately, I can't remember the tune. I'll have to dig up
my CD that has it and listen again. In the meantime, I can tell you
that the verses scan pretty well to "The Mary Ellen Carter".
--
Arthur T. - ar23hur "at" pobox "dot" com
Gary McGath
Jul 15, 2015, 7:52:39 AM7/15/15
to
planet, so here's a tentative update to one of the verses.
New Horizons sent the image of the heart so bright and clear.
The planet might be frozen, but it was full of cheer.
Or Hell, or maybe Heaven. We’re never going to know. */
Yet a Balrog stood beside it, and Cthulhu lay below,
Which proves there isn’t anything man wasn’t meant to know.
Gary McGath
Jul 19, 2015, 6:52:56 AM7/19/15
to
Here's the latest revision, after singing it for an audience for the
first time yesterday:
The Heart of the Planet Pluto
Words: Gary McGath, Copyright July 14-15, 2015
The probe arrived at Pluto after years in outer space.
first time yesterday:
The Heart of the Planet Pluto
Music: Fred Small, "Heart of the Appaloosa"
In the outer Solar System, past the giant balls of gas,
There lies the distant Kuiper Belt, of thinly spread-out mass.
And Percival L. Lowell said that Neptune's off its course.
There's something massive pulling it; we've got to find its source!
Then Clyde Tombaugh found an object, called it Lowell's Planet X,
Out at the very edge of what a telescope detects.
This little dot on film received the symbol of P. L.
And it got its name from Pluto, the ancient god of Hell.
There lies the distant Kuiper Belt, of thinly spread-out mass.
And Percival L. Lowell said that Neptune's off its course.
There's something massive pulling it; we've got to find its source!
Then Clyde Tombaugh found an object, called it Lowell's Planet X,
Out at the very edge of what a telescope detects.
This little dot on film received the symbol of P. L.
And it got its name from Pluto, the ancient god of Hell.
New Horizons comes to greet it,
Sending pictures across the great divide.
"The planet is through," so they said at IAU,
But the heart of the planet Pluto never died.
In the night came the astronomers to cast a careful eye
With their logbooks and their telescopes directed at the sky.
They ran their calculations, with disposition stern,
And studied the distant planet, its mysteries to learn.
In the shadow of the mission the planet seemed to shrink,
For Lowell's numbers were all wrong, or so they had to think.
Its orbit was eccentric, in and outward it was hurled,
And the word would come from IAU: This is no proper world!
Chorus
They sent a resolution bringing anger, grief, and pain:
It is no more a planet: Dwarf planet is its name.
They condemned it to the Kuiper belt, as just an outsized stone.
It hadn't cleared its neighborhood, and so it must begone!
But a probe named New Horizons had been launched that very year.
It would take almost a decade at Pluto to appear,
And the old school saw its strategy, the thought came to their mind
To wait until the flyby when they'd see what it would find.
Chorus
Three billion miles of flying, till at last it won its race,
Sending pictures across the great divide.
"The planet is through," so they said at IAU,
But the heart of the planet Pluto never died.
In the night came the astronomers to cast a careful eye
With their logbooks and their telescopes directed at the sky.
They ran their calculations, with disposition stern,
And studied the distant planet, its mysteries to learn.
In the shadow of the mission the planet seemed to shrink,
For Lowell's numbers were all wrong, or so they had to think.
Its orbit was eccentric, in and outward it was hurled,
And the word would come from IAU: This is no proper world!
Chorus
They sent a resolution bringing anger, grief, and pain:
It is no more a planet: Dwarf planet is its name.
They condemned it to the Kuiper belt, as just an outsized stone.
It hadn't cleared its neighborhood, and so it must begone!
But a probe named New Horizons had been launched that very year.
It would take almost a decade at Pluto to appear,
And the old school saw its strategy, the thought came to their mind
To wait until the flyby when they'd see what it would find.
Chorus
The probe arrived at Pluto after years in outer space.
At last it sent back pictures of every side and part
And showed what none had guessed: it was a planet with a heart!
And showed what none had guessed: it was a planet with a heart!
New Horizons sent the image of the heart so bright and clear.
The planet might be frozen, but it was full of cheer.
The planet might be frozen, but it was full of cheer.
Yet a Balrog stood beside it, and Cthulhu lay below,
Which proves there isn't anything man wasn't meant to know.
Which proves there isn't anything man wasn't meant to know.
Chorus
Data sent back here is coming at a crawling data rate.
At 4K bits a second, we will have a year to wait.
The astronomers named Lowell and Tombaugh both would say,
"They have given up our planet, but it won't go away."
And now the final proof remains of New Horizons' worth
As the data comes together in a map that's sent to Earth,
Of the panoramic detail of every ridge and hill.
Wait for all those pictures, the planet Pluto's living still!
Chorus
Data sent back here is coming at a crawling data rate.
At 4K bits a second, we will have a year to wait.
The astronomers named Lowell and Tombaugh both would say,
"They have given up our planet, but it won't go away."
And now the final proof remains of New Horizons' worth
As the data comes together in a map that's sent to Earth,
Of the panoramic detail of every ridge and hill.
Wait for all those pictures, the planet Pluto's living still!
Chorus
Arthur T.
Jul 19, 2015, 9:17:18 PM7/19/15
to
In Message-ID:<mofvfe$o47$1...@dont-email.me>,
I like your update, especially, "Which proves there isn't anything
man wasn't meant to know." That's an idea I heartily approve of.
Gary McGath <ga...@REMOVEmcgathREMOVE.com> wrote:
>Here's the latest revision, after singing it for an audience for the
>first time yesterday:
I finally found my music, so I can better appreciate your song.
>Here's the latest revision, after singing it for an audience for the
>first time yesterday:
I like your update, especially, "Which proves there isn't anything
man wasn't meant to know." That's an idea I heartily approve of.
Kay Shapero
Jul 20, 2015, 6:10:47 PM7/20/15
to
In article <mofvfe$o47$1...@dont-email.me>, ga...@REMOVEmcgathREMOVE.com
says...
says...
>
> Here's the latest revision, after singing it for an audience for the
> first time yesterday:
>
>
> The Heart of the Planet Pluto
> Words: Gary McGath, Copyright July 14-15, 2015
> Music: Fred Small, "Heart of the Appaloosa"
>
> In the outer Solar System, past the giant balls of gas
Well done!
> Here's the latest revision, after singing it for an audience for the
> first time yesterday:
>
>
> The Heart of the Planet Pluto
> Words: Gary McGath, Copyright July 14-15, 2015
> Music: Fred Small, "Heart of the Appaloosa"
>
> In the outer Solar System, past the giant balls of gas
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