The New York herald., 1876-12-24
NEW YORK HERALD SUNDAY ls7eQUADRUPLE SHE

ton. Instead Of accounting for the failure dis
cover the planet by assuming tnat each observation
occurred near the end OF series oil transits this
would indicate they the beginning OF
series. Dut that The the plane OF the orbit
led astronomers To commence their search IN March or
IN September. at the time when they should have
cluded H. searching at the wrong time and therefore In
yain
II the period given by Lcverrer is correct II my
Hypothetical explanation OF Lescarbaults observation
- correct the transit VIII take place March - at
about seven T.. NJ. that the best place it viii
be upon tho Pacific coast, and on September 20. at
about eigh NJ. when II will DO best seen IN Europe
But us upon ms theory the transl. VIII occupy nos
less thaa three or tour hours POSSIBLY both transis
may be observed IN tins city.
The observation OF stark, on october O. 1919, tolet
ably accords with an orbit OF twcnty.e eight days,
wc with all the i've observations, and tends to sup
port the original plane, but II would require correc
on OF at least three degrees IN each OF the two angles
given by Lescarbauit, and II Is not 10 imagine
how he could make two such errors. On the other
hand, tho position corresponds well with the OBJ
scrvation ~ Fritsch that the two may be supposed To
belong TO another interior planet There also an
observation by Schmidt on October III, lSiI. which
probably belongs 10 the same planet The observa-
uols IN February must have been ol different
planet and those IN June OF stlil another, that
We must either admit The existence or at least iour
ntra al planets, else leave ol these OBJ
servations unaccounted for 1t may be noted how
that the times Tor the transit iu 1877, on III,
suppositon OF an orbit oi twcntyei2ht days, Will be
tho same days, March - ana September 49, but
Six or eight hours earlier ana that with that orbit IL
almost certain that the planet Will not be upon the
disk. although It may be seen by the spectroscopo
within the
The attention which has directed the ransits
oi Vulcan has called forth great variety Of obsrrva
tons OF solar spots supposed 10 have been OF plan
etary nature. few suggestions will sweep away
most OF these
l. The apparent diameter OF Vulcan in transit Is
about equal 10 that OF Uranus In order that should
be visible at all magnitying power OF at least ten
would bc necessary; and III order that II should bc
seen as round disk magnifyng power OF at least
100 is requisite THIS lsposes OF ali the
oi persons who have supposed they saw ~ without
telescope
:. The direction OF the motion must be approx-
maicy from east to west In determining the motion
unless the planet passes entirely oil VI the dsk during
the observation there Is much danger OF error by
experienced observers. For instance, suppose spot
to be VISIBLE toward tue limit OF the the
forenoon; 1t will appear IN tins latitude IN the upper
right hand quadrant; the afternoon 1t Will appear
motion al all IL will appear 10 have moved through
arc OF more than 10 degrees toward the south in low
hours.
4 Tho rate OF the motion must be such to cross
larity Of tho motion OF Venus is sufficient guarantee
that there planet outside OF the orbit oi Mer
curry The duration or the transit cannot therefore
much exceed uvc hours ana II the Orbit were small
that tho central transit would require much less than
our hours the transitS would occur frequently that
the planet would loig since have been discovered
No transit Of the planet seon by Lescarbault can
occur except in the months OF March, April Soptem
Der and october.
should a spot bo seen upon tho sum disk who
motion Is much greater than that Of the suns surface
or which Is much larger than l500th OF the SUMS d
ameter; or which moves toward the north, south or
east; or which the disk rate differing
teraly IRON six or eight inmates per hour; in either
indisputabo evidence that has ever yet been
seen in transit across the suns disk
HENRY NJ PARKnURsT.
New York. Dec 2S 1875