Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-04-04
A GLORIOUS SPECTACLE.


A GLORIOUS SPECTACLE.
The Planets Seen GhrougI. the Loroes #
OBJECT GLASS ire the Forld.
The astronomical editor of the Provi-
dence Journal recently visited Cambridge
port, Mass, and had the pleasure of gag
ing at the planets through the largest and
best refracting telescope in the world
Messrs. Avian Clark & Sons having COM
plsted the object glass, thirty inches in
diameter, for the Pultowa observatory, in
Russia, had mounted the glass for the pur-
pose of testing its working qualities. The
temporary structure consists Of a pier OF
solid masonry twenty seven feet in height
to which is firmly fixed, with various
joints, hinges and movements, a sheet iron
tube made in three sections. The tube Is
forty-fve feet in length and forty inches
IN diameter. The first object viewed was
Saturn, and the transformation is ikened
to vision of fairyland. The pale star on
which moment since, we had looked with
the unalded eye is now creation of sur
passing loneliness, the most charming
telescope object the heavens reveal Saturn,
his rings and his moon are before us.
The disc, golden sphere crossed by faint
cloud bands of a delicate creamy tint. the
wonderful rings softly grading the plan
ct, seven OF the eight moons, beaming
from the DIRK background of the sky,
Titan, the !, gest moon, showing a per
ceptible disc make up the shining picture.
Every detail III the magnificent and COM
pick Saturn system is compiete-the
shadowy CLOUD bands on the disc; the outer
ring, with its faint line of division; the
division between the outer and inner ring.
closely Joined to the second, and the break
in the ring formed by the shadow of the
planet.
Jupiter is the next object to test the
space annihilating glass. The prince Of
planets is superb, larger than the full
moon, though but little larger than we
have seen him many times in a telescope
of eight inches aperture. He is, however,
much brighter on account of the light
collecting power of the glass. Though by
no means as magnificent as Saturn, he far
exceeds him in mass and volume, and as he
is twice as near we see him on much
larger scale. The giant of the system
takes on grand proportions; the food OF
light irradiating his surface brings ole
every minute detail. His broad belts are
delicious in coloring, suffused with pale
rose, mottled with soft gray, purple, brown
and delicate green. We have seen Jupiter
when the definition was much more per
feet, but never with the variety of tint and
tone we behold this night; never before
did he seem so near, so grand in proper
lions, SO symmetrical in equipoise His
four satellites are in line on his left, and
bear witness to the power of the telescope
by presenting discs instead Of points.
We find it difficult to decide which of the
two pictures is the more complex, more
curious, but Jupiter is more majestic,
more like the great SUE himself.
The great nebula of Orion was also in
spected, and the little whisp of cloud haze
around the star in the sword of the Mighty
Hunter that is visible to the unaided vision
becomes one of the most glorious specta-
cles that ever breaks upon the entranced
eye of an observer, The most wonderful
nebula the northern skys reveal is before
US, filling the field of view and suffused
with celestial light suggestive of the holy
city that had "no need of the sun, neither
of the moon to shine in it; for the glory of
God did Tighten it,
In conclusion the editor says: ''The
Russian objective will soon be TRANSPORTED
to Its destination in the Pulkowa observa-
tory, founded by the Gear Nicholas. and
overlooking the city of the czars from its
lofty position on the Pulkowa hills, nine
miles south of St. Petersburg. We shall
never again behold the wonders OF the sky
through its great object-gless, but as long
as life epdures we shall remember the
time when we beheld, irradiated by its
light collecting power, and brought near
by its great eye, the magnifcence of
Saturn, the grandeur of Jupiter, and the
awe-inspiring combination of beauty,
mystery, and shadowy form of the great
uebula of Orion.'
Virgins and Kelly have each a secret
which they are keeping from the world,
They ought to be shut up together until
they are forced at least to swap secrets
with each other. Keely ought to commit
to Virgins the secret of the motor that
does not move, and Virgins ought to tell
Kelly all about the scientific principles
upon which he is able to predict three
months in advance, terrific storm that
does not come off. But Keely won't tell
the secret of the motor, aud Virgins is
reported as saying that There's not q
man living who knows the system by
which he predicts storms" Moreover,
Virgins intimates that wild horses can
not draw the secret out of him. We sus-
pect that Virgins is about to start q
weather bureau fos excursion and picnic
parties during the summer season. 1t
would be great boon to picnic parties to
have some such prophet as Virgins
nredict q Storm for thAir davis ontinr Il