The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-04-17
JUPITER.
The Giant Planet Not Yet Cooled Down or
lnhabitable.

The Giant Planet Not Yet Cooled Down or
| Inhabitable.
Jup ter is n1w the most conspicuous
| star in the evening sky, and Icing in
opposition to the sun. appears in his
best estate for observers III on the
earth. The largest of the company of
planets, he is also the youngest. the
age Of the planets being reckoned not
| from the dates of birth but in degrees
OF advancement from the nebulous.
gaseous condition. There is period
of preparation. period of youth,
period of maturity, a period of age
and decline. and finally there comes
the end OF fe. The stages of an orb's
lie may be described a., in the main.
stages of cooling. We see that the
giant planets. for example, beng very
much smaller than the sun. must have
much shorter lives. Ire sun exceeds
Jupiter .047 times in mass and Saturn
is less than Il third even of Jupiter. 1t
is clear that, even granting the sun
start OF millions of years OF orb life as
compared with these giant members OF
his finn ~, he would still b, very much
houiS tucN arc III
We und srstand, IN fact, how it is that.
whereas, he is N the SUM Ike o. glow
ing vaporous stage, they no Longer
nave the sunlike aspect. But on the
other hand they Ix :eed our earth so
enormously both in size and in mass.
that by party of reasoning she
ought 10 be very much older than
they are Tin development alwaTs, [
mean, not IN years.. Jupiter exceeds
her so times IN mass and Loo in bulk.
Saturn exc ,ed; her ninety seven times
in mass and several hundred tines Ia
bulk. and such d ffereEc,s as these inn
ply not only mere difference in degree.
but in k nj. Jupiter and Saturn must
not only be more youthful than the
earth. but in Il different stage of orb
life altogether. We may say that they
must be In a stage intermediate between
tue sun lie aud the earth life; they
may be expected to show I'm Ter careful
study evidences of conditions allen to
those found in the sun, as probably at
least rs OF conditions resembling those
tx sting IN the case of our eirth. The
great red spot on Jupiter, OF which
during the last few years we have
I.ctIu ~ II, bnC ihOSs
sunlikc feature of all. 1t had a sur
face OF about 15e, o a. 900 square miles
three-fourth' of the entre surface of
our earth. From that surface came
Paddy light, which gave clear CIV denee,
under keen spectroscop;c cross-exami-
nation by DIR. Henry Draper, of being
in pant Inherent. The singularly regu-
lar shape of the spot-a perfect ell.pse
showed that it was due TO expansive
action o. vaporons matter encountering
but overcoming the resistance OF tho
vaporous atmosphere around the re-
g:on occupied by the SPOT. The only
way. bel eve, N which the form, and
color. and persi stence of this great spot
can be expla mel .si;isfacior " is by a
theory ak to that suggested on sun
spots. 1t would seem that from
deep down below the layers OF cloud
which until 1876 had covered
the reg on occupied afterwari by the
spos mighty masses of com crossed
vapor were lung up with intense en-
ercy, making their way through those
LAYERS OF cloud and rolling the clouds
away on all sides till an enormous area
WAS cleared Through the reg on thus
cItt VI C4OUN We No tCC
light from the glowing surface within.
So !olg as the forces aJ WORK below
drove the clouds away from this regioi
the spo: remained. retaining al Ike his
color and its siugulariy re- ular form.
This lasted for more than i've years.
after VIII ch. thou.h The spot did rot
sappear yet it lost its luster while
the irregularty of it, shape showed
lat the yaporous ma sas flung up from
below We're no lolGe- able TO drive
away. Is Ee'o-e. tn. csDu1 masses
which Were endeavoring $50 to spaak)
to r.tur., to the reg on from VIII en- they
had been d.ivea. The existence OF d $
turbances such rs this. so widespread.
so long lasting. and giving evidence OF
such int ,nse heat in the planet, must
assuredly suffice to dispose OF the be-
lief that Jupiter is a void Ike our
own. and to prore that. though not &C
tually sun. his cond ton is more
nearly akin to the suns than to that OF
our own earth. And what is thus
proved OF Jupiter is proved also of his
brother giant Saturn, seeing that all
the evidence shows Saturn and Jupiter
TO be in nearly the same state of plane
tary life, Saturn, if any thing. be ne the
Younger and more sunlike OF the two
Pro-. Proc or. in A. j. Tribune.