Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1895-12-19

recent disturbances ,
in the heavenly bodies have encouragea
some to believe that great astronomical !
phenomenon is approaching. Accord !
ing to the calculations of the past. the
star should appear some time between
1899 and 1898. and the present year
being the last of the time set 1of IT,
there is considerable anxiety displayed
by those interested in the question. In
the wear 1872 the star appeared the last
time, and of it's appearance then we
have the most trustworthy account.
Zone evening as ! was watching the
heavens in my accustomed manner,
Tycho Brahe writes. Il saw, to IN? as
constituent. in the constellation OF cas-
siopaia, a brilliant star OF unusual clear
ness" A few nights before this the
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., Cornelius Comma,
saw the star, and called it the new
Venus" Both men thought this Won
derfully brilliant phenomenon OF the
heavens was the old star of Beth iehem.
and its appearance at that time tailed
with it's periodical appearance in 1854,
945, $50 and 3l5. In 1864 the Bohemian
astronomer and astrologer, Cyprian Lo-
WITT, gives an account OF the appearance
in the heavens OF a wonderfully at
tractive star that had rot been there
before. In his accounts we have SINH
lar descriptions of the strange visitor,
appearing suddenly and moving grad
ually away. until finally swallowed up
l.; al i,,1C 1
for an account of the same star which
appeared in 945. when the heavens
seemed to be lighted up by this strange
heavenly phenomenon. The Chinese
chroniclers, who watched the heavens
with great care, also mention the APP
pearance of a comet or new heavenly
body. which they thought meant disas-
ter to their crops. 1t did not bring any
i'll luck to the country, and the common
people then attributed it's appearance
to their good gods. and they rejoiced
that the "one-eyed" was looking down
upon them.
There have been altogether twenty
six historical accounts of the appear
ance OF strange new stars in the heav-
ems Many astronomers reason from
this that should an unusually brilliant
star appear this year, it would not in
diccte that it was the old star OF Beth
lehem. They say that the wise men
simply saw Venus at the time of its
greatest sp.endor. Others assume that
the star was occasioned by the conjunc-
| ton of planets, or that it was a comet.
| In 1926 the German astronomer Ideler,
! suggested that the star was conjunc-
! ton OF Planets, and Encke repeated it
| in 1881. To support their theory, they
| show that there was Il conjunction Of
| OF the year 3 3. G.
During the last year unusual dis
turbances and appearances in the heav-
emily bodies have been noticed by the
scientists, as If they were somewhat
affected by the attractive force of an
other body not regularly acting upon
them. More meteoric showers have
been reported in the southern part oil
the world than usual. and storms OF
| great destructiveness have swept ovel
the whole globe. The GOODNESS of tho
last winter is attributed by astronomers
to the influence of the planets, ant
whenever a comet has approached the
earth in the past. unusual weather ha.
prevailed beforehand, as if to announce
it's coming. Moreover, the powerful
telescopes now used for scanning tht
heavens reveal an unusual number o
eclipses, as il the disturbance ha,
caused some of the lesser bodies to tray
ell a little out of their courses. TIL,
wonderful variable star Algol, in Pere
sus, for instance, has constantly of lat
undergone great changes. A dark body
almost as large as Algol, has severa
times blotted out its existence from gu
view. The appearance of this huge blacl
object is mystery to astronomers to
day. Then the SHOWS of Mars, whicl
have SO long been visible to powerful
telescopes, have gradually disappeared
Early last October it was reported tina
the polar snow cap of Mars had Ell
tirely disappeared. No such rapid an
unexplained disappearance of the snoy
on the earth or on Mars has ever befor
been reported. Jupiter, in it's recen
appearances. has been more brilliantl
belted than ever before, and as it rise
it displays an unwonted profusion c
color. Venus has been shrouded i
. more or less showers of meteors, so tina
, it's face could not be seen distinctly
: but when the atmosphere did for sho1
! time clear up. it shone with unusua
:. brilliancy. Its brightness in the las
few months has attracted considerabl
attention, even among those who ar
not expert star gaZers." All of thes
facts. taken in conjunction with tn
changing condition of the weather upo
the earth, have led many to predict tn
approach of something unusual in tn
solar system. This object will. yer
likely, be a new star. comet or wonder
full conjunction of two or more planet
or the long-looked-for star of Bethl,
! hem.