, 1890-07-31
an Astronomer Has Strange
News From Venus.
A LAND OF PERPETUAL DAY
While Perpetual Night Shrouds
the Antipodes--Bt tightest of
All the Planets.
New York Sun.1

planets than all the other astrono-
mers of our day put together, has
just furnished new surprise, greater
even than his recent discovery that
Mercury performs only one rotation
in the course of a revolution around
the sun. He now asserts that Venus,
the brightest of all the planets that
we see, the twin sister of the earth,
which Is at present glowing with
nightly increasing splendor la the
west after sundown, also turns but
once on its axis in the course of a
revolution around the sun. In
other words, there Is no alteration
of day and night OH Venus, rs on
the earth. The planet enjoys per-
petual day ON one side of its globe,
while the other side Is plunged In
unending night.
Astronomers have heretofore be.
lieved that the time of Venus nxial
rotation corresponded almost exact
ly with that of the earth h's--namely,
twenty-four hours. This was sup
posed to have been established by
hoNlHR WIG ltluiit vi oti
Venus TO Il sinilar position night
after night, but Schiaparelli shows
that some of these observations have
probably been misinterpreted, and
that instead OF indicating rotation
period of twenty-four hours they
rather confirm his conclusion that
the rotation Is performed in 224.7
days, which is the time the planet
takes to complete II revolution
around the sun, or in other words
is the length of Venus year.
Venus IL about 67,0O0,O00 miles
from the sun, and It's orbit Is
more nearly circle than that of any
other planet. 1t follows that there
Is very little variation in the amount
of solar heat falling upon Venus ut
different periods OF its year. Schlap-
arelli says the axis of rotation IL
nearly perpendicular to the plane of
the orbit. III that Is so Venus has
no diversity OF seasons such as the
earth enjoys. Its equator forever
burns with the ardent heat of an
unending summer and its polar re-
gions undergo no change of temper
ature. Inasmuch as Venus receives
almost twice Us much light and heat
from the sun, in consequence of its
greater proximity, AS the earth gets,
IL must be pretty hot in the equator
ial regions on that side of the planet
which perpetually faces the solar
furnace.
If what the great Italian observer
says about Venus rotation In true
then the additional fact announced
by him that the planets axis Is per-
pendicular to the plane of its orbit
seems almost n pr0vidential provi-
sion of nature, for in that way IL Is
rendered possible for the polar re.
gions to enjoy II comparatively mild
climate, although the equator and
the spaces corresponding to our
tropical and temperate zones may
blaze with uncomfortable heat. If
the axis of Venus We're inclined like
that of the earth, the consequent
variation of the seasons would
plunge the poles alternately into n
day of fierce sunshine enduring for
seventeen weeks, and frosty night
of equal duration. The result would
he that life under such
forms AS ii assumes upon
our globe would probably he
impossible anywhere on the surface
of Venus, for the sunward side of
the planet would be scorched while
the night side was frozen. But ii,
us Schiaparelli's observations indi-
cate. the poles of Venus are not
tipped now one and now the other
toward the sun, but remain upright
at right angles to the direction of
the sun, then i'm their neighborhood
the heat may be tempered just us il
Is at the poles of the earth, in ac.
cordance with the law of incidence
of the solar rays. or course the cold,
being unbroken, may be very in
tense Just around the poles them.
selves, and, in fact, within few
years past white spots have been
dscerned on Venus, about where
the poles would be situated accord
ing to Schiaparclli's idea; and these |
spots may be caused by accumula-
tions of snow and ice. But i'm some
what lower ATTITUDES AN agreeable |
consuming heat of the equator and |
the glacial chill of the poles. The
Imagination may not go far
astray In picturing these interme-
dlate zones, on the southwark side
of the planet, as the scene of ac-
tivitles corresponding to those that |
mark the human occupation of the
inhabitable parts of the earth. To |
be be sure, the inhabitants of even |
these favored regions on Venus
could not enjoy the agreeable inter-
change of day and night, but would
be perpetually shone upon by the
sun; but even here there are indlca-
tlons that nature may have pro-
vided at least II partial compensa-
tion. All telescope observations
of Venus testify to the binding
brilliancy of its surface; and the
most reasonable hypothesis yet put
forth to account for this phenome-
non is the existence of an extraor-
dinary amount of cloud in Its at
Anybody who has
watched sun-illumined cloud
knows how splendidly 1t reflects
the light; and, of course, in looking
NJ the clouds of another planet we
can practically see only their sunny
side.
If, then, as appearances indicate,
Venus atmosphere Is largely filed
with clouds, the effect would be to
screen off the superabundant sun
shine, and perhaps render even per-
petual daylight far less obnoxious
than we might, at first sight, be dis
posed 10 regard Ii. There are rea-
sons for thinking that the atmos-
phere of Venus is most abundant.
| is depth has been calculated to ex-
,eed that of the earth by about one
lhird, although Venus Is slightly
'naller planet than ours. The ex-
Silence of watery yaDOr In this nt-