Skip to main content

Twinkle, twinkle

By

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

By Julia Kregenow and Jason Wright
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
I know exactly what you are

Opaque ball of hot dense gas
Million times our planet's mass
Looking small because you're far
I know exactly what you are

Fusing atoms in your core
Hydrogen, helium, carbon and more [Note that these have to be pronounced as quick triplets for proper scansion, i.e. "hy-dro-gen, hel-li-um, car-bon-and, more"...]
With such power you shine far
Twinkle twinkle little star

Classed by their spectroscopy
Oh, Be A Fine Girl Kiss Me
Bright when close and faint when far
I know exactly what you are

Smallest ones burn cool and slow
Still too hot to visit, though
Red stars dominate by far
Twinkle twinkle little star

Largest ones are hot and blue
Supernova when they're through
Then black hole or neutron star
I know exactly what you are

Our Sun's average as stars go
Formed 5 billion years ago
Halfway through its life so far
Twinkle twinkle little star

(new verse! 7.23.12)
Sunspots look dark but they're bright
Slightly cooler so less light
Temporary surface scar
I know exactly what you are

(new verse! 7.23.12)
Swelling up before it's dead
Cooling off and growing red
Then its end is not so far
Twinkle twinkle giant star

(new verse! 7.23.12)
Outer layers float away
Planetary Nebulae [pronounced "NEH-byoo-LAY"]
Wispy gas is gossamer
I know exactly what you were

(new verse! 7.23.12)
Interstellar medium
Recycled ad nauseam
Gas and dust are spread afar
Twinkle twinkle little star

Forming from collapsing clouds
Cold and dusty gas enshrouds
Spinning, heating protostar
I know exactly what you are

(updated 7.23.12)
Two stars make a binary
Or a triple if there's three
Some are solo just like ours
Twinkle twinkle little stars

Often forming multiply [pronounced "MAHLT - eh - PLEE"]
Clusters bound by gravity
Open type or globular [pronounced "GLAH-byoo-LAHR" to make the rhyme work. Note this is a slight variant on the standard pronunciation "GLAH-byoo-ler"]
I know exactly what you are

Two hundred billion stars all stay
Bound up in the Milky Way
Dusty spiral with a bar
Twinkle twinkle little star

Stars have planets orbiting
Rocky or gassy, moons or rings
Earth's unique with life so far
I know exactly what you are.
Lyrics copyrighted Julia Kregenow and Jason Wright, 2011. For educational purposes only. If you reproduce these lyrics in whole or in part, please credit this original source (http://mamasdukesofhazard.blogspot.com/2011/06/twinkle-twinkle-little-star.html). Also please make note of [pronunciation hints] embedded within, to retain the intended meter and rhyme.
Labels:

Comments

mama mia said…
May I share this with science teachers at my school? any chance J. Swift could perform this and post to you tube so we could hear? love this!
July 29, 2012 at 10:03 AM
Jason said…
As a co-author of the lyrics, I think it's great if you use it for educational purposes.

Julia and I are looking into making an annotated poster out of the lyrics.
July 29, 2012 at 3:10 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A view from your shut down

By
The Daily Dish has been posting reader emails reporting on their " view from the shutdown ." If you think this doesn't affect you, or if you know all too well how bad this is, take a look at the growing collection of poignant stories. No one is in this alone except for the nutjobs in the House. I decided to email Andrew with my own view. I plan to send a similar letter to my congressperson. Dear Andrew, I am a professor of astronomy at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA). The CfA houses one of the largest, if not the largest collection of PhD astronomers in the United States, with over 300 professional astronomers and roughly 100 doctoral and predoctoral students on a small campus a few blocks west of Harvard Yard. Under the umbrella of the CfA are about 20 Harvard astronomy professors, and 50 tenure-track Smithsonian researchers. A large fraction of the latter are civil servants currently on furlough and unable to come to work. In total, 147 FTEs
Post a Comment
Read more

The Long Con

By
Hiding in Plain Sight ESPN has a series of sports documentaries called 30 For 30. One of my favorites is called Broke  which is about how professional athletes often make tens of millions of dollars in their careers yet retire with nothing. One of the major "leaks" turns out to be con artists, who lure athletes into elaborate real estate schemes or business ventures. This naturally raises the question: In a tightly-knit social structure that is a sports team, how can con artists operate so effectively and extensively? The answer is quite simple: very few people taken in by con artists ever tell anyone what happened. Thus, con artists can operate out in the open with little fear of consequences because they are shielded by the collective silence of their victims. I can empathize with this. I've lost money in two different con schemes. One was when I was in college, and I received a phone call that I had won an all-expenses-paid trip to the Bahamas. All I needed to d
8 comments
Read more

back-talk begins

By
me: "owen, come here. it's time to get a new diaper" him, sprinting down the hall with no pants on: "forget about it!" he's quoting benny the rabbit, a short-lived sesame street character who happens to be in his favorite "count with me" video. i'm turning my head, trying not to let him see me laugh, because his use and tone with the phrase are so spot-on.
4 comments
Read more