Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1886-08-28
WONDERS or THE HEAVENS.
scs They MAY be Unsoidsd b. shs
Greater Telescopes.

unars were. of course, effected without
ae aid Of glasses. and Pliny, in his ninth
ook Of the Almagest, quotes fourteen
bservations Of Mercury, dating 200 or
% years before our era, and still to DO
Ried On. They had, no doubt, good
I. yes In those days, when everybody ex-
/ opt the astrologers went to bed with
Ne sun, and rose as soon as he appeared.
1 the tail of Ursa Major the middle star
as near It small companion styled on
ie celestial chart Acor. The Arab OBJ
sTers knew this by the name of Saidak,
inch means touchstone or trial; for If
san>coui d perceive that tiny point with
10 unassisted eye he could easily see
lie small stars Of the Pleiades and the
"a ELITES Of Jupiter.
1 We must, however, also remember the
,rity and transparency of the eastern
hy, especially in dry, desert regions,
here oil the heavenly orbs shine with
killarney quite unknown to western as
onomers. Copernious. II Is related,
msnted in the hour Of his death that
had never 30 muoh as seen the planet
.ercury, which the happier Greek OBJ
n rvsrs called Stilbon, she spendid shin
n 6: and one Of the most promising
y ints in connection with this great new
lescope in America Is that IL viii be
wched upon a mountain peak, Far
,ove the dusts and mists Of the lower
orid-lifted into the stainlessly
rk blue atmosphere which Pro-
ssor Tyndall has celebrated upon his
Ign Alps. Accordingly, when we call
mind the considerable additions made
the heavenly science by such COM
Iratively inferior instruments as those
Lord Rosse, Mr.. Lasell and the elder
erschel. we may DO full Of hope that
II California astronomers win astonish
I'D delight the Old World with new dis
veries, awhsn some new planet swims
70 their KEN They can hardly be in
me for the two comets Of the season
q Fabrey and the Bernard, which are
Z be in their highest brilliancy about
&lay Is next, and not much farther from
e earth than the trifle Of Is, 300, 900 and
00O, 900 of miles respectively.
There are, however, unresolved nsbu-
! at which the great glass,will no
oner be pointed than we may expect
have those distant mysteries instantly
me down--like Col. Sticks coon-into
Lakes Of stars and systems; and out
le Uranus and Neptune, the latter
ing distant from US 2, TAG, 900, 900 miles
new telescope may cast a glance in
Q border world between our farthest
met and our nearest star, and perhaps
ID a sister for the single moon of Nep-
ne, and tell US why the four moons of
Janus Ariel, Umpriel, Titania and
beron-dance backward in the eternal
nuet of the skies and have planes per-
!ndicular to the elliptic of the mother
dy.
d There are, indeed, endless points upon
lich astronomers seek such informa-
IA as improved command of the heav-
9 might supply, especially if the en-
need power Of the telescope can be
sdded to the faithful eyesight of the
Geographic camera. Wonderful things
We been achieved of late in such a
by; spaces of the midnight sky blank
the ordinary lens OF mirror, have re-
aled to the sensitive film of the plate
Eriads of starry bodies. The crimson
assets on the suns ridge have depicted
amselves; his spots have registered
Dir periodic passage, and the time APP
paches, apparently, when an automatic
ronomer will be invented which will
ronicle event of the spheres with sleep
8 accuracy. We want to know much
pre- of comets, of nebulae, and of those
Z rious little members of our system,
planetoids, which perpetually in,
base in numbers with closer observa.
In, until they have grown up during
present century to more than 35(
own and named bodies. They wander
yobedient to law as the very largest
met, between Mars and Jupiter, tiny
pts Of the sapphire ocean, small chill
bn of the cosmos, the biggest not mucl
pre- than 300 miles in diameter, few Of
em so bulky as to be Visible without
= telescope.
Are these little silver bees of the sys
h mere broken fragments of some in
mediate planet, or have they beer
iously created, and have they beer
Ken up with revolution and gravita
Ia, and all The rest of it, on their owl
count and for special purposes. Tt
swer that and many another question
the kind may doubtless, in an Ameri
phrase, slick the Lick glass;" bu
bre and more, as astronomical concep
ms expand, are they silently affecting
prals, thoughts and religion. We SCI
Entity and grasp eternity when we lool
ia into the starry space. The visibl
iverse Is palpably boundless, and i'm
les an invisible universe of which it i
shadow, the symbol and the imper
" provisional expression. All faith
retofore delived to mankind have beel
scientific, built on the theory-or &C
5,ting it-that the stars were set i
aven the light this little o, the earth,
md which the sun goes daily. Faitl
not yot ventured to hook throug
lileo's @optik glass" let alone th
Santic lenses OF James Lick. By an
mankind viii understand, as well q
rr of, larger ideas. It will be bette
derstood why the Divine Teacher c
liloe said: an my Fathers house al