Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1892-06-01
For the SPECTATOR.
Venus the DaV-Star,

Venus the goddess of beauty is now
visible to the unaided eye, during the day,
| from about $50 A. M. to 1870 P. M. She is
the acknowledged queen of the daylight
skies, for no other planet has ever been seen
| at midday, with or without the use of a tele-
scope. Old Sol, (Which is the source of
lght,) Luna, and Venus are the only heaven
| ly bodies which can be seen during the day
time. Have you ever seen a star in broad
| daylight? "Well, then, you have seen the
goddess in her Respondent beauty.
DR.. Warren says: II was once delighted by
seeing Venus looking down, little after
midday, through the open space in the dome
of the Pantheon at Rome.''
Arrago relates that Bounaparte was much
surprised at seeing the multitude paying more
attention to the heavens above than to him or
his brilliant staff. Upon inquiry, he learned
that these curious persons were observing
with establishment star which they supposed
to be that of the conqueror of Italy. The
Emperor himself was not Indifferent when
his piercing eye caught the clear lustre of
Venus shining upon him at midday. She
will attain her greatest brilliancy on the End
cede from the evening sky, passing between
us and the sun the first part of July. If you
cannot catch Venus, mark her day after day
by the growing moon which will pass near
her. The writer caught her on the 18th of
April and has been watching her ever since
But, why is Miss Venus SO much more bril-
liant than the other planets? other stars?
Venus is generally indicated in calendars by
sign representing mirror, and there is
flower called 'Venuss Looking-glass. venus,
of course, reflects the SUMS light in the same
manner as the other planets. Mark this
planets, not stars Star is a general name for
any heavenly light. Fixed stars are suns of
other systems, and are primary sources OF
light. Reflected lights are secondary sources.
Take a mirror, throw beam of light into
some ones face, and his eye is dazzled. Let
him walk some distance away, and again
throw beam into his face, and he may not
know it. Catch the idea ? Now, find access to
a planetarium, such as are found in geog-
raphies, etc., and you will find that Venus
and Mars are the earth's nearest neighbors.-
Venus's orbit is between the earth's and the
sun, while Mars is on the outside. The
nearest mans eyes are dazzled because your
mirror is near the sun, relatively speaking)
and also near him. Venus is visible to the
naked eye, because she is near the sun and
also near the earth. Mars, Jupiter etc., cor
respond to glasses held far away from the
observer, and, being far from the sun, they
reflect weaker light. Mercury is nearer the
sun than Venus, why then can we not see
L.. "a
race horse and describes so small circle
about the sun that we must be content with
only glimpse of him now and then. Vulcan
is supposed to be the nearest planet to the
sun, but it has never been clearly proven
whether he exists or not because he is con-
tinually in the daylight skies. We suppose
all took an interest in, and watched Venus
and Jupiter approach each other clasp hands
on February 6th and separate; Venus rising
higher in the evening sky, and Jupiter
''crawfishing, for the morning sky. Let none
be foolish enough to believe this to be an i'll
omen of wars, pestilence etc. but do believe
that it is sign of the rushing rabble of
cosmic and micro-cosmic worlds. Let super
stition and ignorance walk hand-in-hand.-
Persons who do not study the philosophy of
Gods laws, and must have sign for every
thing DONE are they who are ready to accept
'ground-hog'' decisions and "fsh'' stories of
any and all classes. For my part, am hap
Ply to say that the last moon-change in the
sign of the Taurus was an utter failure
Erma Doka was slightly in an error about
the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter being
in the sign of the Tpins. The moon was in
the sign Tor rather constellation of the
Twins, but the conjunction took place down in
Aries, and the earth was in Leo. When man
shall throw superstitious ideas ito the dogs, "
and accept science, he will be better prepared
to appreciate such grand panorama as our
own Solar System presents. Let John-Jasper-
ism and fogyism be dispelled and they will
see that their former standing was clear
case of Ignorance versus knowledge
Look for Venus.