Blue stragglers

APOD for April 9, 2012, “Blue Straggler Stars in Globular Cluster M53.” Image credit: ESA/Hubble, NASA

They are vagabonds,
rebels,
as stars go.

Refusing to sit still
and age to red

they wander off script

and siphon some beauty
off a binary companion.

The light touch-up
works.

In pictures,
they look FAB-U-LOUS

bluer
and seemingly younger than their peers

though anyone who reads
the cautionary label on the product knows

they’re burning out
faster.

• astropoetry
• blue stragglers
• NaPoWriMo
• poetry
• stars