The Life of Roger Langdon Part 5

_Communicated by J. Norman Lockyer, F.R.S._

[From the "Monthly Notices" of the Royal Astronomical Society. Vols.

31-32, June, 1872]

On May 1, 1871, I had a good view of the planet Venus, but I could not at first see her to my satisfaction as her light was so bright. She had more the appearance of a miniature sun than a star; but I put a diaphragm of blackened card in the eye-piece, and made a small hole through its centre with a piece of hot wire. I found this arrangement keep out to a great extent the glaring rays. I also sometimes used a slip of slightly tinted gla.s.s in front of the eye lens; this enabled me to bring the planet entirely under subjection. Her shape was that of the moon when a little more than half full. I distinctly saw a dull, cloudy-looking mark along her bright limb, curving round parallel to it, and extending nearly across the disc, each end terminating in a point; joining this at the eastern extremity was another and darker mark of a club shape, its small end joining the point of the mark previously described. I watched these marks for half an hour. I saw some marks again the next evening, but before I could examine them the planet was hidden behind some clouds. On May 6, at 7.45 p.m., there was a cloud-like mark extending straight across the disc, and a club-shaped mark nearly in the centre, with its small end nearly touching the straight cloud. On the western limb another dark mark had made its appearance; it was not quite so large as the other, and it was not club-shaped; but its sides were parallel to each other till they approached the straight cloud, when they appeared to divide, each side curving round away from the other. I took much interest in watching these spots, as I had read that it was very doubtful whether any marks had ever been seen on this planet. I called several men to look at them, and they were able to describe them, although they had no previous knowledge or idea of what they were likely to see. One man was very confident it was the moon he was looking at, but when I pointed out to him that the moon was not in the neighbourhood, he said he thought it was the moon, because he could plainly see the dark patches on its surface.

On May 13, at 7.30 p.m., there was a dark mark of a pear shape, extending from near the western edge to two-thirds the distance across the bright disc. This mark was not so dark as those seen on the 1st and 6th, but it was much larger.

On July 28, at 8 p.m., there were visible five dusky marks along the planet's terminator, and one nearly in the centre of the crescent, but they were not so well defined as those before described; but what seemed to me more remarkable was that the southern horn was rounded off considerably, whilst the northern horn was quite sharp, and ran out to a very fine thread-like point.

On October 13, at 5.45 a.m., I saw Venus as a beautiful little crescent.

She was well defined, and both horns were as sharp as the finest pointed needles. I think I detected a dusky cloud-like mark about half way from the centre to the northern horn; but I am not quite sure about this as I had to leave my telescope before I could complete my sketch.

On October 25, at 8.10 a.m., I was gratified with a sight which I had waited for and longed to see for many years; that was to have a good view of Venus by daylight. I now had the longed-for opportunity, and it turned out as I expected. The superior light of the sun overcame that of the planet to such an extent that I was able to see her better than I had ever seen her before. I could now plainly perceive the jagged nature of the terminator, the unevenness of which could not be mistaken; but what was very remarkable, the northern horn was bent in towards the centre of the planet; it appeared as if a notch had been cut in the inside, and a slice cut off from the outside.

I have no idea what was the cause of this appearance; I had never seen it so before, neither do I recollect ever having read of such a phenomenon. I did not perceive any markings on this occasion, but there was a kind of haziness along the whole length of the terminator; but I considered this at the time to have belonged to the terminator rather than to any markings on the disc. The terminator on this occasion was inky black.

On November 9 I saw Venus every half hour during the day up to one o'clock. I made a sketch at 12.20 p.m. I could now distinctly see the jagged terminator; the nature of which was so much like that of the moon as it was possible to conceive; except that if we compare the moon's terminator to a piece of network, that of Venus would be represented by a piece of fine lace. I could also see some thin, cloudy marks on her disc. The southern horn was very sharp; the northern one was a trifle rounded.

I saw Venus on February 5, 1870 (a few days before her inferior conjunction with the sun), and the bright part was an exceedingly beautiful fine crescent; but I and several other people could see the whole body of the planet in the same manner as we see the dark limb of the moon when _Earth-s.h.i.+ne_ is falling upon it; but I did not make any sketch at the time.

I have observed Venus a great many times besides those mentioned above, having made it my special work to do so, and have on several occasions strongly suspected markings to be visible; but I have not mentioned them, and have only described those times upon which I have no doubt of what I had seen.

SILVERTON STATION, NEAR CULLOMPTON, DEVON.

(Sketches ill.u.s.trating this and the following paper can be seen at the Royal Astronomical Society's rooms.)

APPENDIX III

OBSERVATIONS OF THE PLANET VENUS, WITH A 6-INCH SILVERED GLa.s.s REFLECTOR. BY R. LANGDON

[From the "Monthly Notices" of the Royal Astronomical Society, June 1873. Vol. 33, Page 500.]

On January 2, 1873, there was a cloudy mark, of a semicircular shape, extending nearly across the disc, and a dark spot in the centre; the illuminated disc itself was singularly egg-shaped. Bad weather prevented me from constantly observing this planet, as I should like to have done, but on April 17, at 8 p.m., I was viewing the planet with one of Mr.

Browning's excellent achromatic eye-pieces, when I saw two exceedingly bright spots on the crescent--one close to the terminator towards the eastern horn, and the other in the centre of the crescent. These spots appeared like two drops of dew; they were glistening in such a manner as to cause the surrounding parts of the bright crescent to appear dull by contrast. Cloudy weather prevented me seeing the planet again until the 19th, when the spots had disappeared, but the planet on this occasion was seen through the Aurora, and the irregular and uneven appearance of the terminator was most beautifully depicted. The whole body of the planet also was distinctly visible.

APPENDIX IV

A LETTER FROM THE MAN IN THE MOON

(_Left for the Editor at the Railway Station_)

[Reprinted from the _Exe Valley Magazine_]

DEAR COUSIN,--

Knowing how exceedingly anxious you must be to find out all you can respecting this little planet on which I live, I take this opportunity to send you a few lines to give you some little account of it.

The moon, in many particulars, is like the earth on which you dwell; and perhaps there is no better way to give you a little more information about this planet than by inst.i.tuting a comparison between it and the earth.

I must presume you are aware that the earth is a globe, nearly round, like an orange; its circ.u.mference is about 24,000 miles, and its diameter 8,000. The moon in this respect is like the earth, being also a globe, but it is only 2,160 miles in diameter, and about 7,000 miles in circ.u.mference. It would therefore take forty-nine moons to compose a globe the size of the earth. If you will take two threads and suspend an orange and a small cherry at six feet apart, you will then have a fair representation of the relative size and distance from each other of the earth and the moon. But the earth and the moon are not suspended by any visible or tangible object, but were launched forth in the beginning, and are kept in their places by the balance of attraction, constantly revolving, and travelling onward by the direction of Him who also created the insignificant worm, and whose tender care is over all His works.

You know, dear cousin, that the surface of the earth is diversified with large continents, which are dotted with chains of mountains and high hills, some of which are in a state of volcanic eruption. You have also great oceans of water lying in the hollows of your world. In the moon, too, we have mountains and hills, some of them very high and steep, thrown up ages ago by volcanic agency, though at present there is not a trace of existing fire or volcanic action, and you may safely consider the whole ma.s.s of the moon to be a huge, exhausted, burnt-out cinder.

Your mountains and hills are denuded--worn down--their sharp points and angles are worn away by frost, rain, and snow, and other atmospheric influences which have been constantly acting upon them for ages; but here in the moon we have no such thing as an atmosphere: we therefore have neither clouds nor rain, nor frost nor snow; and in the words of the poet--

Here are no storms, no noise, But silence and eternal sleep.

All here is as quiet and silent as the grave. Sometimes, from the great heat of the sun, great ma.s.ses of rock will split and crack, and come tumbling down from the sides of the cliffs; yet if you were close on the spot you would not hear the slightest sound, because there is no atmosphere by which sound can be propagated and conveyed. Your fields are clad with verdure, and your pastures with flocks, so that as one of your inspired poets has sung--

The valley stands so thick with corn That they do laugh and sing,

but neither verdure nor corn can exist upon the moon, as no plant-life can grow in a vacuum where there is no moisture.

The crater mountains of the moon are its grand peculiarities. We see here that its whole surface has been upturned, convulsed and dislocated with forces of the greatest activity, the results of which remain to this day; so that our rocks are not levelled down by the fury of tempests, nor smoothed by the constant flow of water, as your earthly mountains are, but stand up in all their primitive sharpness. These volcanic craters are of all sizes, from fifty yards to as many miles across, and in the centre of some of them there stand up lofty hills.

Now if you could take up your position upon the highest peak of one of these central hills at the time the sun was rising, you would see the tops of the distant mountains forming a circle round you all illuminated by the sun's light; but as there is no atmosphere, there is no twilight, and consequently the great valley immediately beneath your feet would be in the very blackest of darkness.

I know that you and others have often wondered what those dark grey patches are which you can see upon the moon, even with the una.s.sisted eye. Some people call them "The man in the moon, and his bundle of sticks," and the story goes that I went stealing sticks on a Sunday, and for my wickedness was banished (sticks and all) into the moon! Now I most strongly protest against this cruel libel; I never stole any sticks, even on a week-day, much less on a Sunday, and I must say the people must have dreadful weak eyesight, and a dreadfully strong imagination, to see anything in these dark patches that can possibly be stretched into the shape of a man with a bundle of sticks at his back.

So I hope you will kindly contradict this calumnious story whenever you can; indeed, in writing, it was partly my object to ask you to do so.

One of the smallest dark markings that you can see on the moon with the naked eye is known to selenographers by the name of Mare Crisium, or the Crisian Sea; its width across from north to south is 280 miles, and its length is 354 miles from east to west, and it contains about 78,000 square miles, more than half as much again as the area of England and Wales--rather a large size for a bundle of sticks, I opine. There are several other dark or grey patches on the moon, some smaller and some larger than the Mare Crisium, but they are all the beds or bottoms of what were once oceans, seas, and lakes, the waters of which have been dried up or evaporated many years ago. Some think they have all gone over to that side of the moon which never turns round towards you, but I can tell you that is not the case; for if any water did exist on the moon's surface, the attraction of the earth would certainly draw it round to that side nearest to you, and so you would be able to see some signs of it, as well as clouds and vapours which would rise from it during the time of full moon.

There are many other objects of interest, which I could mention to you, but I must draw my letter to a close; I will therefore only just give you the names of a few of those dark hollows which you can see with the unaided eye when the full moon is s.h.i.+ning brightly.

There is the "Sea of Tranquillity": its width from north to south is 432 miles, and from east to west 425 miles. There are also the "Sea of Serenity," the "Sea of Fogs," the "Frozen Sea," the "Sea of Vapours" and the "Gulf of Rainbows." This last named will appear to you of a greenish tint, and it is surrounded on nearly all sides with very lofty and steep mountains, some of them more than 15,000 feet high. Then there are the "Ocean of Storms," the "Gulf of Dew," and the "Sea of Humours." This last will also appear of a green tint; it is very level, and is 280 miles across.

Next come the "Sea of Nectar" and the "Sea of Fertility." All these were named "seas," because the ancient astronomers thought they contained water, and that they really were seas; but you are aware now that they contain no trace of water, so I need not inform you of that fact. And now dear cousin, I sincerely hope that what I have written will interest you, and if it does, and you will kindly let me know, I will write you another letter at some future time; but for the present I will say--Farewell!

Your faithful servant and attached cousin,

"The Man in the Moon."

R. LANGDON.

APPENDIX V

A JOURNEY WITH COGGIA'S COMET

[Reprinted from _Home Words_]