Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-02-27
ASTRONOMICAL.
The Heavens In February-Jupiiers
New Moon.

splendid. Not only does IL embrace se'e-
raj OF the most noted consteilatohs'
both within and without the Zodiac, but
numerous stars OF the higher magnl-
tubes, and some OF the larger planets.
Stars OF the sixth magnitude are the
smallest that are visible without teie-
scope. The light OF the moon at time 3
obscures most OF these: but az she WAKES
and wares in her brightness. there
are periods when most of the six mag
nitudes can be enjoyed by every observer.
In none OF her phases. however can
the Queen of Night extinguish orion. the
two Dippers.> Auriga, Perseus. andre
media, the Dragon. Casslopeia, Pega-
sus. the Hydra. the Dog, outside OF the
zodiac: nor the Ram, the Bull, the
Sickle. the Twins which shed their
splendors along the Right of Way OF
the planets around their master oTb-the
sun.
Sirius. in the bounds Of one OF the
Dogs. IL placed at the head OF the
twenty stars Of the first magnitude but
really stands alone. for he pours forth
an apparent radiance equal to that OF
five average stars OF the first magnitude
Sirius is now known 10 be a double star
his companion having been discovered
by Mr.. Clark. 'of Cambridge. Mass,
whilst he was testing one Of the tcle-
scopes. OF which he is SO celebrated a
maker.
one need hardly change his position
to add TO the brlliancy Of Sirius that
of BeteIeuse, Rgel. BellatriX. and
other fine stars which constitute the
sword and belt Of the Giant Orion. Be
sides the magnifcence which Orion pre-
sents TO the naked eye. he IL full Of
l.. l. H. -
lous. His Rigel is another double STAR
and the components Of some Of the null
tiple lumnaries are OF different beautiful
colors.
From the glorious and fascinating Y.
which the components OF orion roughly
form, the delighted star-gazer can turn
TO Capella, a spectroscopic double, In the
Charioteer; Procyon. in the Little Dog;
Alpheratz, i'm Andromeda MiZar and Po-
laris. I'm the TWO Dippers. or Bears;
Regulus, in the Sickle; the Twins Castor
and PolluV. one OF which is OF the first
magnitude and a double the important
star of the yernal equinox, In the head
Of the Ram: Aldebaran, the eye OF the
Bull. and the famous group of the
Pleiadc5; the Alpha OF Perseus and his
blinking demon, the variable AlgOl.
Mira. the wonderful" and host Of
others, when the spacious armament on
high" Is uncloudoi and the Hight Of the
moon IS not too bright for their respective
maguitudes. Nor does the radiance Of
the giant planet Jupiter, as he moves on
maicstically I'm the constellation cancer,
detract from the Sidereal beauty and
subiimty on which The wrapt beholder
has been feasti1g his eye and his soul.
And some of the lesser planets contr-
butte 10 the charm Of these celestial
Is ,fru &C. hu
Mars, Venus. and Saturn are morning
stars. and can be seen NJ different hours
of the night
When Calico discovered the satellites
OF Jupiter It produced great sensation,
not only IN the astronomical world. but
the theological. Some OF his sacerdotal.
who were also scientific opponents. main
tanned that his discovery was priori
impossible: that the number OF planetary
| bodies was necessarily seven. ana not
only rejected his alleged important find
ing. but refused TO look through his
telescope 10 see whether his report was
true. We DO hope that the spirit 81
Gallileo has been allowed TO keep UP
with the progress Of astronomy. and 10
look through the grand successors Of his
little Tuscan tube ~ those startling won
ders which they have revealed. Among
these is the fifth satellite OF Jupltcr-"a
moon of a moon"-for Il IS very remark
| able that II revolves around its neighbor.
an. with IL, sweeps around the belted
and red-spotted wanderer OF the sky.
! THIS makes the system Of Jupiter almost
as interesting rs that OF Saturn. with his
rings and eigh, satellites.
! RECONSTRUCTION OF THE MAP OF
MARS.
The rudy planet: with the snowy poles
| has been and is an object OF very deep
| interest TO star-gaz@rs, both with the
unassisted eye and with the telescope
/ He is now known to be attended by two
/ beautiful moons. named after the war
| horses Of the ancient God OF War. Tycho
/ de Brahe. at his palatlal observatory,
| Uraniburg. in the Baltic sea. made and
| recorded a large number of observations
! Of Mars. lie had some very fine astro-
| nOmical Instruments, but no telescope.
OF TyChO'S mum. rOus and accurate re-
| cords his friend and pupil. John kSp-
| Ter, made mastery use in his nine
! teen years search after his three Laws
| Of the Planetary Movements Around
| Their Central sun. lie brought the re-
| suits OF his bold and ingenious con-
! lectures and labOrlous calculations 10
| the test Of Marss actual performances,
! until they agreed. and thus he slowly
! and patiently arrived at the truth. KEEP
ier's work was marvellous. for he had
not the benefit OF the Higher Mathe-
/ matlcs," which the great astronomers
have been using and improving ever
since the days OF Newton ana Lelbnitz.
Some years ago Mr.. Richard A. Proc
! tor, the great popularizer 81 the noble
science Of star-iaw. gave In his "Other
| Worlds Than Ours & map Of Mars.
| with such topography as he thought
could be deduced from the best and
! latest observations. with the finest tee-
scopes. Its leading features were the
| snow-csps at the poles, which diminish
| Cd towards the sun; four large equal TO-
rial continents. which were named after
! Secch Herschel. Nader. etc.
| Then there We're long. narrow seas.
! and some which were from their forms
styled 'bottls-shapei." Next came
! Sch.apareili, with his alleged discovery
! Of what he denominated the Canals"
! F'r some time this was doubted aEI
! disputed, bu: at length he was sustained.
! and the conjecture has been thrown out
l. that the highly Intelligent and enter
/ prisins Inhabitants Of Mars had A grand
| system Of internal improvement. which
| greatly promoted INSTRUMENTATION and
| transportation. observations with the
best instruments have been going on,
| anu very recently new chart or Mars
has been completed which is an astro-
nomieal event Of the first Importance.
| VI. Camille Fammarion. the eminent
French savant, has furnished a SYNOPSIS
and picture Of IL. The snOw-caps are
still there. and undoubtedly melt in the
planets long summers, and his polar
MEETINGS exceed those OF our globe. be
cause his summers are nearly twice as
long as ours. Most Of the water on the
face Of the planet is derived from these
! polar meetings. VI. ELIMINATION saYs: