Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1877-10-06
In the Teieseope
CLEAR AUTUMN VISIONS OF THE FAR-oFF
wOKLDS


| Most of the recent nights have been favor
! able for astronomical observations aud the
Io-Ition and number of the planets IN vfew
renders it al exceptionally interesting time
for STA gazsrs. The Hartford Tunes SAYS.
Jupiter Is IA passing out OF sight aud Is
already too low down In the souJhwe-t TO-
good observations except in the early d.. K
nc that succeeds the evenin twilight. HIS
beltC1 surface, an enor nous mass OF clouds
which cannot be les tnln from tive ID ten
thousand miles deep, shows I.equent evI
dences of tremendous commissions going on
within, in the hidden planet itself-some-
times In the sh ape of a seeming crilklinS
lightning dash from the vast theater of a vol
Capic and consolidating void below this
thick cloud mantle. His four moons, some
times all seen on straight line, divided on
eItnef side OF the giant planet. pLe5ent "A
beautiful SIGHT, which cin sometimes be
seen, under Neutrality-suspicious., With good
opera glass.
Venus, always the brightest star OF the
evedinS twill mt or the dsya. is nov in-
C 81 ing IN brIlliaucy a. she rscs lie fro n
the Sun ana Sumes more alt more her
Gre cent shape. This lovely pl snet is unfav-
orabl" plat i. by it, proX nifty ID the suu,
for telescope observation: but IL is found ia
the gl1s5 tO be a beautiful and very Interest
Ing object. The lrool itself, with its enilesI
craters and rugged mountains, aud its col-
ira T. OF light and sh? low, Il alwayys- in
teTe5tinS an object for the observer as any
ojhe., OWING To IT. nearneSs. Its surface
LOOKS as If made OF pla ter Of = 'ris, which
bad broken into bubbles by , ,linr, and
ha.dened in thee rough an 4 FAINT tic forms
A mrs class glass, which pres srves clear
ness in delinea'ion when Us, I with the high
est magniiyiug eye piece. seem; - bring
that stcanse dead world IN ali as binding
glare OF reflected sunli "a uorelieve by any
atmosphere, 50 near the ben older IN a. hs
can almost reach forth his hand ami tplch il.
On the moons of Mars, distant from rs
nearly 500 tc01 miles, the same writer says.
~ is only because Of tleIr tllumtn .tiOl by
ire sun That these lii'le objects N we been
discovered at all. Placed upon the dsrk
background OF a clear but mDonless night,
these satellites OF sister planet were zen,
ME minute sparks in the Immea>lrabla
gJifs OF space. One of the ve.y few oD-
Ie. verS who have seen either one OF them
( re tu.i6 they nave not been sen by any
European astronomer Is a Hartford gentle
man, whose glass zone 81 Alvan CIarr's,
probably has no superior, for t. s.Ze-s 3,
inch reIractCr-ia lie void. Tne time Tor
$ eng the little midgetS' was OF course
when the planec wa placei at it best. aud
BearC-t TO our GLOBE, in this eXcapuo lally
.avor.5le oppos stion, on one OF the frt
Di0ntS OF Septe.n Oor-and the outer Marian
moon vas seen Just after ne planet itself
had pa ed Out OF the field OF view Ii was
1T speck-sn intense and heetiag Little
spark, shown a gaI ist the black, clear VOID OF
the SKY, and closely ioll wing the plaret. Il
IS not likely that these minute objects will
be seen ain before the opposition of i>i2;
nor W Il there occur, after thIJ time, for gen
erationS tn come 50 favorable al oppOrtu-
IA ~ as this one ha been.
Those who have rot yet seen the recalIn
plane, may yet have A ,oDi chance. On any
OF TIL { line NIGHTS whicL are so swiftly pa =
Ing 10 see NJ though not at its Oe l. tiit very
clearly. = view Of IL on Monday night Ia /
was full OF beau, y ana interest. The delicate
marking OF the seas AMI land on tIat TAR
| plane, distant now AGO. 900 mile, We. 2
clear and beautiful. Ado e the prime . Al
and central masses of wate.-whIch apps r
| cd darker than the continent ->ho &c the
| r.'ddy land itself Of that distant world ,
| glowing in a beautiful roseate liz At, that was
"a uneN pected as IL was beautiful.
1t was by no means the fiery lus.re of
! Mars a he is seen by The unassIstCi eye, OF
| through the street telescopes, bat delic alely
Gle r and ros cate hue, quite ch Armng 20 the
bea0lder VT , sees il for the fir.t tima. The
southern pole of snow and ice cleaned like
some lustrOus pearl or diamond. In the gla +;
| all this ems above the sea but the Image
! IS rev ersCd a the telescope ant the 70 cate
cplOrei land, and another SCI b ayolt il, a AT
| the cleaning icy pole beyond all, are in fac.
| in the very opposite position from that in
| WHICH they are seen.
The polar '.snowcap" has visibly dtmin-
| ished since the first of Septem oe.-sho " ing
| the effect OF the summer season in that far
world, season which now core spOltS TO
our; and as the snow and ice have rec ed,
the southern ocean, almost invisible before
4 has opened into larger dimensions, thou yn
! still much less distinct than the long aud
| narrow main seas IN The central part OF the
planet.