Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-01-18

the glittering dome at night.
1t is rather humiliating to learn from as
tronomers that we are visible only to the
Moon, Mercury, Mars and Venus. out of all
those myriad lights.
At certain favorable times Jupiter might
| see us with the aid of telescope, but it
would be only small black spot slowly
| crossing the suns face.
We are invisible to Saturn Even if. by
the aid of powerful telescopes. they could
see us, they could not decide whether We
were n distinct or separate ball attached to
the sun.
An imaginary view from Saturni is supposed
to depict the scene at midnight. at thirty de-
grees latitude. The sun has illuminated the
beautiful rings, casting a brighter glow over
the faint yellowish tint of the orb. The
equatorial belt of a creamy white color, the
cinnamon colored belts on either side, and
the faint blue of the polar regions. shine
more wildly in the reflected light. The
satellites sparkling in the distance heighten
the grandeur of the scene.
We receive but very faint light from Sat-
urn, as we are 746 times smaller than that
planet. and its mean distance from us, ac-
cording to Proctor. is over 81 900 900 miles.
Uranus can never see us at all, as it is ], 753,
600, 600 miles from the sun.
Neptune, the most remote of the planets
in the solar system, is about 100. 900. 900
miles from the sun. As we only discovered
it about thirty years ago, it need not disturb
us to think that the Neptunites will never
know of our existence
Before inquiring how we look from the
planets. let us first learn "a little about them.
beginning with Mercury, as it is nearest to
the sun. II is difficult to see this planet
with the naked eye, as it is SO immersed in
the rays of the sun. The Greeks called it
"glittering." on account of the occasional
intensity of its light. An old English writer,
Goad, in 1856, humorously called this planet
- squirting lackey of the sun. who seldom
shows his head in these parts, as if he were
in debt" From this extreme nobility, chem
lists adopted this planet as the symbol for
quicksilver.
1t is supposed that Mercury has mountains
higher than our Himalayas, and volcanoes in
a state OF activity. The planet must be very
dense in character. If its materials were
similar to those of our earth they would melt
in short time. on account of the proximity
of the planet to the sun. The temperature
in Mercury is supposed to be seven times
hotter than our torrid zone. Therefore, if it
is inhabited it must be by people very differ
emily constituted from ourselves.
Fontenelles idea of Mercury and its in
habitants is SO very curious and interesting
as to be worth quoting. 1t will easily be
seen that his imagination is a powerful one.
He says !: 1.-The heat to which they are ac-
customed is so great that the climate of Cen
trail Africa would freeze them through. 1t
must be taken for granted that our iron, sill
Yer, and gold would melt in their world, and
only appear as liquid, like water. The
dwelers in Mercury must be so vivacious as
TO be mad in our meaning of the term. |
hl lIays. hot hoy hov han,
most negroes. that they have not the faculty
of thought, that they only act by fits and
starts. and that in Mercury bedlam is the
universe.
Ii these singular people would enjoy see
ing us the best time for them would be when
We are on right line with their planet and
the sun. Our illuminated side is then turn
ed toward them. By climbing the steep
crags shown in the view (Which Schroter
says are ten miles high, and looking off into
the sky they would see our globe as Il mag
niticent and stately star. moving from west
to east. Through a good telescope they
might see dusky patches here and there, de-
timing the outlines Of our continents. Light
green tracts would show our seas and oceans.
They could also see our polar regions white
with snow. 1t is probable. however. that
only their Rosses telescope would show
these markings.
Venus is the only plant mentioned by
Homer. He speaks of it as beautiful" 1t
was called ''Sukra," or 1.-The brilliant" by
the Indians. 1t is often called the ''Shep-
herds star, Hesper, or the "evening STAR"
and Lucifer, the morning star" Venus is
so bright that it may often be seen at mid
day with the NAKED eye. 1t is supposed there
are mountains also on this planet. HALEY.
the great English astronomer, was the first
TO announce the fact that the passage of
Venus across the sun gave us the means of
obtaining the suns exact distance from the
earth.
1t is generally admitted that this planet
has an atmosphere much like ours The
author of the "Harmonies of Nature, speak
ing of Venus and its inhabitants, says, Ve-
nus must have mountain peaks five or six
times higher than Tenerife, their sides
bright with flowers and birds of brilliant
plumage.
ats inhabitants, about the same size as
ourselves, since they dwell in planet of the
sap diameter, but in o more favored celes-
tial zone, must devote all their time to love-"
Could the people of Venus spare time
enough from such an agreeable occupation,
to study their skies when their planet is
nearest to our earth, they would be repaid by
magnificent sight. Our globe would ap-
pear to them as a brilliant star. tinged deli
cate blue, and larger than any other in their
sky. With suitable telescopes they would
have much the same view of our earth as
from Mercury, except that the confgurations
would be more distinctly marked. The
author We have just quoted. in speaking of
the brilliancy of the earth as seen from We
nus. says Though the long nights in
Venus have no moons to light them, Mercury
by reason of its brilliancy and close vicinity,
and the earth by reason of its size. must be
more than equal to two moons.
The moon never leaves our globe there
fore it is called our satellite. Though to us
it appears larger than the stars, it is really
smaller than any of them. Its seeming size
Is on account of its nearness to the earth, 1t
being distant from us only about 23s, 900
miles.
The surface of the moon is covered with
black spots. which can be seen with the
naked eye. Through the telescope it can be
seen that they are mountains and extinct
volcanoes. Astronomers have calculated
that these mountains are higher than any
on our earth:
The moon 0s no atmosphere, according
to Sir John Herschel, and other careful and
accurate observers. Ii it had we would
know 1t during the occultations of stars, and
ecllpses OF the sun. The moons climate
must therefore be very strange. passing sud
denly from II heat equal to our torrid zone to
cold greater than the EsquimauY feels As
there Is no air. it seems impossible that hu-
man beings like ourselves can exist in the
moon. There is no sign of vegetation, or
anything which would indicate change of
seasons II there were any one on the moon
to see 1t, the earth would appear to them as
magnificent ball. The planets and sun
UOull habinl in hill
sion.
The earth has phases like the moon when
it is at its full. the scene is grandest Tho
basins of our seas and oceans, the contour
Of our continents, the north and south poles
WEARING their snowy caps-all these could
clearly be seen shining through vaporous
halo. With the aid OF very powerful glass
the avenues of New York and the big trees
of California might be seen.
The planet Mars is our next door ncighbor,
and much resembles US in atmospheric
phenomena and polar cold" To the naked
eye it is not very brilliant. Judging by it's
reddish hue it is surrounded by dense at
mosphere We know this because the stars
which it passes are hidden before they are
eclipsed by the globe OF Mars itself
The name Mars in Hebrew signifies zig
nited = with the Greeks Mars meant ''incan-
descent :" the Indians called it "Anagraka,"
which means burning COAL" and the 'red
body"
Henri de Parville, in his book, IAN In
habitant of the Planet Mars" gives us
most entertaining account of the supposed
discovery of one of these creatures in An
aerolite which fell and was found in America
In the portrait of the gentleman his nose be-
gins at the top of his head and extends down
to his mouth. looking much like the short
trunk Of an elephant. Our readers must
make allowance. however, Tor a French imag-
inntion.
Our globe appears to Mars but as n bright
star The earth is nearest to Mars when be-
tween IT and the sun, but at that time its
dark side IL turned toward Mars, and Of
course 1t is invisible to that planet.
1t is therefore only visible to Mars when it
is partly illuminated by the sun. Even then
1t is bright enough to be seen in the daytime
Our earth appears as the morning and eve
ming star to this planet. illustrated Christian
W'tkIy