The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1879-08-22
MONROE LOUISIANA, FRIDAY, AUGUST a. 1873.
wONDERs!OF VENUS.

", WONDERS!OF VENUS. ~
Many who admire the beautiful star
which now adorns the western sky un.
til more than three hours after the
commencement OF twilight may not be
aware that its splcndor Is derived from
the sun; that In 1t, like on the Garth,
night curtains tho landscape, morning
dawns, aud seasons In quick succession
come and go. Lofty mountains show
that forces similar to those which up
heaved the Alps and lifted the sum-
mits of the Andes above the regions Of
eternal snow have rlged its surface and
covered it with hills and wales. Vari-
able spots prove that clouds float in its
atmosphere, and CLEANS Of light, which
dart across its sky, afford evidence that
in it lightning seams the sky and the
thunder's roll reverberates through the
valleys.
But 800 miles less in diameter than
the earth, and revolving on its axis
in nearly the same time, Venus makes
while the former makes eight. AS the
inclination Of the planet to the plane
of its orbit is at least fifty -four degrees,
its torrid zone is double that extent, or
Jos degrees, aud its polar circles hfty-
four degrees from the poles. It there
fore has two frigid and n torrid, but no
temperate zone. Since the sun must
arrive at the equator and depart from
1t to the distance Of fifty-four degrees
twice in each of its years, there must
be two summers and two winters an
nually in the torrid zones and a winter
and a summer in each of the frigid.
Venus becomes the morning star after
its superior conjunction, when 1t APP
pears, through the telescope, crescent
shaped like the new moon. The orbits
of this planet and of Mercury are with
in the orbit OF the earth, and conse-
quently they are never seen in opposi-
ton to the sun, that is in the east
when the sun is in the west, or in the
west and the sun in the east. At It's
inferior conjunction, Venus is nearer to
the earth than any other planet, OK
cept tho moon, aud sometimes when
approaching tho greatest distance,
when it seems to recede from the sun,
casts a shadow and is visible In the
full light of day. II at the period when
it is nearest to the earth, tho enlight-
ened part wore fully turned toward the
latter, this planet would appear twenty
times as brilliant as it now does, and
almost vie with the moon In dissipat-
ing the darkness of night. Being situ'
ated at about ono-third less distance
from the sun than the earth, Venus
receives moro light from that lumfn
ary than is received by the forme,
planet, and seems not to require The
aid of the moon. Nevertheless, SOW
eral astronomers have affirmed thai
they have noticed such a body, and
have even gone so far as to calculate
tho orbit of the supposed satellite, but
their observations have not been veri-
! fed.
The transits of Venus, or its pass
age between the Garth and the sun,
when it appears as n round, dark spot
moving slowly across the solar disk,
have been made to assist in determin-
ing the distance Of the earth from the
central luminary. The last transit oc-
CURED in December, 1874, and tho next
will take place in December, 1882. AS
this can be viewed in tho United
States it will awaken a greater interest
than the transit which Rittenhouse and
others observed moro than a century
ago. But four transits of Venus have
been observed, and, after 1882, 12l3
years will elapse before tho alternately
morning and evening star will pursue
its seeming pathway across tho surface
of the great orb of day.-Aldr,'y Jour-
nal