Name: A Field Book of the Stars — The Planets
Author: William Tyler Olcott

Quotes from A Field Book of the Stars — The Planets (William Tyler Olcott)

William Tyler Olcott, A Field Book of the Stars — The Planets (1911)

“ Saturn is farther removed from the earth than any of the planets in the solar system, visible to the naked eye. It is distinguished from the fixed stars by the steadiness of its light, which is dull and of a yellow hue, though to some it appears to be of a greenish tinge. It seems barely to move, so slow is its motion among the stars, for it takes two and one half years to pass through a single constellation of the Zodiac. ”

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William Tyler Olcott, A Field Book of the Stars — The Planets (1911)

“ Venus approaches nearer to the earth and is more brilliant than any other planet. It is bright enough to cast a shadow at night, and is sometimes visible even at noonday. It is almost as large as the earth, and oscillates, as Mercury does, on either side of the sun.
It never appears more than three hours after sunset, and as long before the sunrise, and is never more than forty-eight degrees from the sun. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William Tyler Olcott, A Field Book of the Stars — The Planets (1911)

“ They appear like mere dots of light, and their transit of or occultation with the planet (that is, their disappearance before or behind its disk) can be watched, and is a never failing source of pleasure. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William Tyler Olcott, A Field Book of the Stars — The Planets (1911)

“ Confusion in identifying the planets is really confined to Mars and Saturn, for Venus and Jupiter are much brighter than any of the fixed stars, and their position in the heavens identifies them, as we have seen before. The following table of first-magnitude stars in the Zodiacal constellations confines the question of identifying the planets to a comparison of the unknown star with the following-named stars:
The first four stars named above are white in color, so that either Mars or Saturn is readily distinguished from them. ”

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Source: Wikisource

William Tyler Olcott, A Field Book of the Stars — The Planets (1911)

“ Confusion, therefore, respecting their identity can only arise in connection with a study of one of the twelve constellations named above, so that whenever a star of any size is seen in one of these constellations, not accounted for in the diagram, the student may conclude that this is a planet; especially if the unknown star does not twinkle. It now remains to identify the planet.
This can best be done by referring to an almanac, which states what planets are above the horizon, and which are morning and evening stars. By morning star is meant that the planet is east of the sun ”

William Tyler Olcott

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Quotes from A Field Book of the Stars — The Planets (William Tyler Olcott)

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William Tyler Olcott

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Quotes from A Field Book of the Stars — The Planets (William Tyler Olcott)

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Get perspective with Kwize: daily news enlightened by great literature