The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-03-06

catch glimpse of the elusive planet,
Mercury. On March 18th at two
o'clock in the morning, Washington
time, this smallest Of planets reaches
its greatest eastern elongation. Uni
the evenings OF the 10th and 18th y
will linger above the western horizon
for an hour and quarter after surt-
set.
SO few persons have ever seen TINS
shyest member OF the solar family
that such an opportunity should not
be sighted. It is an astronomical
legend that even Copernicus was a.
MED the pleasure of seeing Mercury,
an exceptionally interesting body IN
many ways.
Mercury never reaches distance
of more than Is degrees from the sun
and seldom gets outside OF the twl-
light zone, which accounts for It's pc
| ing SO infrequently seen with the
naked eye On the present occasion
| it gets only q little more than IL De
grees away from the sun and the twi,
light lasts for some minutes after its
setting. Nevertheless, If one knows
where to look, 1t should be possible 70
pick the planet up before it disapr
pears below the horizon, especially
with the aid OF an opera glass.
How to Find the Planet.
! Since the sun on the 10th and llth
sets about six o'clock, the position OF
! Mercury cannot be shown on the
map. But, at sunset OF the 10th. the
sun, Mercury, the moon and Venus
4 will lie nearly in line along the ecllp
i tic In the order named, and, as the
sun sinks lower and lower below the
4 rim of the earth, 1t will be possible to
i fix Mercury's position with reference
to the moon and Venus, as well as by
the point where the sun has disap-
Ipeared. Remember that Mercury IS
lis degrees from the sun. 1t will be
labout Ia degrees from the moon. Be
tween the moon and Venus will be
about II degrees.
! BY the evening of the 18th the
moon will have passed little beyond
Venus, but otherwise the alignment
of the four bodies will have changed
4 little. The proximity of Venus and
!, the four-day-old moon will afford q
beautiful spectacle.
Under favorable seeing" conditions
Mercury glows brilliantly in the twi
-ilight, being intrinsically, brighter thar
star Of the first magnitude. 1t is o
: course far inferior to Venus, now al
/ most at its maximum brilliancy, which
g lit attains on March 18th. Mercury
. light is slightly reddish, while that o
: Venus Is of dazzling whiteness. b
|, the evening of the 18th Mercury will
!. have started back towards the SUI
and. on the night OF April Gath, vii
: have attained Its greatest wester
]. elongation, in this case more than 2
: degrees, and will be visible as
!. morning star.
The most interesting question tina
= can arise about any planet is Away.
! Can it sustain life?" Naturally Their
I. can be no direct evidence of life
Z existence on a planet SO difficult t
s Iobserve as Mercury, whatever may n
= true OF such a body as Mars, with II
= canals" and bridges" But inference
y can be drawn from the physician col
p dition of planet. In the case
Mercury it must be admitted thu
g most of the differences are negative.
" Negative indications are afforded |
10 the low Albedo" OF rejecting powt
n of Mercury. 1t has been shown thi
., this planet absorbs more than fou
= fifths OF the fierce sunlight that bea
50 down upon its surface. only II p
We cent of 1t being reflected into spac
OF Now. on account of its nearness
ne the sun, Mercury receives on an ave
81 age nearly seven times as much
ne the solar radiations as does an ECU
area of the earth's surface, and t
ge earth reflects 30 percent or more
lc- the suns rays So 1t would seem tn
he Mercury's temperature must be &C
sc stantly above the boiling point OF v
lte ter, and, without liquid water, life,
we know it, cannot exist
list II is true that the effects OF sol
radiance may De pToiouHoiy Mouii
70 by atmosphere, but Mercury's low
Die bedo argues that the planet m,
MS possess the thfnnest of atmosphe
al wells. A cloud-wraph globe like Ven
In reflects fully 65 percent OF the liz
ors that reaches 1t. In all the planets
at high albedo goes with dense, vap
AS freighted atmosphere. But Mercur
me albedo is only II almost the same
ell that OF the dead airless moon. SO
for calculations would make 1t even Il
err. And yet Mercury is seemin
not entirely devoid of an atmosphe
Markings upon its surface are obli'
CT: ated at times under the observe
It's gaze a sif by some aerial screen
me sides there are spectdoscopic ind
pod tons, dubious ones. OF the prese
You of water vapor in such atmosphere
tho may exist. &
but