St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-01-14
Planets in January.

]
icate Indication. Here is the answer
ing record. British observers announce
| the occurrence of aurOral displays on
| the 3D. of November at Brighton and
Southport in England, at Dublin and
OvOca in Ireland. and on the 4th of No
vember in the OGkneys. The display
at Southport was not of remarkable
| brilliancy. At the Orkneys the sight
was rarely beautiful. the aurora occa
sionally taking the form of il gigantic
rainbow and the light being as bright as
moonlight. At OvOca, grandeur and
sublimity were the ruling elements.
Columns and pencils of red and orange
! light glowed around the horizon, then
came vivid display of silver light in
the northwest, followed by Il deep or
ange cloud that reached to the zeneth.
Now a bright silver white arch appear
ed in the north, now a silver glow suf
| fused the western heavens, and now
new phases of red and orange light
changed in a moment the aspect of the
sky and presented Il series of new scenes
| fresh from the creative touch of the
mysterious aud impalpable agency en-
anating from other worlds.
! Evidence is not wanting of internal
connection at nearly the same period.
| The Austrian earthquake occurred on
| the oh of November, extending from
! Vienna to the Adriatic and the frontiers
of Bosnia. In Agram the third shock
! lasted ten seconds, and was so powerful
! that not Il single house remained unin-
| iured. On the 9Th Of November, Maui
ma Loa. the huge volcano in the island
of Hawaii, gave vent to its pent-up
! fires, and the lava flow is the grandest
aud most extensive known for many
years. Two days later, on the 9TH,
Mount Vesuvius burst forth into active
eruption, two large streams of lava flow
| ing from the crater to the base of the
cone The Atlantic Ocean added its
testimony to the disturbed condition of
this planet, and the ocean perils of No
vember, 1880, will long he remembered
/ by those who crossed the storm tossed
waves. If there were riffs and cavern
Gus hollOws among the JOvian clouds,
the solar surface was rot behndhand in
evidence of stormy commOtiOn. Spots
many and large notified his frey disc,
and gave ground for belief that in the
play of attractive force the beaming
centre of the system may receive hits as
well as give them.
The points of interest on the Deem
Der record are perhaps neither so nu-
merOus nor striking. On the 4th Marsh
field, in Missouri, was second time
swept by cyclone, the northern part
of the city being laid waste, and the
storm being accompanied by thunder,
lightning and violent shocks of earth
quake. Snow storms have occurred at
the south of a length and severity I'M
known for quarter of a century, and
frigid waves have rolled from west to
east and from north to south in way
that has carried the mercury many de-
grees below zero. On the 18th Mount
Baker in Washington Territory, broke
forth in volcanic eruptions, thus joining
forces with Mauna Leo and Mount We
Suvius, the trio of volcanoes being now
in active operation, and though widely
separated on the terrestrial surface,
bearing witness that the internal forces
that supply their fuel are greatly stir
red up. The huge rift and dark spots
on Jupiter present nearly the same as
pect as they did in November. The sun
just now is in a more quiescent cOndi-
ton, his bright face being married by
few black blemishes, though, at one
time during the month, sun spots were
observed, said to he large enough to be
seen by the naked eye. Two or three
planets like ours might be dropped into
these huge caverns without leaving any
more trace than a ball dropped into the
ocean. We give the facts without
drawing conclusions, for the influence
of the planets upon each other and up
on the sun is Il department of astrO-
nOmical science that is still in its in
fancy. Fact must he piled upon fact
aud observation upon observation for
generations to come before wise astrOn
omers will dare to assert that the fasci
mating theory is an established truth.
Meantime, needless of terrestrial inter
est, Jupiter puIsues his shining course,
being now just over the meridian at 6
o'clock, and setting at midnight. At
the end of the month he sets about 1870
o'clock.
Venus is evening star, and is bewiteh
ingly beautiful as she hangs for three
hours after sunset in the western sky.
She will continue through the month to
oscillate on her eastern path, receding
farther from the sun, approaching the |
earth and increasing in size and bright
ness. For three months to come the |
western evening sky will present
grand scenic performance, in which We
nus, Jupiter and Saturn will be the |
principal actors. Venus will approach |
Jupiter and Saturn Jupiter and Sa-
turn will approach each other, and the |
increasing proximity will be plainly |
perceptable. This is a gala season on
planetary annals. and this is the time
to watch their brilliant movements. |
Before the pageant closes, Venus will |
meet and pass Jupiter, and afterward !
pay her court to Saturn in the same |
way. Then Jupiter and Saturn will be |
close together. and pass each other Just |
as they come into conjunction with the |
sun, and the grand panorama of single, |
double and triple coniunctions will not |
close until next May, when Venus
comes into inferior communion with the |
sun, and her reign as evening star closes. |
Fortunately these events are scattered |
over a period of about five months and /
observers for December can give atten-
ton TO the approach of the brilliant
planetary trio as they move in harmO-
NOUS accord over the celestial path
way. Venus sets now about o'clock /;
at the end of the month not far from 9