The Daily Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Or.) 1876-1883, 1881-02-11
What is 10 Come.

mical destruction tins wear. The
Bulletin of the 3lst, for instance,
thus calls attention to what i TO
come:
The present year l. a remarkable
one in an astronomical sense. Ii !
is full OF extraordinary astrnnoml- /
cal phenomena, the appearance of I
which has been long anticipated 4
and the subject of varied predlc- /
tons. The planetary relations tins
year are interesting and important,
a. they will set at rest many theo-
ries concerning the Influence ot
the various members of the solar
system on one another. The plaE-
etary phenomena consist OF uHus-
ual coniunctions during that period
when these heavenly bodies are in
perihelion-namcly, AT that point
IN their orbits nearest the sun.
Some astronomers hold that the
planetary phenomena Of the pres
ent wear have not occurred before
in the worlds history since the
Mosaic creation. Some Of the
planets have already passed the
point nearest the sun; Others have
vet to reach il. For instance, the
giant planet Jupiter was in peri
helion on the 25th of last Septem-
Der. The ringed planet Saturn
was in perihelion a month earlier,
namely, OH the Goth of last August.
The Earth was in periheliun on
New Years ,lay. Mars will be IN
perihelion on the 26th of Nay next.
Venus, which is at present such a
beautiful object in the evening
skv, owing to it, brilliancy and
close relationship To the planets
I Jupiter and Saturn and the silvery
crescent OF the young moon, Will
: be in perihelion on the 9th OF
March. and then again on the 10th
of October. The little planet Mer-
n curry, which completes his revolu-
e ton around the Sun every eighty
$ eight days, will be in perihelion
four times during the year, namely,
February 2lst, Nav Goth, August
5 10th and November 18th. Mars
e is in perihelion on the 26th of May
n The two outside planets, Uranus
and Neptune, will not he in peri
helion until next year, that o
Uranus occurring March p, 1882
: and Neptune, October %, 1882
e The presence OF the intra-mercuria
:. planet Vulcan, which was about ;
o wear OF two ago reported discovered
is vet SO uncertain that Its orbit
has not been determined, AN,
! If it exists, its periods of periheilor
Ie cannot be determined. But th,
: most remarkable features of th'
T, planetary phenomena are the FIRE
=, quency and multiplicity nf con
d functions; that is, when they ar
D in the same part of the heavens =
Jr in the same longitude or right as
~ cension. And what causes som,
u timid people considerable alarm
is the fact that the greater numbe
"a of the planets Will at one tim
* this year be in superior conjunC
r ton, that is, on the side of the su
as most distant from the earth, an
49, that at a period when they wi
be in perihelion or nearly 81
- There is not a month in the yea
he but what two or more of the plaT
N. cts are in conjunction. But tn
re most noteworthy of these plane
n tary relations will occur in th
~ months of July, August and Nc
al yember. On or about the 18th {
w 18th of July, most OF the plane
il will be in the zodiacal sign ,
.n Taurus and almost in conjunction
with the Earth in the sign Aquar
as. The planet Uranus will |
the only one excepting the cart
which will not at that period be
Taurus.
al Strange phenomena are predlc
ed in some quarters from this al
- usual relationship, as the attractiC
nd Of all the planets excepting Cr
,5s nus. will be Oh one side of q
:, solar orb while that of the Ear
10 will be on the other. On q
"a, llth of August, Neptune, JuPit
iod and Mercury will be in conjun
,Jo ton, and Venus and Mars W
., also be in the same conditio
we On the ,th of September, the
MI will be another double copiunctio
the namely, that of Neptune and Jul
90 ter, and Saturn and Mars. But
An the early part of November all
tho the planets will be- OH one side
far the sun. Neptune, Saturn, Jul
~ ter. Mars, Earth and Mercury "