Muscatine journal. [volume] (Bloomington, Iowa) 1849-185?, 1853-12-02
Astronomy.


NETr) entitled "The Solar System,'' pub
lishcd last year by an English astronomer
named j. Russell Hind, is an interest
ing account of the present condition of
astronomical knowledge, including dscov-
cries to recent date.
There seems to be no very important late
lunar discoveries, though, in CHANGING thro'
the book we could not help feeling SIM
pathy Tor that lonely and poorly accommo-
dated individual known as s'The Man in the
Moon" 10 be sure, it must be pleasant
to HIM, if he lives on this side of his planet,
to look up, during the long nj. hts, at our
earth, great, bright globe, appearing
about thirteen times as large as the moon
appears to us never rising, never setting !:
but always over head when he is in tie mid
| die OF his dominion, staring at him through
half month of night-looking down on
him and his quiet kingdom as serencly as
if no disturbing wars agi.ated her breast !;
as if no restless, dark passions were ever
lastingly sweeping over its ocean of human
nature as if no tumultuois minds were
ever lasaing into fury the mountain waves
great comfort to the lonesome "NIan in the
Moon,' to gaze up into our placid face, the
calm, deceptive, aggregate face of our COM
bined world, and cheer himself with the
thought that he is not quite alone But if
no lives on the other side, it must please
the old fellow nightly, to take trip once
in while to point where he can see the
big lantern in the sky, its light of course
curously contrasting with the nights on
his side, where, of every month, he must
spend fortnight in total darkness.
Surprising the 'sMan in the Moon'' has
sense enough to occupy permanently the
illuminated side Of the planet, still he must
be ''used up man." for he has to pass his
cherries hours, like an earthly old bachelor,
among the broken remnants of "better
days." His s.plantation" seems to be rug.
ged, rocky and desolate. There are twenty
mountains above three miles high, and 14S
craters of apparently inactive volcanoes,
IL of which are from | to 10 miles in
width, and sc above 10 miles in diameter.
OF the latter, 6 craters are from 96 to lI9
miles in breadth. Of water, the author
thinks there is little or none, though some
astronomers count thirteen seas and oceans.
The names and places of the seas and
mountains are laid down on selenog. aphic
maps. If there is any atmosphere, it is
very rare and of small extent.
On the surface of the planet Mars, con.
tinents and seas are discernabe, and at the
poles are to be seen masses of snow. The
continents give Mars his rudy appearance.
His seasons are not very different from our
own, and he is surrounded by moderately
dense atmosphere.
Ceres isla little planet, only 163 miles in
diameter, and 263, 7l3,000 miles from the
sun. TWAS discovered in 1901. Between
the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, fourteen
other small planets have been discovered
These fifteen bodies have been supposed by
many astronomers to be fragments of a
large planet shivered to pieces by some tre-
mendous catastrophe. The last two Of the
number were discovered in May and July,
1851.
Jupiter is the largest planet in our sys-
TEN, its bulk being more than twelve hun
dred times greater than that of the earth
yet this enormous body is whirled round on
its axis in less than ten of our hours. Ju-
piter has four moons.
The eighth satellite of Saturn was dis.
covered simultaneously by an English and
American astronomer, on the 10Th of Sep
TENDER, 1913.
The size and position of Neptune, the
most distant planet, was discovered by NJ.
LeVerrier, by calculation, before it was
seen. Following his directions, search
with powerful telescope revealed the new
planet on the Odd September, 1916. Its
size and position in the heavens 7werc as
predicted by Nj. LeVerrier. In the ensuing
month one satellite was discovered. The
diameter of Neptune is 81 900 miles. and
its mean distance from the sun is 2,S62,-
457 900 miles. 1t completes revolution
round the7 sun once in rather more than
164 l-2 years.