| Show PLANETARY PHEN PHENOMENA A MENA singular situations of our sinter sigler stars EDITOR I ae LD thinkie Thin thinking kit that your numerous readers may bo be interested in ill the planetary constellations that have been and are still taking place I take the liberty to give you a few items of information concerning this question t which has been stirring up not a little excitement or even consternation among superstitious easily frightened people an on the morning of the dinst there occurred a remarkable conjunction of the tile planets of the tile solar system such as has as not taken place for years at that time the tile planets neptune saturn satur n jupiter venus mercury and mars were at it or near their perihelion or the point in their respective orbits hi in which they were nearest to the sun their common center and ruler so to saca speak they were all on oil the western el side e of f the tile sun and the earth alone with its satellite on ii the tile eastern side with uranus far to the south venus jupiter and neptune were at their exact perihelion all on the same meridian at once or ili in an exact line from the centre of the sun at the same time the central al star of the pleiades alcyone around which some astronomers believe our sun and the whole solar system is revolving it being the center of gravity for this vast alst system of planets was in con ju function nation with the procession of planets the pleiades year began when alcyone its central star crossed the celestial meridian at madill midnight lit whence co coming on oil the merl meridian i ian earlier every it completes a cycle of years making the precession of the equi boxes the earth responds by 13 an ill annual westerly deviation of also feeling a it minute influence from some greater year cycle or distant orbital centre toward which the earths polar axis constantly points taking into consideration the conjunction tion of all these bodies each va having a great power of gravitation and the fact that is in the same line and and is probably rob tho the body around which the tile sun itself revolves an ail immense attraction must necessarily be exerted upon the earth as it lias has long iong been supposed to be held in its orbit by the counter attraction of other planets of the solar s system stem the distance of venus C nus iam tile sun is about miles that of jupiter about and that of neptune about z aw vuu lines v entis ana and i j kpifer move in in orbits miles apart and jut jupiter iter neptune revolve in their orti orbits ts at a mutual distance of about although these distances appear almost too vast for comprehension the power that holds them in place lace I is so much greater that it can liard hardly be conceived and it is quite likely that this power would never bave permitted them to become grouped west of the zodiac without i it t was vas natural for them to go there the PO powerful gerful attraction exerted however cannot but produce some perturbation tur bation of the earth in its orbit by drawing it slightly toward them in ili years gone by scientists and buier superstitious superstitions ious ions astronomers have sea searched rc led for evidences that great changes have occurred in the earths surface at the tile period of starry conjunctions the overthrow of the continent of atlantis y years v ais ago which the ancients described as an ail island larger than asia of which the tile mediterranean was wils only a harbor has been traced at or near a time when there was a coni conjunction unction of the planets two floods recorded by confucius some 2000 years before christ when fifteen Pra provinces vinces of china were submerged and many people drowned llave have been also located C 11 ted at a time when a sir similar nilar event occurred geology shows that there have been changes in the earths surface as th the half sub merged temple of jupiter s at babic W c on the bay of naples witnesses but liow how far such cata cl ins can cal I be traced to the position I I t ac planets at the time is 19 mostly a matter of surmise the ancient believed that the earths surface underwent a change every years plato also belie believed ved in ill a ren renewal cival of the earths eart lia surface and says tile oracle of delphi was a depository tory of secret prophecies regarding marked eras the conjunction of sunday morning was especially remarkable as an event happening only once in in years and as marking the end of the third and the begian beginning in of the fourth quarter of a grand cycle of but three odthe of the planets were ivere then in exact perihelion the others were approaching theirs but if all had been so their combined attractive force upon the C earth arth would not have been increased one tenth of itself aliis attraction gradually increases and diminishes as the planets planets approach and leave their peri perihelion fiel ion and hence it could not do more than d draw raw the earth slightly out of its orbit it was therefore not at all expected by those acquainted with the character of the planets and ind their procession to see any of those violent c commotions om motions and disastrous destructions which had been anticipated by some frightened unscientific people and the event has proven the justice of their unconcern there was a greater strain tr aill of combined attraction upon the earth on A la last A than could lia happen I by t the io planetary n of f re sun 11 day a Y kjin on t that I at day jay four planets tile sun and moon were all on one side of the earth and nearly in a stra straight t line with it if a straight line waha had then been a drawn ra from tile eel centre are of earth carth through the center of the sun still and ind outward to the fixed stare stars it new moon would have been in or near that line venus and neptune would d have been on oil the cast side of f it and jupiter and saturn on oil the west side of it it may well bo be imagined that this conjunction exercised a powerful attraction upon the c eartle artl but the latter was not seriously deviated from its orbit by it this Thi latter phenomenon is liked ly never to te be repeated in ill the worlds hist history orv As ASS ali conjunction Sunday on took place I I ca during during d daylight it could not lot EO bo witnessed on this side of the western hemisphere but alie planets may be seen shortly before daybreak on any aily morning until they sweep out of their present interesting position |
