The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-09-01

weigh less than five ounces on the sur
face of the astekoid; the cow that
thoughtlessly jumped a fence would
leap so high in the alp that she would
not get back to pasture in less than
half an hour. Such speculations, how
ever, are not the primary object of as
tronomy. althoughtM. Flammarion, the
French astronomer, holds the opinion
that these little worlds are very likely
peopled with little Inhabitants.
Eros Is Best Known.
The best known asteroid is Eros, dis.
severed at Heidelberg, Aug. 10, 1898.
1t differs from every other member of
it's family and from every other known
celestial body. No other celestial body,
with the exception Of Saturn and his
rings, has such distinct individuality,
for Eros Is not a sphere but is prob
ably either shaped like huge cigar
that turns over and over in space or
like an enormous dinner plate that
spins on an axis, first one side up then
the other. The asteroid is constantly
changing In brightness, the change be-
ing so rapid that 1T can be noticed In
different parts Of the same photo
graph. Other stars change in brillian-
cy because Of the revolution about
them Of other bodies; some celestial
bodies vary probably because they are
darker on one side than the other
as Is the case, for example, with one
of Saturn's outer satellites. But Eros
is distinctly different from any Of these
and the whirliEg cigar or spinning din
ner plate theories are the most plausi-
BILE explanations Of its condition that
have been advanced. Eros, moreover,
comes nearer the earth, once every
seven years, than any other known
planet. 1t is then only 15,000,000 miles
distant, or less than one-third the DIS
lance Of the sun. At two other times
during the seven year period 1t APP
proaches near enough to the earth to
be Of great Importance in the mathe-
NAUTICAL calculations with which as
tronomy studies the distance Of the
other heavenly bodies-so much so
that about SO obServatOries here and
abroad make special observations at
that time.
Now Known by Numbers.
For long time the asteroids were
given names but in recent years the
practice has been largely given up, al
though nominally it, is not yet aban-
doned. Scientifically they are known
by numbers, like the inmates of state
prison, Eros for example, being Num-
Der 433. The list Of names has pretty
well exhausted the1list of classical d..
NiHiliSoI ilClOSS, iH1SlStdIlS, dlQ OlH6T
characters, all more for less familiar
to the general ereader. Brunhilda,
whom we have met IN German opera,
is number 123, while 292 commentaries
Penelope, the faithful pand Ito the ia
nous suitors) proTokingly Industrious
wife of wandering Ulysses. Some are
named after the Places of their discov-
ery-Chicago, for example. Cleopatra,
Hypatia, Gree, and Ophelia are among
the family, and there are also an EN-
ma, an Alice, and1a Bertha. But the
fact that nobody knows them by name,
or sees them without a. telescope-save
in few cases-nakes the office of
godparent not over, exciting
How the asteroids originated nobody
knows, nor has any theory been for
mulated that is particularly convinc-
ing. They existed doubtless millions
of years before discovery and there
remain probably a great many yet I'M
discovered, many Of them too faint for
any modern instrument to spy out.
Their eccentricities,s; however, show
that the celestial universe presents
problems as complicated as those Of
nature as 1t Is studied on the earth
and make even the great steps recent
ly taken In astronomy only an indi-
cation Of the untiring patience with
which that science must continue its
advance.