, 1891-12-29
THE GREAT WORLD
A Thousand Earths in One Of
the Planets.
A Curious Chapter by Famous
French Astronomer NOW in Ken.
what Jupiter Looks Like In the
Heavens at the Present Time.


Cammille Flammarion writes thus in
the current issue Of the Arena:
Ofall the floating islands which com
pose the celestial archipelago to which the
earth belongs, the planet consecrated from
the remotest age to Jupiter the mighty,
king of gods and men, is the vastest, the
most important and the most majestic.
This colossal world of Jupiter has a diam
eter Of about 5000 miles and which sur
passes that Of our earth BY more than
eleven times.
1884 TIMES OUR SIZE.
The circumference of Jupiter's world at
the equator is about 275,OO0 miles. The
volume Of the giant exceeds that of the
earth by 1884 times.
This immense globe seen at the distance
at which we are situated from tile moon
would appear to us with diameter about
forty times larger than that Of our satel-
Lite and the surface of its disk would en-
brace on the celestial vault an extent 1900
times greater than that of the full moon.
RACE TRACK ONE THOUSAND MILLION
MILES LONG.
This giant of the worlds travels through
space, accompanied by retinue Of four
satellites at a mean distance Of 496.0O0CaJ
miles from the sun, and which is more
than live times greater than that of the
earth from the same.
The orbit is more than 1000, 900, ,0C0 miles
in extent, and through this it passes in
4432 days, or IL years. 10 months and II
days. Such is the year Of this immense
globe.
SWIFT REVOLUTIONS.
In order to complete its entire orbit dur
ing this period IT speeds around the sun
with velocity of 100000 miles day, or a
little more than eight miles second.
This little less than half the velocity of
the earth in its orbit. But it revolves on
its axis with very great swiftness, for its
day and night combined only last about
nine hours and fifty-five minutes.
CURIOUS FACTS.
In other words theinhabitants Of Jupiter
enjoy only five hours Of real day twilight
included. IF, says Kant, IAN inhabitant
OF Jupiter should die in childhood, having
lived but one year on that planet, he would
be as old as child who should die on
our globe at the age Of II years and 314
days.
"The terrestrial child would have lived
about 103,968 of Jupiter's DAYS, and the
child on Jupiter, 400,329 Of the earth's
days"
AGE OF JUPITER.
1t is probable that this globe, although
created before the EARTH has preserved It's
pristine heat much longer by reason of its
volume and mass. Is this characteristic
heat sufficiently intense to prevent all man
ifestations of life z And is this globe still
at the present time not in the state Of
luminous star, but in the condition Of a
dark and burning one, entirely LIQUID, or
mi E..of .xfa... a
crust, as the earth was before life began to
appear on its surface2
is 1T HABITABLE?
Or, indeed, is this colossal planet in that
condition Of temperature through which
our own world passed through the primary
period Of its geological epochs when life
began to show itself under strange forms,
as animal and vegetable beings of astonish-
ing vitality amid the convuIsons and
tempests OF the newborn world The last
is the most rational conclusion that we can
draw from the most recent and exact OBJ
servations to which we are indebted for
what we know of the present state Of this
vast world.
rs 1T INHABITED
Whether Jupiter be inhabited now,
whether il was yesterday, or whether ii
will be tomorrow, is Of little consequence
to the grand, eternal philosophy Of nature.
Lie is bHe OpJeCU OF lCS fOrmatl0n, as 1T was
the object of the earth's formation. There
in is everything. The moment, the hour,
is of little account.
THE JovIANs MAY LIVE IN MID.AIR.
| Doubtless the planet may now be inhab-
1 tied by beings different from us, living,
perhaps, in an aerial condition iii the up
per regions of its atmosphere, above the
fogs and vapors Of the lower straits, feeding
on the aerial fluid ITSELF resting on the
wind, like the eagle in the tempest, and
eyer dwelling in the upper heights Of the
Jovian heavens.
A WORLD FOR JovE.
That would not be disagreeable abode
although an anti-terrestrial one Indeed
it would be like the abode Of old Jupitei
Olympus and his court. But If we do not
wish, in our conception Of life, to stray too
far from the borders of the terrestrial era
die, there is nothing to prevent us from
waiting until the planet has become cool
like our own, and enjoy a purified atmos
phere, which will permit its being com
A pared with the earth.