Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1883-06-30
a Blotch oRpuTiaer:..

4 l. -.
L,H in the summer of1S78 sornhthihp
hapyened on the planet yupitet which
Immediately excited the attentiokof as
trhomers the world over, and Ave
RE to no ens~of curious specuhtions.
Sonth of theSouthern equatorial belt of
tFep lanetfn oblong red spot suddenly
mAle its appearance. 1t was so large
Fand its color was so pronounced that
even the smallest telescopes readily and
YclearH showed it. Jupiter is a world
in comparison withwhich this earth is
Insignificant IH order to circumnavi-
gaze Jupitef a sea Captain would have
TO SAIL as far as from the earth--te-the
moons and then 90 on assistance greater
than ME- circumfNencc of the earth in
addition. If New York and San Franz
cisco were set down on theasnrfacesq
Jupiter at "a point corresponding, 10
their positions on the earth, they would
be more than thirty thousand miles
apart. 1t is no Wonder, then, that the
astronomers - little eXcitemcntl
when they saw huge red spot suddenly
appear on the, fac OF eJupiter. rs IL a
puoilistic cometdad hit thass1aapt planet
\ a blow frena,s;e shoulder .snd eSdrawn
lblood. me red spot was some dirty
thousap. miles long. and six Ithousand
miles road big enough to encircle bhe
earth Ike grand marshal's sash, with
tiy" thousand miles -toespare, Yet on
Jupiter this huge spot resembled small
red olotch on an apple Everybody who
looked'at it with telescope felt an ire
sistible desire to know, what it was.
Some guessed it was one of the red-hot
continents of the yet burning planet
thrust up through the superintendent
vapors by some internal CONFUSION,
such as lifted up great masses of the
earth's crust in its early geological
days. Others surmised that it might be
an opening rent through the cloudy en-
velope of the planet, and showing its
glowing surface beneath. Some thought
it was red, cloud, and some that'itwas
a fiery Stag cast up, from the planetary
furnace beneath. 1t was soon discOv-
cred that it had amotion of its own-at
least that it performed its revolution
aroundthe planet in period different
from that OF. some light spots near the
equator. This only served to intensity
the curiosity of the beholders.
Unexpectedly last fall the great spot
began to fade. A veil Seemed to have
been drawn over it, and all its outlines
grew faint. Like a fiery monster which
had only come tothe surface to breathe,
it seemed to be sinking back again into
the depth of Jupiter's cloud ocean. The
latest news regarding this phenomenon
is that it has practically ceased to be
visible. The astronomical nionthlies
have stopped printing tables giving the
time of its meridian passage, and only
the most gigantic telescopes. are able to
give slight giimpses of the disappearing
But while one wonder is going off the
stage another comes on. OF late the
general appearance of Jupter's surface
has greatly changed. Some power APP
pears to be at work changing not only
the sorms but the colors of the planets
belts and spots, and Jupiter is now eX-
citing universal admiration by the bril-
liant appearance of his broad disk,
and notified with delicate tints
of pink, red, sepia and steel blue.
What is happening on the great planet
nobody knows, but it looks as though it |
would be a very unquet place of abode |
for any but a race of salamanders.-
~ Y Sun.