The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-05-29
LOOK AT
The Great Brother of the Little EARTH
Now ON the Stage.

Garrett p. Serviss, in New York Journal.
A world 300 times bigger than ours! that's
the size of the phenomenon just now hang
ing In the sky, in plain sight, every even
ing. Look toward the south, about 8 O'Clock,
lift your eyes up a trifie and there it is.
astronomers call It Jupiter, AND the an
clients VINO gave 1t that title knew what
they were about when they named 1t after
the chief of the gods. The stars. sprinkled
all around IT., look pitifully faint in COM
parison with the golden splendor. Even the
famous Spica. WI ich is seen a few degrees
west of the great planet and which ranks
In the flrst order or the fixed stars, Is pale
and insignificant beside Jupiter.
When any OF the Inhabitants of the earth
get vainglorious it is well for him to look
at Jupiter and consider his gauge. 1t is
fortunate for our naughty little planet that
Jupiter Is so far away. If We got within
twenty-six million miles of him We should
become one of his moons. Luckily, We
never can get nearer than about 1863, 100000
miles, so our independence is safe. unless a
1t is a wonderful sight TO see Jupiter with
a telescope: His huge globe. more than
sS,v ,Sa miles Niles IN hS ai ann sSiIfi rs SO m M 81. 1 lat I aaied
tfat he looks almost pumpkin shaped.
Every point on his equator is flying at the
rate of over 1900 miles in an hour! If you
watch it for a little while you can see the
motion, just as you can see the crawling
forward of the hands of a great clock.
Jupiter Is no sluggard, although he Is a
giant. II takes him less than ten hours to
turn round. while the lazy little earth re-
Ndiit tAtiNi0t. oAAcN ~
Jupiter only five hours elapse. People up
there must look alivel Our slow methods
would not answer for them.
But their years are almost twelve times as
long as ours, Nine thousand five hum
dred of Jupiter's days In one of Jupiter's
years. Behold q planet where the inhabi-
tants have a chance TO give New Years
resolutions a fair test 1t is a world of short
slumbers and quick work. and with every
thing on a stupendouS scale.
There is a strange fascination in the swift
whirl OF Jupiter on his gigantic axis. What
a terrific amount of energy gone to wastei
But perhaps it does not go altogether to
| waste; perchance there is an exhilaration in
the life of such a planet that inspires its in
habitants with physical and mental energy
far beyond anything that We jewellers on
this slow earth can
So great a planet as Jupiter is. and one
so full of tremendous power. ought to have
Inhabitants proportioned to its own mag
nificent self. Some astronomers have taught
that Jupiter. il inhabited at all, contains
only pigmies, because large creatures would
be overwhelmed by their own weight there.
But. no, Jupiter is too grand a world for
dwarfsi The rapidity Of its rotation, con-
tradicting the ordinary rule that large
bodies move slowly. proves that Jupiter is
not the home OF the commonplace and the
usual. any more than IL is of the indolent
and sleepy. Ii is emphatically the world OF
the wide-awake. and II would do millions
OF Adams descendants good TO go there and
take lessons.