New-York daily tribune., 1843-09-30
For The Tribune
Celestial Phenomena-So. II.
MARS AND JUPITER.

urn. and he will soon perceive how richly
he will be by the enchanting spectacle that Will
unfold itself in the field of the instrument. By
continuing his observations from seven O'Clock
until midnight, he would see Mars presenting those
physical pecu!iarites which offer such striking
anaoges with certain characteristics Of our Globe:
such as the white appearance of the poles, sup
posed with good reason, to be formed by an ac-
cumulation Of ice and snow around them, during
winter as long as our year; the spots slightly
tingcd with green which appear in It's temperate
and equatorial zones, and form, probably, the seas
that bathe its variegated surface the oblatencss
of its poles and corresponding elevation of its
place from time to time in the general appearance
of those white and greenish spots, he would divine
either the melting Of its polar SHOWS, or the move
ments Of the clouds which are floating about IN
its atmosphere, sometimes agtated by the cooling
breezes Of the summer al other times by the herce
winds of the tempest. By recollectlng the rcd aP-
pcarance of the setting sun In cloudless DAY,
particularly when the atmosphere is uncommonly
dense or damp, he would come to the conclusion
that the atmosphere of Mars, which Is much
greater in extent than that Of the Earth, is also
Of a greater density, and that therefore, the red
tint which it presents is not owing, (notwith-
standing the opinion OF Herschell) to the pre-
tended ferrugnous nature Of its soil, but only to
the immense extent and density of its atrnos
pherc. Finally, by the inclination of its axis
which is only 60 33' TO-, that of the Earth
being 662 so l')-by the velocity of is annual
revolution, which is Is miles per second, (that OF
the Earth being l9 in the same space of time ;
by its diurnal revolution, which is only 9Th. 59m
and SIS, THAT of the Earth being 23h. 52m. 45s.),
by It's inclination to the echptc, which nearly CO.
ncides with the path of the Earth, and which Is
only 10 81 81; and by various other points of
comparison no less characteristic and analogous,
the observer would perceive that If Venus has
been appropriately styled by poets the Sister of
the Earth, Mars, by the numerous analogles with
our Globe which 1t presents, may be equally en-
titled to be called the Brother Of the Earth-lf
the grave language of Science would allow such
familiar comparisons. BY means of the lnlcrome-
ter the observer would also ascertain that the mean
diameter Of Mars, compared with that of the Earth
is as 0. 50 to l. 90, or little more than onchaf
This would. therefore, give a circumference Of
about 1889 miles, volume of 0. 90, the Earth
being l. co. or about one. fifth and square sur
face equal to So, $50 462 miles, which, being popu-
lated at the rate of 277 souls to the square mile
the population of England being taken as q stand
ard would, however, sustain population Of
II, ,557, ,233, 500 inhab:: :ants, or about Is times
greater than the present population of the Earth,
now estimated at nearly one thousand millions
JUPITER.
Leaving Mars for Jupiter, the observer would
soon discover the four brilliant moons which re-
volve around this majestic planet, with unequal
velocites and at distances which corroborate with
such wonderful precision keplers immortal dis
coveres on TIE relative distances and respective
velocites Of the planetary orbs, with regard to
the Sun. He would see with deep interest the
frequent eclipses of these satellites. their sudden
appearance and disappearance upon or behind the
disc of the planet he would reflect with satsfac-
ton upon their extreme importance in the sci
ence of Astronomy, for the determination of ter
restrial ongitudes, and the velocity of light, one
of the most interesting discoveries of modern
times, and which would not yet have been made
without their existence; he would also reflect
with equal interest upon the complicated phenom-
ena that their sometimes combined and some
times isolated attraction must necessarily produce
on the Atlantic waters Of the planet; he would
see that, in their combined proportions, they rep
resent a volume at least thirteen times greater
than that ofour moon, and that the third Of them
is no less than seven times larger than our sate-
lite, and, consequently, as important, with re-
gard TO size, as the planets Mars and Mercury,
and moro so than the ultra zodiacal planets YES
ia, Juno, Ceres and Pallas, which are so small,
that we have not yet been able, even with the
most powerful telescopes, TO ascertain their angu
lar diameter with any degree OF accuracy. lie
would sec Jupiter considerably f1attened at the
tl,,o o1o ,4oIa af
tor, and presenting from the equator to its poles
shadowv belts which are distinctly defined, bat
the nature and objects of which are as yet un-
known to astronomers From the near perpen-
dicuarity of its axis, which is $50 As, he would
discover that, Its revolutions around the Sum-
which requires - Of our years, the seasons un-
dergo no perceptible variations upon its surface
and that while perpetual winter rests upon its
poles and a constant summer warns its equator
the perpetual spring" Of the golden age of the
poets rcigns effectively within the hetcrocians or
temperate lattudes of this extraordinary planet.
He would also discover that it revolves upon its
own axis with prodigious velocity at the equa-
tor, since it performs each diunal revolution IN
the short space of Oh. som. 37s., thus presenting
all the points of its disc to the telescope III one OF
our nights and offering, therefore, to Its inhabl
tants days and nights of only 5f each, or there
abouts, OF our terrestrial hours But when testing
its proportions by the micromctcr and the calcn-
lus it is that the establishment and admiration Of
the observer unacquainted with the physical cha
racteristcs of the planetary dominion would be
raised TO the highest point. For he would find
that the diameter Of Jupiter contains no less than
II times the diameter of our globcor about 90, 33
miles, which gives FOR It's circumference 27b, ,399
miles, or thereabouts, and volume at least l47O
times larger than that OF the Earth. Its surface,
consequently, must be equal 10 at least 81, 465,
$40, ,626 square miles.