Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1883-02-07
SIGHTS WITH A TELESCOPE


The new telescope which has recently
been mounted in the observatory ut Prince
ton *. with The exception of the one in
Washington. the largest in this country.
lis object gl@ss lacks but one inch of being
two feet III diameter. and the cigar shaped
tube OF steel IS about thirty feet long It
ranks with the half dozen telescope giants
which within y few years have been placed
III the hands Of the astronomers OF The world.
but OF whose astonishing achievements the
world has heard but little. peoDlc general
IE have no conception OF what modern as
ironomers have achieved. Take, for in
stance. their studies OF the planet Mars.
Our astronomers to-day have IL more COM
prehcnsve knowledge Of the geography of
that planet than anybody in the time of
Columbus had oIthc geography ofthc earth
They have made careful maps filled with
astonishing details, and if an astronomer
were suddenly transported 10 Mars and set
down III some given point upon its surface
he would not by any means feel that he was
lost. Given his latitude and longitude he
would know That in 4 certain direction and
1T distance Of II certain number OF miles
lay the body Of water named in his maps
the Lake Of The sun or Lociyer Sea, and
that III another direction was the continent
Of Copernicus IN amateur astronomer.
who recently spent an evening in the
Princeton Observatory, tells this story OF
what he saw
we began with saturn. Think of 4
globe 200 times rs large as the earth sus-
pended in space i'll the middle Of three or
four cOnCcntrlc rings which are nearly 10000
miles broad and more than 100000 miles in
circuit. but less than 100 miles thick, and
turned cdScWisc toward the planets euua-
tor. This tremendous ringed world, to-
gciher with the eight moons, that rcvolve
around ii. appears 10 the naked eye only as
Il dull-iookln% star; but imagine il brought
50 near that lis globe alone appears many
times larger than the full moon while all
It's surroundings are equally magniiied, and
YOU will have some notion Of the power Of
She telescope. The question naturally arises
in the mind OF the observer is it possible
that this marvellous planet can be inhabited.
1t seems TO me that the revelations OF this
monster telescope show plainly enough that
Saturn is not yet inhabited. Modern astron-
omcrs generally regard Saturn, together
with Jupiter and the other larger planets,
rs not yet being cooled down and
earth. Gcoogicallv they are many ages
younger than the earth. They are yet in IL
fiery and perhaps partly vaporolls condition.
At times great telescopes have shown the
distortions IN the planets outline produced
by the hcaving Of the vast sea Of vanor sllr-
rounding il.
We next lurncd the yrca: tube on .Jupi-
.cr. " till more gigantic planet than Saturn
though less wonderful. because it has no
rings. Here | saw another world in its fire
age. But there are indications that Jupi-
ter, geo!ogicaliy considered, is older than
~atuEn-tiat is 10 say. further advanced to-
ward the condition in which the earth now
Is. This conclusion, ! think, is warranted
by ihc appearance Of Jupter's surface,
Wh!ch contains many more conspicuous
markings and spots than are seen on Saturn,
and some OF these spots remain almost un-
changed for years. An ordinary telescope
generally shows only TWO dark belts run
ming alon" or each side OF the planets
equator, Il few spots, and the blush tingc of
the surface around the poles. The Princeton
telescope shows that the whole huge ball is
covered. and in the neighborhood of the
equator. crowded with belts, spots and
strcalss. jupiter's atmosphere, like Sa-
turn ), is filed with clouds which present
Il most picturesque appearance IRE
spectivc OF the suggestions which it con-
vcrcd Jupiter was Il superb object worth
a long journey and the loss of whole
nights sleep t. scc il hung before the eve an
enormous @lohc-not y Hat disk but round and
full. and pcrccptihlE hulgcd in the equatorial re-
gi"n through the effect Of its rapid rotation It
was like taking Il station oil in space and watch
/ ing the earth rotate, only Jupiter rotatcs much
faster than the earth. In an hour you could
plainly perceive how the great planet had rolled
on its axis, spots that had been near the edge be-
! ing advanced toward the centre, while new spots
!laVl come into sight along the edge of the ball
| At times. when the air was particularly steady,
all the delicate details OF the planets surface
came ont cZquiStcy defined. Once the Professor
! put on 4 masnifyng power of LAO diameters
which means THAT the surface of the planet was
magniticGt more than two million times. The at
| lnosphcrc was not steady enough to give good
definition with such a power, but the gigantic
and startling appearance of the planet, distorted
! and blurred by the tremendous magnifying rs it
seemed to the observer by the unstcadincss of the
air, in fact aud the tlickcrng forms OF the belts
| and spots showing dimly like huge shadows made
. sight ,hat shall never forGct.-N. y. Sml.