Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1893-11-17

Ut the close or july, when he was IL
quadrature. Uranus is to be found
in the constellation of Libra.
Mercury, on Nov. 5, reached a poin
as far east from the sun as the latte,
VIII admit of his going during this
swing around the circle, and on the 26tt
we find the planet in inferior conjunc
ton with the sun, which tells us that
he is about passing from an evening
to morning star. We shall once again
have Mercury with US in the evening
+, at which time he will be fully twice
as far from the sun as he succeeds
in getting in November, and, as he will
then be some 5 degrees or so to the
i, northward Of the sunset ppint, we
may catch a glimpse Of him after Old
Sol has passed on to rise in another
hemisphere
SATURN like Dante's soul in pur-
gatory, has for some little time past
been 'contented in the flame" but
we now tind that he has emerged some
what from the golden curly locks Of
the sun, and Is engaged in setting
UP an establishment OF his own, from
which will heneeforth slG' a light of
, increasing brilliancy. E,rly on the
morning Of the 9th, he was in con-
junction with the waning crescent Of
the old moon, but it took n re-
markably strong pair Of eyes to dis
cover him, as he is hardly far enough
away from the sun to admit Of his
being easily distinguished
As the upper limb of the sun is
about setting, and the lower tracts of
the sky are flushing between the feath-
cry branches of the clouds, we see
%littering i'll 4 background of primrose
color the face of the lovely queen of the
planets. whose control over the heavens
is absolute, until, yielding to an inev-
table law, she, too, sinks forest beneath
the horizon, which, like a summers sea,
meets heaven and hides all the world
beyond. In a little more than Il
month fair Venus reaches her furthest
point east, after which she will be cur
Tainlin her length of stay; but her disk
is getting larger, and she will even be
still more beautiful through the crisp
December air and clear atmosphere
than she is ut present.
About the time that Venus sinks to
rest, if we turn our eyes to the east
ward, we shall see Il group of blush
stars rising slowly above the horizon
This will be the famous Pleiades, which
are soon after followed by the king
o. the planets, the great Jupiter him
self. while the bright star that rises
next in order is Aldebaran, whose To-
cation is in the eye Of the mighty
bull, Taurus, which the giant Orion
is supposed to be fighting. This is
.IhIpiter's opportunity to amaze ana
interest us all with his brillancy, as
on the 18th he will be in opposition
to the sun. which means they are
separated $50 degrees, and that the
planet is ind the most favorable situa-
ton for observation,
Jupiter has for some time been 4
morning star, but he now once again
challenges Venus for the supremacy
of the evenim" sky, and tits to be re-
GREETED that his fair rival does not re-
main longer to add grace and beauty
to the picture of the gold and silver
dots Oh the azure ceiling. All avail
able TELESCOPES are now being directed
toward Jupiter, and every opportunity
is improved for studying the present
aspect of this great planet. There is
Il famous red spot Oh the surface of
Jupiter that has been made q subject
of discussion, and its characteristics,
color, etc, are still matters of great
interest. The spot was first seen III
teen years ago. and has been visible
ever since. This marking OH the face
Of our planetary neighbor is said to
be 10000 miles long and 1000 wide,
and. strange to say, we are still in
the dark as to it's cause. If anything
new is learned about this strange phe-
nomenon it will probably be when the
planet is at or near opposition.
Neptune is also slowly approaching
opposition, and will arrive there early
in December. He is never visible to
the naked eye on account of his great
distance. though he ranks the third in
size of the giant planets, being exceed
ed only by Jupiter and Saturn. Thus
far we KNOW little concerning the
member that travels on the systems
remotest bounds. Seen through tcle-
scope, he has Il percephble disk of a
delicate lgreenish tint. No markings
are visible on his surface. and his
Town satellite seems to move backward
| or from east to west. 1T remains yet
to be proved whether his orbit is the
! boundary Of the SUMS territory, or
/ plaEets exist, they will surely be
| whether planets vet unknown people
! the realms Of remoter space, owing
allegiance to our central orb. If such
: found, as telescopes increase in power
. and observers accumulate the vast
| amount of material for the use of the
: rs tronomers Of the future