River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1892-05-19

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@5e<z - the armament
$zx@-= there are few
~ more attract
~ ~ i've, interesting
~ SSiCSN,4 II ID sublime
S than the mem
bers of the
planetary system, particularly those
visible 10 the naked eve. To the
thoughtful mind they are objects Of
wonder and admiration, and in all ages
have been regarded a. the most fas-
cinating orbs in the heavens, not only
on account Of their peculiar movements,
but from the questions they suggest as
to the existence of life in other worlds
than our own. Belonging to that i'm
inei1se world cluster of which our own
world forms an important member,
probably no other celestial orbs have
aroused so much interest and curiosity
in the popular mind regarding the sub
lime marvels Of astronomy.
The term planet is derived from the
Greek word, planetes, which signifies
wandering star" and as applied TO
this peculiar class of celestial bodies.
the name would appear exceedingly APP
propriate. At the present time the
lumber Of planets known and recog-
hized by omitting the
earth and the asteroids 90 Ininor plan
cts" revolving between Mars and Jupi-
ter, OF which more than three hundred
have already been discovered seven,
their names, in order of distance from
the sun. being as follows: Mercury,
Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus
and Neptune. A telescope, even Of
small size. will greatly aid one in OBJ
serving planet, and those who are for
tUhate enough to possess such a valua-
be instrument, should frequently make
use Of il If they desire 10 study the plan
cts with interest and profit All those
planets that are visible To the naked
eye. except when near the horizon. APP
pear 10 shine with a mild. steady light.
while the stars are always observed to
twinkle" or glimmer, giving forth
changing and fiuctUating light II Is
consequently an eaSv matter to distin-
guish the planets and fixed stars from
each ,ther. The stars are, to all APP
pearances, permanently fixed in the
heavens, and do not change their rela-
tive positions, as observed from the
tdINAA- AAfAtEs AAitN AAdhE fEt-AA vi AZ
propriately called the fixed stars. II.
on the contrary, the position of any
planet among the stars be carefully OBJ
served from night 10 night, it will be
noticed t. change its position in the
heavens quite percePtibly.
All diagrams or machines are made
quate To represent the distances and
motions Of the planets, hut the follow
ing comparison will aid one IN obtain
ing a correct idea Of the magnitude Of
the planetary ~ stem. Choose a level
field or common, on il place a globe two
feet in diameter TO represent the sun.
Mercury viii then be represented by a
mustard seed. at a distance Of - feet I
from the center Of the imaginary sun;
Venus nv pea. at a distance Of I45
feet; the earth also by pea, al a dis /
tance of 2I5 feet; Mars bv a small pep
per corn. al a distance Of 81 feet, the I
asteroids by grains Of sand, at dis /
tances varying from 500 To 800 feet. II
space will permit, we may place d mod |
crate sized orange nearly oUe-fourth of /
a mile distant To represent Jupiter; /
small orange two-fifths Of a mile for I
Saturn; fun sized cherry three-fOurths /.
of a mile for Uranus, and, lastly, a plum /
one and One-fourth miles away for Nep- 7
tune. the most distant planet known at I
the present time.
According u the above scale. the /
daily motion of Mercury in its orbit (
would b. feet: of Venus. feet; Of
the earth. rs feet; of Mars. IL feet; of 4
Jupiter I0'5 inches; Of Saturn. ~ /
inches, of Uranus. , inches. and OF /
Neptune. inches. This also illustrates |
the fact, already mentioned. that the 4
orbital velocity Of planet decreases as !
its distance from the sun increases
While every intelligent person Is /
doubtless aware Of the fact that our 4
earth Is a planet It Is not generally 4
known that we are about three mil 4
lions OF miles nearer the sun-aud 4
therefore travelling faster-in midwin /
ter than we are in midsummer ON the \
last day Of December ;he earth reaches \
its perihelion, or nearest point To the .
sun. and on New Years day it begins 10 I
recede from the sun, travelling more \
slowly. until il arrives at aphelion. or 4
its farthest distance from the sun, on 4
the first day Of July. after which it in
creases in velocity. and gradually APP 4
prOaches its parent luminary for a
period 81 about six months
From the earliest ages the mighty I
orbit Of the planet Saturn was sup 4
posed 70 form the boundary of the solar /
system The slow and majestic motion 1
of this planet, its great Pe-;-1 and dis I
tance, and the wonderful magniicence /
of its rings and moons. seemed 70 4
render it fitting object 10 guard the I
frontiers Of the mighty system with 4
which IL was associated But it Is 4
well-known fact that all the planets I
exert an attraction upon one another, 4
and produce certain orbital disturb
snccs, which are called perturbations-
Near the close Of the eighteenth 4
century. when the planetary motions
had been observed with great care, and
\ comparatively accurate knowledge OF
their perturbations had been acquired.
certain unexplained motions of saturn
gave rise - the belief that another
planet revoIved around the sun in a
vast orbit far beyond that Of the 1
''ringed world" On the 18th of March. f
17SI. while Sir William Herschel was
engaged in examining some stars In the
constellation Gemini. his attention was
attracted TO n small star Of remarkable 4
appearance, which fortunately hap I
peued 20 pass into the field Of his great i
telescope. He examined the strange 4
star with higher magnifying powers, I
when il appeared greatly increased in 1
dimensions. and exhibited a sensible 4
dis
After watching IL for several evenings 4
HerscnrI noticed that is DoSitiou
cha ged among the stars, and not even
dreaming that the body was planet he
announced 70 the world that he had
discovered a new and remarkable
comet But it required only short
time to convince the astronomical
world that the object was member OF