Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1916-07-18
JUPITER |l PLANET
WITH nine MOONS
MOST BRILLIANT STAR OF THE
SKIES HAS MANY
SATELLITES

.Wanderers' 81 the Celestial Family
Appear to Advantage Now
Jupiter is by far the most interest
ing thing to study in the skies now.
Even an opera glass or small teles.
cope will bring to light one or two Of
his moons, For a long time he was
credited with having only four satel-
lites, but he is now known to have at
least nine-the latest one having been
discovered only last year.
In fact Jupiter and his family Of lit
tie moons presents almost a. model Of
our solar system Jupiter himself rep
resenting the sun. and his moons rep
-esenting the planets. The largest sat
elite is calculated 10 be about 300
miles in diameter. or say little over
half as big as our moon.
Think Of living on a planet where.
instead Of having only one moon as
ne do, which gives good light only q
fraction OF the time, there would be ct
least nine moons, of varying sizes and
distances, all coursing around the shy
ct different speeds It must puzzle the
astronomers on Jupiter, if there are
any there, to keep track. Of the move
ments Of all these moons. /, And we
must remember that there may be
other moons which our telescopes
have not yet picked up.
While the clock hour hand makes
two revolutions in the twenty-four
hours, the sky makes one. BY remem-
bering this fact and familiarizing
yourself with the stars you can tell
time roughly by looking at the heav-
ems at night.
OF course when we speak Of the
sky revolving" we mean onlv that II
revolves in relation to the earth: as
everyone knows, i: is really the earth
that is rotating, but 1t is simpler to
think of the sky as turning. The pivot
al point OF the skies is the north star,
whose position above the northern
horizon is just euqal to the latitude
Of your location.
The planets are not shown on star
maps, for the reason that their posi-
ton is constantly changing. At pres
ent the planet Jupiter is the most bril-
liant object in the heavens, after the
sun and moon, but it will not be found
on the map.
L East Of Andromeda Is the little trl.
angle of stars in Aries. Further east,
nearer the horizon, the very brilliant
groups which characterize the winter
skies are just coming on the scene;
they will be seen to much better ad.
vantage later in the year. A little fur
ther round to the northeast is the CON
stallation Auriga. with its brilliant
yellow star Capella. Between Auriga
and the zenith is the constellation
perseus, containing the wonderful
variable star Algol. which is much
brighter at some periods than at 9th,
ers
Close to the northern horizon now
81; Ursa Major, or the Great Bear the
big dipper., as it is popularity known.
The two pointer stars of this con-
stellation as we know, point to polaris
or the north star. The north star is
not precisely at the pole, but it is
rear enough for practical purposes. It
forms the end of the tail Of the Little
Bear, or Little Dipper as many call 1t.
Between the pole star and the zen
it'll, within the Milky Way, is the
brilliant little group of Cassiopeia.
sometimes called the. Lady's Chair.
Toward the, northwest is, the triangp-
lar group of Lyra. with its bright sill.
very star Vega. Close to it, somewhat
higher up.is a similar triangle. with
another brilliant star, called Deneb.
In the west is the bright star Al
tair which is the uqeen. A
little higher toward the zenith is the
Dolphin. diamond shaped little
group which some people know as
Jobs Coffin. Near by is another inter
esting little group called Sagitta or
the Arrow-this being. according to
the mythology Of the skies, the ar
row which has just been shot at
Aquila, the Eagle.
Coming around to the southwest,
some observers who live well to the
south can see Fomalhaut as rather
brilliant star. This star is not general
ly visible to those living IN the north
ern part of the country. owing to its
being either below the southern hor-
izo nor lost in the haze near 1t. N
Mars is nomihally morning star
but he is working round so as to be
eeen before long in the evening. He
is in the constellation Cancer and does
not rise till near. midnight. When
found he can be distinguished by his
characteristic reddish appearance. 4
Jupiter, the King Of the celestial
realm just now, is exceedingly bril-
liant He Is IN the constellation Pisces
and is thus in a very. favorable posi-
ton for observation at a convenient
hour of the evening, being about half
way up. to the zenith and approximate
ly south at the hours stated.
Saturn is in the constellation Gem.
mi end does not rise until toward
midnight.
The other two planets. Uranus and
Neptune. have little popular interest