The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-09-22
AoLIMPsE BEYOND THE EARTH
New York Sun.

New York Sun.
The outbreak of lava, formidable and
awful as 1t IS, appears small affair be-
side the commissions which anybody who
will take the trouble 10 visit an observa-
tory may witness in some of the other
orbs Of the solar system. At this moment
there are visible upon the disk of the sun
the effects of commotions which would
not merely shatter an island, but would
involve the whole round earth in blazing
ruins. II is not necessary, however, to
look to the sun, where the final, fiery
processes of that nebular contraction,
which, it is believed, gave birth TO the
solar system are proceeding with an en-
ergy of which we can have no adequate
conception, in order to find examples of
the disrupting forces that are a, present
manifesting their power in other worlds
than ours on a scale that belit,les the
avian eruption. On Jupiter, for instance,
the telescope reveals the most surprising
changes continually going on in the ap-
pearance Of the planet, and which can
only be produced by forces of magni-
tude unequaled upon the earth. As
tronomers are Just nov watching Jupiter,
which is fast drawing away from the
neighborhood OF the sun in the morning
sky, with intense interest, in order to de-
termine whether one OF the most surpris-
ing appearances that were ever witnessed
upon that planet is yet visible. Late in
the summer Of 1873 faint gray spo, of
an elongated shape presented itself in
the southern hemisphere Of Jupiter. In
few weeks il had changed in color to a
deep red. and had become so conspicu-
Gus that even small telescopes easily
showed it. Singular phenomena were
observed around ii. The great dark bel,
that encircles the planet south Of the
equator was seen to be bent away from
this fiery looking spot in the most curious
manner. The spot was pointed At the
ends. and surrounded at times by sor,
Of whitish aureole. Ii was not less than
50 900 miles long and 8 900 miles broad.
After long watching, astronomers found
that this red spot took longer time to
make its journey around the planet than
some lish, spots which were seen near
the equator Of Jupiter. What could this
extraordinary object be: Nobody could
tell, although dozen theories were sug-
ges,ed. Last fall the great spo, began to
fade. A thin veil. as of smoke or cloud.
seemed 10 have been drawn over il. The
veil grew thicker and the spo, lost its red
color. Last winter only few OF the
largest telescopes in the world could re-
veal slight trace of the fading spot.
Then Jupiter went behinds,he sun, and
now that he has reappeared within the
range of telescopes it is probable that no,
even the most powerful will show where
the red spot was. The observation OF
such phenomenon as this on Jupiter is
interesting to the inhabitants of the earth.
because there is reason to believe that
Jupiter is now in stage OF planetary de-
velopment that was passed BY the globe
upon which we live. ages and ages ago.
SO, watching the changing appearance of
Jupiter's surface. we are able TO compare
an early stage of the earth S history. when
II was subject to throes that were felt
from centre to circumference. or when
perhaps it was yet molten ball sur
rounded by sea Of dense vapors. with
its present condition. when volcanic out
bursts are yet able to sink islands and
overwhelm cities, but can. after all. only
shake and split its crust here and there.
without being able to crush the rocky
framework
The great volcanic eruption in Java
suggests another curious consideration.
live accept the conclusion of those who
think that at leas, two Of the suns family
OF worlds besides the earth, namely. Ve-
nus and Mars, are now inhabited, we
must admit the possibility that the Javan
CONFUSION has aroused the interes, OF
other beings besides the inhabitants Of
the earth, for with telescopes as powerful
as those of terrestrial astronomers the
supposed jewellers on Mars and Venus
could easily see the cloud caused by the
eruption. From the moon it might have
been seen with the naked eye if there had
hnAfn an,.hnd,, fhAre u, lrnL