Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-10-22
A WONDERFUL WORLD.
The Great Planet Jupiter and the Tre-
mendOus Forces at Work ON 1t.


From the New York Sun.
Astronomers have of late been making some
exceedingly interesting discoveries about the
huge planet Jupiter, which is now visible In
the evening sky. When We are thinking about
worlds ii is Just as well to think Of Jupiter, for
that is a globe worth bordering over. Thir-
teen hundred times as large as this big earth
of ours. and illuminated by four obedient
moons Jupiter has uncommon claims to con-
| sideration. But it is not so much the gigantic
size of that wonderful planet as the extraordi-
nary appearances and occurrences upon its
| surface that command particular attention at
present.
Most readers know that when Jupiter is
looked at with telescope certain bands or
belts, are seen extending in parallel lines
across Its disk We ordinarily see the great
planet thus represented in illustrated books Of
astronomy. 1t is among these belts of Jupiter
that the astronomers have observed some very
surprising things. The most conspicuous belts
lie on either side of the planets equator, in
what upon the earth we should call the tropi-
cal ATTITUDES. Jupiter's equator, however, is
SO slightly inclined from the plane of his orbit
that his tropical circles do not extend as far
north and south as the belts lie. The first ex-
PLANTATION that naturally occurs to the observer
who watches these belts is that they must be
enormous bands of cloud encircling the giant
planet on each side of its equator. If he has
q powerful telescope and a patient mind he
discovers that changes of form and position
occur in the belts, which strengthen the prob
ability that they are composed of clouds. The
various cOlors that they show, and in particu-
| lar the prevailing red tint which characterizes
the largest belts. may excite wonder as to the
nature and condition of masses Of vapor that
| could present such an appearance, but upon
the whole there seems to be nothing to seri-
ously discredit the idea that the greater num-
Der Of these phenomena really are clouds.
And now we come to the most surprising
facts 1t is evident that tremendous current
| is continually sweeping right around the huge
globe Of Jupiter over its equatorial regions.
The cloud belts are all in motion, but not all
with the same velocity. The nearer they are
to the equator the faster they move. The OBJ
servations OF Mr.. Stanley Williams and others
show that in the north temperate zone there is
| broad light band encircling the planet which
may possibly be the actual surface of Jupiter's
globe. BY comparing the rate Of motion Of
cloud-hke objects seen in this region with that
Of the adjacent cloud belt it is found that the
latter is moving much more swiftly. The
general period of Jupiter's rotation upon its
axis, notwithstanding the enormous size of the
planet, appears to be little short of ten hours
But the equatorial clouds 60 around in
about nine hours and fifty minutes while the
clouds thirty degrees north and south of
the equator require five minutes longer to COM
plete circuit In other words, the equatorial
part OF the atmosphere appears to be flowing
past the regions on either side of it at the rate
of some 240 miles an hour. This as NJ
Flammarion has remarked, is incomparably
faster than the most violent cyclone upon the
earth. And this gigantic current of wind, if SO
1t may be called, forms a perpetual hurricane,
blowing around Jupiter unremittingly as our
trade winds, but with inconceivable power and
energy. The result of the varying velocities
with which adjacent portions of the Jovian at
mOgnhlra m mn hn,r11 afr,rol lxvh a
the formation of enormous whirling storms, cy-
clones and tornadoes of incredible fury.
1t Is probable that, looked at in a vertical Sec
ton, the atmosphere OF Jupiter would present
an equally remarkable contrast and conflict of
motions. There Is evidence that the dark col
ored spots, or clouds. are at a greater elevation
than those OF lighter hue, and it has been OBJ
served that the dark spots move more slowly
than the bright ones 1t follows that the
deeper you go into the atmosphere the faster it
Is found to be moving. and hence it may be that
the actual solid surface of the planet, if any
solid surface 1t has, rotates within its shell of
clouds considerably faster than the shell itself
turns.
Another very singular phenomenon Of the
strange and tremendous planet Jupiter is the
great red spot which has been seen upon its
southern hemisphere ever since the summer
OF 1875. Incredible as the thought seems and
dlfhcult as Its explanation upon any analogy
drawn from terrestrial geology undoubtedly
gest the possibility that this phenomenon
may be an elevated region of the planet
thrust up through its environment Of clouds
1t must be remembered that the so-called
red spot which really appears only a
small oval blotch upon the disk of Jupiter ia
in reality some 10000 miles long and 1000
broad. Think of a mountain of those dimen-
slons raised above the clouds, Then, to add
to the startling suggestions of the hypothesis,
the color of this gigantic elevation or pro-
DcQ ia fiarv rad Der tba. co..
reason for regarding the red spot as an ele-
waited mass Is the fact that the clouds of the
southern cloud belt, close to which it lies never
pass over 1t, but on the contrary, in passing by
II, are driven out OF their course and curve
around Its southern border Just as clouds in
the earth's atmosphere glide along the shout
ders OF lofty mountain peaks whose SUBMITS
rise above their level 1t might be urged in be-
half of this view that inasmuch as the force of
gravity on Jupiter is nearly two and half
times as great the earth, the major
portion of its atmosphere must be pressed close
to Its surface and that consequently its clouds
do not float a. such height as the gigantic
proportions of the planet might otherwise lead
US to expect SO that the elevation of the red
spot need not be supposed unduly great in
order to place IT above the general level of the
cloud Strata. Then there is tine commonly
accepted theory that Jupiter is yet in an early
stage Of development to support the hypothesis
of the elevation OF large region of its surface
III Tue ulanner III WHICH parts Oh the earth 8
| crust were thrust up, folded and crumpled in
the fiery ages of its history.
However We look at them, these strange dis
| coveries on Jupiter indicate that but a very
| small part of the energies of creation are CEN
tered upon our own little globe. Jupiter has
winds and storms and clouds and geological
commissions that make the great events of ter
| restrial existence seem but a miniature repre-
sentation of planetary life. After all, the man
who is said to want the earth doesn't appear to
be so very grasping; if he wanted Jupiter his
ambition would be truly gigantic.