Omaha daily bee., 1912-06-09
Gigantic Planets, the CaptiDes O.
Uhose Nightmarish Creatures
Thicker Than the Ocean Depths
LDhere the Titanic Lies
By Professor Garrett Serviss Distinguished
NNE OF the most interesting recent dis
coveries Of modern astronomy is
that Of the existence of huge invis.

ONE OF the most interesting recent dis
coveries Of modern astronomy is
that OF the existence of huge invis
ible companions to many stars. and still more
interesting is the conclusion that these ex-
traordinary bodies may be gigantic planets
revolving in the light OF the stars with which
they are connected. II they are planets, they
30 enormously exceed those that .evolye
around our sun, in magnitude, that they must
be regarded as an entirely different species
of worlds than ours The earth placed be-
side one OF them, would be like mouse be-
side an elephant. or trout beside whale.
Even the great planet Jupiter, which is
1900 times as large as the whole earth, would
be utterly Insignificant In comparison with
one Of these mysterious bodies which has
been found revolving around the star Algol
in the northern sky. That body Is more than
million times as large as the earth. In
fact, 1t is almost as large as the star around
which 1t -evolves--although that star is
larger than our sun-and yet 1t is utterly In
visible, except at certain periods when 1t
passes between us and Algol and thus causes
a partial eclipse Of Its bright companion.
Even then 1t cannot be seen directly, and Its
form and dimensions are estimated from the
amount OF observation that It causes. Its
diameter Is calculated at about $4,000 miles.
We can get q realizing sense Of what this
means II We imagine that tremendous world
to be a hollow sphere, with the earth placed
at It's center. Then there would not only be
plenty OF room for the moon to continue to
reyolye round the earth, as 1t now does, at a
distance OF 100000 miles, but there would be
clear space OF 100000 miles, on all sides
between the orbit of the moon and the inside
of the shell Of the Brodignagian planet!
The surface Of such planet exceeds that
of the earth ten thousand times. The At
Iantic ocean stretched out upon It, to the
same relative size that 1t Is on the earth.
would be more than 100000 miles broad. II
II had surface features exactly proportioned
to those OF the earth, its loftiest mountains
would be from 400 to 500 miles high, and its
oceans from 200 to 600 miles deep! A dis
tance corresponding to that between New
York and Chicago would be ninety thousand
miles long. And, II everything were con-
structed on the same scale, men would be
600 feet tall. and the giant redwoods of Cali.
fornia eight or nine miles high!
OF course, the force Of gravity, or the
weight OF bodies, must also be enormously
Increased. II we suppose the mean density
OF the giant planet to be the same as that OF
the earth, body that weighs one pound here
weighs about a hundred pounds there, and
an average man, having the same size that
he has on the earth, would there weigh seven
and half TONS But IL he were 600 feet tall
that is to say, proportioned to the size OF
the planet-he would weigh seven and half
million tons.
But there are many other interesting calcu
lations, all based upon perfectly we'll known
principles, that can be made about the condi
tion OF things on wo-ld 80 gigantic as that
which accompanies Algol We may, for in
stance, inquire about the state of Its atmos
phere. The density and nature of the air
surrounding any planet depend upon the force
of gravity of that planet. II the planet is
/. very small. the force with which 1t holds
bodies, or gases, upon its surface is proper
tionately small Thus we know that little
world, like the moon, on which the weight
of bodies Is only about one-sixth as great as
on the earth. is unable to hold permanently
under its control any OF the light gases which
constitute the air that we breathe. The
lighter gas the quicker 1t escapes. because
its molecules are in more rapid vibration
than those Of heavier gases. A gas is sub
stance In which the molecules are continually
flying about In every direction, with a speed