Daily Kennebec journal., 1879-03-04
misecIIaneous.
THE ZoDIAC,L LIGHT.
J INTERESTING TALK ABOUT A pulling
ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENON.

Any careful observer of the western sky
about one hour after sunset will see very
g. soft, faint column of light rising from the
horizon. and easily distinguished from the
twilight glow II Is shaped like a cone.
extends upward about forty degrees, fol-
lowing nearly the sun path in the heavens,
though its course is bent slightly to the
south II more clearly resembles acloud-
like man than anything else, bearing a
striking similarity to the Milky Way,
while such is it's extreme tenuitv that stars
are easily seen through the Intervening
haze. This bit of feecv brightness is
known as the Zodiacal Light, and is pecu-
liarly brilliant at this season of the year.
the most favorable opportunity for obser-
walton extending from the present time to
the middle of March. The best period
for the exhibition will be the clear even
s1i ings of the present week. for the new
moon of the 20th will soon be large enough
to observe the mysterious light of the
celestial visitant
What is the Zodiacal Light?" Is n
problem that has veXed astronomers ever
since they detected the pale glow of gold
en- light lingering after sunset in
winter or spring. and heralding
the sunrise as co-partner with the dawn in
the summer or autumn This beautiful
phenomenon is rs often seen before day
a break as after twilight. II extends ont on
each side of the sun like two cones placed
base to base, and lies nearly in the plane
"a of the ecliptic. In our latitude, the light
can only be seen in the portions of the
year before mentioned. the thickness of the
atmosphere obscuring it at other seasons.
Near the equator, where the eclipse rises
high above the horizon. it can be seen al
most equally well all the year round. II
fait 4
until at distance of ninety degrees il
fades gradually from the view. In very
clear atmosphere, between the tropics. il
has been traced all the way across the
heavens from east to west forming a com
plete ring.
This glowing archway across the skies
is one of the astronomical puzzles that
men of science arc zealously trying to pull
topieces. Thus far their efforts have been
unsuccessful. and the unpracticed obsev-
. er who looks with simple wonder and adj
mration upon the elliptical glow in the
evening sky knows almost as much of its
constitution and mission in the divine
q economy as the wisest' astronomer in the
land. Various are the theories that have
been advanced to account for the presence
of this intruder on terrestrial domains.
Some observers consider il ring of mat
ter revolving round the earth; others look
upon it as q colleetion of minute particles
OF metoric or cOm"tic matter travelling
around the sun ia yery eccentric orbits.
More recent and more searching cXamina-
ton gives a far grandcr explanation of its
origin, making the Zodacal Light IA CON
tinuation of the corona. and thus indicat-
ing lenticular-shaped atmosphere Of III
~ conceivable rarity surrounding the snn and
extending out near the plane of the eclp-
tic beyond the orbit Of the earth. Our most
thoughtful scientists do not accept This
view. bnt suggest another even more sub
lime and awe-iDspiring II Is that the
81 whole space between the earth and sun is
y filled with an Immense cloud of me-
teoroids, and that the sunlight reflected on
these cosmical atoms of floating star-dnst
is the cause of the soft celestial glow that
now fingers evening after evening in our
western sky. Gan anything be imagined
~ more grand than a universe constructed on
such incommenSurablc proportions, with
meteor-zone filing vast circle whose
radiAs is more than ninety millions of
miles, and whose constituents are of such
extreme minuieness tha: the sole evidence
Of their existence is a cloud-like mass of
light painted on the sky before the morn
ing dawn and the evening twilight No
one who accepts this ennobling theory will
fail to search for that sublime proof of
creative handiwork embodied in the Zoda-
81 cal Light.-Proriieace Journai