The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-24
THE EAHTH's SECOND MOON.
Further Statements by Its Discover
er-Fhe Earth Is Not the Only Plan
ct With a Single Satellite.
From the London News.


From the London News.
The year 1898 seems likely to prove
memorable one in the annals of astrono-
my. Not only has it already witnessed one
of the most successful total solar ecllpses
known but a Hamburg astronomer has
announced the discovery of a second moon
of the earthl AS l have received from this
gentleman, Dr. George Waltemath IA very
interesting letter, giving some new infor-
nation on the subject, il may be of in
terest to reproduce some of it here. '"The
second moon of the earth" says DR.. Wal
temath, has been actually observed pass
ing the sun on the 18th of February, 1897,
a Munich by Mr.. c. Waller art paint
er, and a friend, and also on Feb. 4, 1898,
at Greoswald by Post Director Fregler
anl eleven other persons. Besides this, on
Jan. q, 1898, at Berlin, 1t was observed
by the functionares of the imperial post
Office at 5 o'clock in the morning shining
at full light"
DR.. Waltemath then proceeds to give
some particulars as to his career and mis-
Investigations on our new satellite Il
was born in the free city of Bremen, Han
sa-Stadt, and since the days of my early
youth occupied with astronomical mat
ters / studied at Gottinges. and was
lecturer at high technical schools, and for
many years q lecturer for the propagation
of science and useful knowledge through
out all Germany. Since 1888 l have been
studying the disturbances in the moons
motion. Leverrier, the great French as
tlonomer was convinced that there must
be innumerable small bodies not far from
the earth, amounting to a weight about one
tenth of the earth Either these must
be meteorites or moons or both of them.
| am sure that there are still several other
moons Proctor in his book "Other
Worlds Than Ours" was of opinion that
the earth possessed a certain number of
dark moons which only shine when some
parts OF their surface, with great reflect
ing power, are iliumined by the suns rays
l may add that Mr.. George Pogson, Brit
ish consul at Hamburg Ga son of the re-
noWned director of the Madras Observa-
tory. himself an astronomer, is quite an
adhercnt to my theory.
DR.. Waltemath predicts that our hither-
to unobserved satellite will be visible on
July 30 next, when it will pass across the
suns disk. 1t may be expected that as
tronomers-who are al present somewhat
skeptical about this discovery-will keep
a good lookout for this body, which has
hitherto eluded their observation.
DR.. Waltemath states that he was led
to the search for the new moon by the
known fact that the motion of our satel>
lite the old moon-was somewhat quicker
than il ought 10 be according to the laws
of gravitation Could this irregularity be
due TO another moon? This was the
thought that occurred to MIR, Waltemath,
and he set to work TO hunt up such obser-
vations of remarkable spots seen before
the sun as might justify the idea OF the
existence of a secondary satellite His re-
searches succeeded in proving Ito his own
satisfaction that the new moon had actu-
ally been seen by several persons at vari-
Gus times and in divers places as round
black spot travelling across the face of
the sun. Comparing all the observations,
he was able to compute the orbit of Sths
little moon and its dimensions. Its mean
distance from the earth. so says our as
tronomer, is $4,000 miles, just two and
two-thirds the old moons distance. The
| amount of the diameter is 435 miles, the
area covers nearly 100000 square miles
more than ten times the surface of Eng
! land and Wales togetheD.
The power of the new moon to reflect
the suns light is so small that as rule
its body WIFI only be seen by help of a
strong telescope. Sometimes it shines like
a sun at night time, but only for about
an hour at a time
Lieut.. Greedy when in Greenland, in 1881,
remarks that he was surprised TO see the
sun again. ten days after the sun had
gone. DR.. Waltemath declares that this
sun" was really the little moon in its
| greatest brlliancy.
During recent years not a few moons at
! tending other planets than our own have
been discovered.
Prof. Barnard, with the Lick telescope,
| discovered the fifth satellite of Jupiter IN
1892. Prof Asaph Hail, in 1ST, with the
96-inch refractor Of The Washington OBJ
| serVatory, discovered the two moons which
! light up the planet Mars.
In all the solar system the earth is the
only planet that our new moon has left no
! race on the thousands of Photographic
| plates exposed during the year at hun
| dreds of observatories.
| Perhaps the traces are there. only they
| have not been read Alright. AZ any rate,
July so should settle the question once and
! for all.
! e. II. Conger, who has been appointed