The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1877-09-28


a rrEO of Beautiful Planets
Not often do the heavens simuIta-
neously show MS three more beauti-
full planets than are now nightly
visible In our evening sky. To see
this planetary trio all at once, per-
son has only to look in the south
west about 10 O'Clock, where will
meet has gaze the giant planet Jupi-
ter, known as the belted planet,
whose light is of the purest white
ness, caused, probably, by the sun's
light being reflected from his cloudy
envelope. Il is quite, doubtful IL.
with our most powerful telescopes,
we have eyer been able TO sea the
planet itself. Our earth, as large as
we think IL, is but q pigmy compar-
ed with this stupendOus orb. It
would take thirteen hundred such
globes as this to eqal It In size. In
fact, he is two and q half times lar
ger than all otheFe-Mercury, We
nus, Earth, Mars, TIA Asteroids, Sat-
urn, Uranus and Neptune. He well
merits the cognomen he bears, "The
monarch Of the planetary throng.p
He is the great purturber OF planets
and comets, especially the latter,
acting as q sort of misplaced switch,
greatly changing tie orbits OF some,
and switching of on side tracks
those of others, sending some of
them of into space, probably never
to return. The distance Of this plan.
ct Is so enormous that q thousand
years would be required for an ex.
press train running fifty Mills an
hour to reach II, demanding the SER
vices of two hundred generations
of engineers and conductors, Gas
there are no down grades no brake
men are needed
If, now, the observer will turn to
the southeast he will see, about four
degrees apart, the planets Mars and
Saturn, the former shining with an
imperial lustre Of q fiery red tint,
the latter of pale yelIowish color.
The planet Saturn is one of the mar
wells of the universe. No other body
within the reach of telescope vision
shows us 30 anomalous q spectacle
q world environed with q system Of
multiple rings, Certainly three and
probably hve,) one being transpa-
rent. For the last fourteen years
the sun has been constantly shining
on one side Of the rings while the
other has, for the same time, been
totally eclipsed. In about six
months this will be reversed and
the side so long shrouded in the
gloom of night, will be ushered in
to day of about fifteen days dura-
ton. While Mercury, Venus and
Mars* have no moon, and the earth
put one, this rinGed world IL attend
ed by eight. II Saturn is inhabited,
and its dwellers reckon their months
by his nearest moon, which goes
through all its changes in twenty
two and . half hours, they would
have thirteen thousand months in
their year. Il Y AZ 81 CA
1t Is about Mars wish more par
ticularly to speak, q planet which on
the 9th of September will make the
nearest approach to the earth of any
planet except Venus. Not since the
beginning of this century has he
come so near, which accounts for
his excessive brightness, which al
most equals JuPIter's, and far sur
IL the only red planet in our system,
though no one knows whence he de-
rives his hue. All the planets, with
OuS OAOOPtAOnt LAONO AAOA WOSJ W
east, but they all have periods of
apparent rest, after which they
slowly move from east to west, and
after another period of rest again
commence moving to the east. Ow-
ing to these changes taking place
near to Saturn, Mars will make q
triple CONJUNCTION with that planet,
which has occurred but a few times
daring the whole history of astron-
omy, The last took place in 1873,
and the next will not occur until
1916. Moving direct, Mars passed
Saturn July 9th, and, retrogradIDg
will sgain pass It August 18th, and
then, moving direct, will pass 1T the
third time near midnight on the Sd
of November, within a distance of
less than one third the apparent di-
ameter of the moon. This, through
the telescope, will be most beauti-
full as well as wonderful sight, for
both will be in the same field of the
delescope-one white, the other red
one without q moon, the other pos
sessing eight; one next to the lar
gest, the other smallest but one; one
in which we see an atmosphere, and
seas, and polar ice, and the outlines
of continents, on which mortals like
ourselves may dwell, the other Of
fering not an argument that 1t is q
world suited to the production and
sustentation of animal life.
.4M3yo LEWIS SWIFT.
Rochester, August 90, 1877.
~since the above was written comes the