New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-16
VENUS NIGHT QUEEN OF SKY
Most Brilliant Object May Be Seen
in Western Firmament.

h To the Editor Of The Tribune
4 Sir: Tonight and hereafter during thiS
winters months, like some trmarheh'ai
mirror OF the western and southern even
Hing skies. Queen Venus, brightest satel-
dite of King SOL may be seen by those
B OF us who wish to study or admire her
dsplendor In the huge metropolis cro"u-
Fed with lofty buildings and us. atHio"-
zphere somewhat obscured with smoke anu
avapor, some of us may have diflcuity III
Hhnding Queen Venus; but all or US VIII
q he able to see and admire this Famous
q planet provided we stand upon some rool
For place sufficiently elevated, away from
!. the smoke OF chlmneys. and, AFTER tue
set of sun. look in the direction or the
G western armament.
At this present time King Sol sets
Jaround 4 80 o'clock, and Queen venus sets
B around 1880 o'clock, so that after SUNSET
she may be seen shining clearly oe-
scending toward the western horizol'
In fact, at and after the twilight this
5beautiful planet is by far the most notice.
able sky object in this part OF the dome
of night excepting, of course, Wheh the
moon might happen to trespass upon
Venus's domain. Queen Venus Is, com
a paratively speaking, only snort us
1tance" from our earth-our twin planet
dapproaching us occasionally as near as
q. 700 900 miles, and then wandering as far
4 ns 100 900. 600 miles away from us-so that
although she may seem as remote as the
twlnkling suns Of night, she Is IN reaiitS
q a "neighbor OF ours" AS she Is constant
In orbital revolution around KING SOL
speeding about twenty-five miles per Sec
ond, she is month by month changing her
ornamental position or place In the SKY
For example, in October Queen venus
was situated against the background OF
n the constellation Libra, In November sne
was in Scorpio. while just at present she
is sparkling against the constellation OF
Sa gittarius, or the Archer.
j A few of the planetary statistics OF this
beautiful twin Of our earth are rather
Interesting as we'll as instructive. In the
first place, Venus is about nine-tenths as
y large as our world, with an approximate
weight of eight-tenths. Then, ner density
or solidity Is about nine-tenths that or our
earth, while she attracts bodies TOWARD
/ her surface with about eight-tenths or the
force with which our own planet attracts
dthem. Like our earth, Venus/possesses
. vear or time OF one revolution around
King Sol-that is. 225 days. This shorter
year" OF Queen Venus is due, or course
lboth TO her lesser orbit and to her greater
4 orbital velocity. For example, while II
takes this neighbor OF ours only 20 days
b 10 revolve once around the sun, II takes
Hour earth sG5A days. 1t takes Mars 6s1
pdays. and 1t takes ringed Saturn NOW
shining brightly and clearly not Tar
fundamentally from Aldebaran and the
Pleisdes) about 1863 days, or about thirty
Terrestrial years.
Those OF us who gaze upon the splendor
Of Venus tonight will see planet pos
sessing a diameter Of some 400 miles
without moon or satellite, with atmos-
pheric conditions so dense and clouded
as to prevent any satisfactory examina-
ton Of her surface. In way she Is as
great a mystery as Is rudy Mars; and
man can indeed search-albeit without
positive concusions-the Marian surface
with its remarkable network of so-called
u canals" AT her best and brightest,
Queen Venus, or Phosphorus, as she used
TO be called, is a most spectacular sky
object. and although at this present time
3neither at her best nor brightest. this
4 beautiful planet is well worthy OF more
than moments study and admiration.
CHARLES MEYERS HOLMES.
The Plymouth Inn, Northampton, Mass,
Dec. Is, 1912.