The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

-. sese>'s-s@seees r~~S~.~~~~rNess
Alaska, would - about twenty-five
rect nigh, and the traveller making the
tour or the planet could easily see over
the tops of most of the hills. If there
Is an atmosphere1it must be rare in
1 deed, since the Vs. ble attraction of the
pooy could not give to 1t much weight
or pressure, and the expansive force of
me gas would tend to send it beyond
the. the lhn I1s of tie planetoid's attrac-
-planetoid is of. Ehs same density as the
earth, Its force of gravity at the sur
race, compared to the earth's, would
vary as the diameters of the two plan
ets, therefore it would be about one
| eight-hundredth of what it is here, if
l 1ne planetoid,s diameter is ten miles.
Ihls means that one of US, If we were
paced ON the planetoid, would weigh
only Few ounces. Now, If we may be
supposed to retain our present
strength, 1t is easy to see that We could
90 enormous deeds there, such as lift
ing vast bodies. and perhaps actually
1itoNinS mountains. Then, too, our abil-
lty 10 nurl objects to great distances
would be astonishing. Here we can
not throw an object to great height
| because the force of gravity pulls it
back. But there the game of baseball
could not be popular, because a good
1 batter could easily knock the ball-not
over the fence, but off the planet, to
Wnlcn 1t might never return. Here an
athiete can jump five or six feet high:
! there ne could jump so high that he
would pass beyond the clouds at or
binary height, and. returning. he would
fall SO slowly that, at Jumping
match, the spectators would have time
Tor several other events while wait
ing Ior MIN to return to the ground.
Ii cannon, such as we have here,
were fired horizontally the ball would
either leave the planet entirely, or
| would revolve round it, becoming
| moon or satellite.
IL Is we'll known that on the earth
very large animals are at q disadvan-
tage ON the land, because their vast
weight makes them unwieldy; there
lore, our largest animal floats in the
sea. But on the little planetoid i'm
mense animals, far beyond anything
we nave seen or imagined, might east
ly and lightly frisk about the plains
and jump over the mountains.
1t might be supposed, however, that
no bird OF considerable size could sup
port Itself on wing. in the rare atmos-
phere existing there. But it must be
remembered that if the buoyancy of
the air is very small, the weight of the
bird, however largejeis also very small;
ana 1t it5eould perhaps soar as readily
there as here.
But all these speculations may be
TO notice fact of some Importance in
It's relation to the earth. AS there are
so many of thesa little bodies. astron-
omers have giveA up trying to remem-
Der their nanesssaAd distinguish them
chiefly by number. A few of them to
Which some special Importance at
taches are also we'll known by name
Thus, Ceres No: l. was the first one
discovered and Eros, No. 433, is re-
markable for its near approach to the
earth. This little body has been known
only since 1898, when it was discovered
by photography, a method which has
now come into extensive use, and far
surpasses the ordinary method by the
telescope. Although all the plapetoids
are described as lying between Mars
and Jupiter. yet the little Eros has
sueh an ellfptical orbit, or, as the as
tronomer says, such an eccentric orbit |
tnat at It's nearest approach to the sun
II actually comes inside the orbit of
Mars and reaches aSpoint nearer the |
earth than any other heavenly body ex-
cept the moon, This distance is only !
about 3D. 600 miles. Hitherto Venus
and Mars have enjoyed the distinction
OF being our nearest nefghbors, but as
their nearest points to us are about
Is, 100000 and 35,600,000 miles respec-
lively, 1t is seen that Eros far sur
passes them. This is both surprising
and gratifying. We wonder, by what |
unusual means 1t has, succeeded in in
sinuating itself for brief time between
us and Mars; and yet it's very near
approach gives the mathematician bet j
ter data from which to determine more |
definitely the magnificent distances of
space. OF course it is fayorably sit
uated for observation only when it
reaches the above point at time of op-
position. Unfortunately these periods
are rare, the next one occurring about
1924. The best oppositions always &C.
cur in January or February. At such
tine II may be possible to see it with
the unaided eye.
Though there are SO many facts and
principles established in astronomy
and SO well established that they are
now received almost as axioms, yet
there are many, other things that are
still yelled in mystery, and they are Of
such nature that the temptation to
speculate concerning them is almost ir-
resistible. And this is true in the pres
ent case. If Eros, by some combination of
forces-at the least=quite extraordinary
has succeeded in thrusting itself at
one end of its orbit within the orbit Of
Mars and thus becoming our nearest
planetary neighbor, why may not some
other planetoid ribe found that shall
make a still nearer and more danger
Gus approach to the earth; and when
circumstances are favorable and forces
properly combined. shall actually col
Tide with our earth, with shock and
wreck beyond the power of computa-
ton? Such a collision would doubtless
be the destruction Of the smaller planet
and the probable injury of the larger.
Celestial neighbors, like terrestrial ones,
are more appreciated at reasonable dis
tances. However, we may rest with the
assurance that nature seldom works
by catastrophes, and that from reason
and EXP erience there is little to excite
apprehension. Perhaps to those who
still look for the violent destruction
of our earth, when the elements shall
melt with fervent. heat and chaos shall
abound where law and order now pre-
vail, the speculation may furnish some
small foundation for thought and ex-