Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1860-03-20
The Starry Heavens.

OF the nianets and the starry heavens
through a telescope All that is necess-
arv Tor its thorough enjoyment, is such
a knowledge of astronomy and of the
times and motions OF the Stars, Il week
diiligent and careful study Hiil give 10
any person of quick apprehension and
fair intelligence. There Is no instru-
ment Of human invention which has en-
larged The MODEST OF mans natural facul-
lies SO much as the telescope. As one
among many examples of this enlarge
ment OF a natural faculty, lie, US take a
glance at Saturn, one OF the most Won
derful objects in The heavens. This plan
ct is s. 900 miles in diameter, and IS 600
millions OF miles from the earth. 1t is
surrounded by cicular ring which is 2S,-
900 miles wide, 100 miles thick, and 49,
900 miles distant from The surface OF The
planet.
To the naked eye Saturn appears a
small dull star, and It's ring utterly invls
ble. Now observe what power Of 200
on good three inch aromatic telescope
does for a man in respect 10 Saturn. II
takes him up, and setting hnn asiride, as
il were. on a dash OF IighI, or of lightning
ney of S95-l-2 millions OF miles towards
Salurn-tilat is places hun exactly as
near Saturn as be would be placed after
Il CONT Iaous Journey by night and day
for three thousand years az express rail-
road zpeed. Il shows Saturn larger than
the full moon shows plainly is belts hIs
moon, his wonderful double ring. and
makes his sohd g!obuiar form, suspend, d
and swinging within the nag, perfectly
distinct and palpab!- to the eye. y view
OF this magnificent planet alone, on clear
night, IS worth the price OF such a tele-
scope, and the same Is true OF the VIEW
Of jupiter with lis moons and belts, OF
our own moon, of the revolving double
stars, Of the glorious clusters, OF The grea,
nebu!;c Of Orion, and Of many otheg Of
the superb sights scattered over the NIGH
" dome OF the nocturnal heavens. winch
10 the une ded eye are, comparatively
speaking, as nothing, OF next TO nothing.
The constellation Of Oriou, which IS
generally considered the IL ost beautiful
and brilliant of ali the co-s.ellallous, l.
now sen 10 great advantage, as ! trenches
the mc rid.an about ten o'clock, and the
cellre Of il Is directly over he CELESTIAL
eq lator, and midway between The North
and South poles Of the heavens. Il Is
then about forty degrees south OF The
zenith. At the same tune mag be seen
Sirius flaming hercely, and by tar The
brightest Of the fixed stars. Il IS situated
twen,y-three degrees south Of the three
stars forming the belt OF Orion, which
points directly towards ii.
|, I ..+,,.-. Er,r, - ..,-tb r,-,t-aI ~,
be at least twenty million OF miles, Or so
great that light, which flies d million times
faster thaa a cannon bail, is three years
IN coming from il TO the earth. is right,
AID bv Inference lis size also, IS proved
10 be fourteen times crater than that OF
the sun. The telescope Of Lord Ross
reveals a succession OF perspective Of n
huln composed OF millions upon t4i.Ioue
of surA s.ars or suns So distant that 30,
800 years are required tor lie passage
81 iLut from them 10 The earth.
The fair conclusion IS Jhat there are in
cllcuiatle millions Of such masses Of suns
b 20 al tie reach u aHy telescope, 80 dis
laut from each other and from the cath
hat il Il man were to employ his whole
lite time ~ making straight llAe OF hJ-
ures and each Unit wds ~ s.aAI for
mliti1l Il centuries, the sum represented
by that line would fall far Short OF express
sing the smallest fraction OF The time re-
CURED for the transmission OF light from
them TO the EARN. From this may he
formed some faint notion Of the Infinite
il insignificant parl which the earth aud
even lhe solar system i!s-lf, plays IN III
mysterious game of creation, and Of the
supreme folly Of arroganlly assuming il
20 be It's most Inportan, part
Jupiter Is nov the most brilliant and
conspicuous Of the planets. Il rises now
II about SIX O'Clock, aad at mae makes a
fine show at The northeast. even 10 the
naked eye. \ power Of 200 Oh Il three
inch telescope gives Ii a diameter OF FIVE
times and disc more Than twenty tii.e
IS large as that of the full nooa. Il
shows also his belts and his four bcau,i-
fu moons, which change their rela' i've
positions every night. II shows also the
shadows of his moons as they pass aCross
his disc. Saturn is now IN the constela-
,Iou Of the Lion, and rises about two hours
later tAaa Jupiter, following his wake in
The ecliptc about thirty degrees distant
from hIm towards the northeast. To the
naked eye 1t is merely pale, dull star,
bu. with telescope power of two hun
dred, the most splendid and wonderful of
ali the heavenly bodies.
\ few degrees to the left of Jupiter is
seen Castor, a single star 10 the unaidcd
VISION, but with a power OF 250, the most
beautiful of all the double stars, one OF
them making a revolution about the other
IN 400 years. About half way between
Sirius and The constellation of the Unicorn,
barely visible 10 the naked eye, but with
i power of 200, seen to b beautifully
triple. The Pteiales, or seven stars. are
now no the meridian about uine o'clock.
and afford a splendid object for the ,eies-
coP3- Al the same time. towards the
Northwest, and abou, thirty degrees up
from the horizon, blazes Lyra, one 0.
most brilliant of the fixed stars. jas,
above Il and forming a triangle with il
are two lItIie stars. one OF which, with
power 200. Is resolved into an exceeding
y beautiful quadruple star. The star
Mar, III the tail of the Grea. Bear, is
also found 10 be superb double s;ar-
I The planet Venus may now be seen ,ust
after sulset, far down at The southwest.