Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-04-14


were made In the summer of 1881, and the great
objective was completed in October, 1882
temporary equatorial stand was erected In
the yard Of the workshop IN order to test the
! quailty, power, and perfection OF the glass. 1t
consists OF a pier of solid masonry to which a
tube of sheet iron. made in three sections is
| firmly fixed. with the necessary mountings to
secure It's movement in the required direction
The object glass, the eye pieces. and other ap-
purtenances being then placed In position. the
great refractor was ready to show its working
power, and to reveal any slight imperfectiOns in
| the polish or finish that required attention. The
precious glass bore the testing process with tri
| umphant success, aud is pronounced by the
makers to be the best that has left their hands
But the supremacy OF the Russian telescope
as the largest OF its kind in the world will be of
short duration. The same trial mounting will
De used by the Messrs Clark for testing the
thrty-siX inch object glass which they have en-
gagged to make for the Lick observatory of Cali
fOrnia.
The pier of the temporary structure is twenty
seven feet in height; the tube is forty Live feet
| Ill length, with an aperture Of forty inches in
diameter. Figures, however. give a faint idea
OF this giant structure. 1t must be seen loom
ing up under the SKY before its huge dimensions
can be realized. view of the heavens through
It's great eye must be taken before its wondrous
Hght-gathering power can be imagined
VIEW OF SATURN AND JUPIrER
The evening OF our observation is intensely
cold, but the sky is undimmed by the shadow of
a cloud the atmosphere is free from breath of
moisture. The heavens present scene Of ex-
ceeding beauty as the party of observers take
their places under the stars. The last lingering
rays of twilight family suffuse the west the new
moon, only day Old holding the old moon In
| her arms, is nearing the horizon. and the 20
dlacai light spreads its cone OF pale gold high
up among the eternal stars. Under the dark
dome archng above Us. the brightest stars and
clusters OF stellar space look down with friendly
eyes. and seem to hang low. as ii they would
| mold communion with mortals. Among them
thread the planets Jupiter and saturn whose
mysterious portals we, audacious invaders. are
seeking to enter this night with necromantic
art. Rising from surface of unbroken snow.
and looming up with shadowy indistinctness
the huge telescope seems to pierce the skies
while the observers at its base dwindle to pyp-
mics. f'o
After short time the instrument is ready for
action: Its open eye is turned upon the planet
saturn The serene star, upon which q moment
before we mad turned our unaided eye, is sud-
denly transformed into creation of surpass-
ing beauty. A superb golden sphere as large
as the full moon. lies before u.s. Saturn is
softly Graded in the protecting embrace of his
ENGRAVING rings, and seven of his eight moons
are visible as bright points on the dark back
ground Of the sky. Titan, the largest moon.
has perceptible disk. Every detail of the
| magnificent and complex Saturnian system is
complete: The outer ring, with its faint line of
division; the division between the outer and in
ner rings; the inner or second ring: the third or
crepe ring, closely joined to the second; the
break OIL the rings formed by the shadow of the
planet; and the soft markings on his disk.
Nothing Is wanting In the minutest details. and
there is but one imperfection In the picture
The definition is not good; the outlines are not
clearly defined. The view does not differ greatly
in dimensions from that presented bv a smaller
Telescope, but planet and rings are flooded with
light of delicious brancy and softness Here
Hes the advantage OF great telescope. 1t
orlnss TO the eye all the light that enters it,
that, within certain limits, the larger the
telescope the larger the amount of
light 1t collects, the more easily visible
will faint objects become, and the greater
the number OF objects before unseen that will be
revealed.
THE COI.0RING Is EXQUISITE.
Terrestrial colors are muddy in comparison
with the celestial hues of liquid gold of the
disk and rings, and the creamy tints of the
belts that cross the disk with the lightness and
grace of scudding cloud bands The sphere
seems almost to stand upright within the en-
c;rciing rings, only small portion of the planet
being seen beneath them. We have fallen upon
favorable conditions for view of Saturn, for
his rings are opening to their widest extent. his
northern declinatOn is increasing and he is an
preaching perihelion.
HOW JUPITER LOOKS
Jupiter is the next object to test the space an
Initiating power of the instrument. The Prince
OF Planets is superb. larger than the full moon,
though but little larger than we have seen him
many times in telescope of eight inches aper-
ture. He is, however much brighter and
though by no means as magnificent as Saturn.
we have the pleasure of feeling that we see him
on much larger scale. He seems so near that
we are impelled to put our hands behind the
glass and touch him. His broad belts are de-
ilclons IN cOlOring, now suffused with pale rose
or notified with soft gray, while shades of
purple. brown, and delicate green are inter-
spersed Never before did we behold the va
riety of tone and tint, the flood of light we see
this night. Never did our giant brother seem SO
near SO grand in proportions so symmetrical in
equipoise. His four satellites are brightly
beaming on his left, and bear testimony to the
stead of points. The famous red spot is want
Ing In the view. We mourn it's absence, for.
since 1873, It's we'll known features have become
as familiar and firmly fixed as If they were q
permanent feature on the planets disk.
What shall we see next? is the question now
discussed, for the extreme cold has CONCEALED
the oil, and the monster refuses to move. His
eye Ia turned to the meridian, and no effort will
make him swerve one inch to the right or left.
IN this emergency, member ofthe party volun-
teers to mount to the top of the pier and lubri-
cate with fresh oil the Joints Of the giant. The
plan Is successful, and with many shrek and
groan, the lower end OF the tube rises and the
upper end falls, until the Cyclopean eye points
to the great Nebula in Orion.
THE CELESTIAL GLOW.
The little wisp Of cloud haze visible to the
naked eye is transformed into one Of the most
glorious visions that ever breaks upon the en-
tranoed eye of the observer. The most wonder
full nebula the northern sky reveals lies before
us. filling the whole field Of view and suffused
by light that never was on sea or shore Now
we appreciate the power of the great telescope.
the triumph Of the opticians art For definition
iS of little consequence in observing the shad-
owy nebula. Light is needed, and light comes
The delicacy Of the celestial glow that per-
vades the scene Is beautiful beyond comparison.
The central point Of interest is the famous ira
pezinm. consisting of four bright stars and two
smaller ones Around this sextuple group ra-
dlate what seem to be the head and branching
horns of some huge animal, the trapezium occu-
plying the open mouth, and surrounding space