The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-04-01
BILL ARP.
Wonders OF the Sky.

Gen. Johnstone Jones, son of Col. Q.
Jones, of York County, recently visited
the Naval Observatory at Washington,
and upon his return home wrote his
father an interesting letter descriptive of
what he saw there. We have been per-
mitted to make the following extracts
from the letter:
Remembering your suggestion as to
looking at Saturn through the great
telescope, l procured letter of intro.
duction to Commodore Belknap from his
son in-law DR.. Westray Battle, who re.
sides here, and called at the Naval Oh.
seryatory. The Commodore received me
kindly, and invited me to look through
the telescope the first fair night. Tho
night of February 9th was tolcrably fair,
and visited the Observatory, and in
company with the Commodore and his
wife called upon Professor Hall, who
has charge Of the great instrument. l
saw Saturn, his rings and satellites; the
nebulm in Orion; Sirius; the Moon;
the Pleiades, and the star Aldebaron.
OF all these eight Saturn was the grand
est and most beautiful; but the nebul@
in Orion the most sublime and impress
siye.
Saturn appeared perfectly round,
smooth ball, with we'll defined edges, as
yellow as gold, and without scintillation.
The sphere was encircled by two bright,
fiat rings OF the same color as the planet,
separated by dark line, supposed 10 be
empty space between them. All along
the interior edge of the inside ring was
a cloudy or vaporous appearance. The
rings had clear cut edges and seemed to
be solid bodies. In the black space sur
rounding these luminous bodies shone
the eight satellites-each a brilliant star
"a diamond point of clear, steady, sill
yery.white light-at unequal distances
from the rings. 1t appeared to be about
tie size of the full moon. The wonder
of the spectacle is greatly increased when
we reflect that it is 100 millions of miles
distant from the earth, or $50 millions
from the sun, and that it is more than
fifty times as large as the earth. Com
pared to this ringed-wonder of the skies
our planet is small, commonplace and
insignificant.
The Pleiades under the power of the
telescope spread out into about thirty
beautiful! stars. They seemed handful
of diamonds strewn On the sky, without
order or system.
Sirius, the largest of the fixed stars, if
not the nearest, was brilliant beyond de.
scription. 1t scin!illated violently,
flashing out a reddish, yeIowish light.
The Moon seemed great snow field,
with the crater, the mountains, and the
shadows of the mountains all plainly
visible. These shadows, made by the
distant sun, filled ,ne with feeling of
indescribable awe. l had always thought
the moon appeared dark under the tele-
scope, bat the only dark spots about it
are the shadows of the mountains on the
plains and valleys.
The most sublime spectacle is the
nebun in Orion. 1t is a faint, whiIish
cloud, shaped like ploug'lshare. In
the centre are four brilliant stars-called
the Tape=ium- aanked by two stars that
appear to be in the cloud-veiled, as it
were. Whether they are in this nebu
lous matter, or on the other side of it,
seen though it as through a veil, is an
unsolved and most puzzling question.
OF below the point, which iuts out into
the black, empty space. appear two
beautiful stars, with no nebulous matter
HTOlHu lIIpul. llIS uclu WI Ciuuu Hiuo.
be many millions of miles in extent and
the stars each great sun, the centre of
some mighty solar system, perhaps. At
this immense distance Saturn would not
be seen at all, even with the greatest
telescope; our own sun would appear
but small point Of ligh.-size of star
as it appears to the naked eye. This
nebulT and the Trapczium cannot be
seen with the naked eye. When meet
YOU again will tell you more of these
wonders of the sky. The subject is one
all unfamiliar to my vocabulary.
1t is the man who can't raise tie
! wind who does the most blowing.