Plate XXXI — After the Rain (the Clearing Nebula)

Observing note

For most of the year this is a blank patch, a dark nebula so thick it swallows everything behind it. Then, along its western edge, the cloud thins, and a single quiet star shows through where nothing was before. The astronomer-poet lost someone the winter she charted it, and the plate is dedicated without explanation. Southern winter, best after a storm has passed.