Venus Equilateral

“ As I am about to turn aside into one of the green walks I see Venus sitting before me on a stone bench, not the beautiful woman of marble, but the goddess of love herself with warm blood and throbbing pulses. She has actually come to life for me, like the statue that began to breathe for her creator. Indeed, the miracle is only half completed. Her white hair seems still to be of stone, and her white gown shimmers like moonlight, or is it satin? ”

“ No doubt the sun's heat on Venus is greatly in excess of the sun's heat with which we are acquainted, but this is not an insuperable difficulty. We see at present on the earth, life in very hot regions and life in very cold regions. Indeed, with each approach to the Equator we find life more and more exuberant; so that, if water be present on the surface of Venus and if oxygen be a constituent of its atmosphere, we might expect to find in that planet a luxuriant tropical life, of a kind perhaps analogous in some respects to life on the earth. ”

“ While these clouds render the planet surprisingly lustrous to our eyes, they must, of course, keep the globe beneath them most of the time in shadow. It is a source of keen regret that the surface of Venus can not be seen as clearly as that of Mars, for, a priori, there is rather more reason to regard Venus as possibly an inhabited world than any other of the Earth's sister planets, not excepting Mars. ”

“ Of all the planets lovely Venus is the one that is best known and most admired. It far exceeds all the other planets in brilliancy and beauty when as an evening star it hangs in gracious silvery softness above the sun, which has just passed below the horizon; and it is not less surpassing in loveliness when as a morning star it comes into view shortly before the sun rises, its glowing face still silvery and bright, but yet tinged with the rosy flush of the eastern morning sky. ”

“ We do not say that there is any caprice in the movements of Venus, as known to those who diligently consult their almanacs. The movements of the lovely planet are there prescribed with a prosaic detail hardly in harmony with the character usually ascribed to the Goddess of Love. But to those who do not devote particular attention to the stars, the very unexpectedness of its appearance is one of its greatest charms. Venus has not been noticed, not been thought of, for many months. ”

“ A man removed to Venus would, consequently, find himself perceptibly lighter than he was at home, and would be able to exert his strength with considerably greater effect than on his own planet. But the difference would amount only to an agreeable variation from accustomed conditions, and would not be productive of fundamental changes in the order of nature.
Being, like Mercury, nearer to the sun than the earth is, Venus also is visible to us only in the morning or the evening sky. ”

“ But whenever, as sometimes happens, Venus overtakes the planet on the line of the nodes, either as she is descending on her orbit on one side, or ascending on the other, then the planet is seen to pass across the sun, and there is a transit. It is not necessary that Venus should be precisely on the line uniting the earth's centre to [pg 148] the sun's centre. The apparent size of the sun, 32' in diameter, and the size of the earth, and the smallness of the angle of inclination between the orbits, all combine to give a little latitude in the matter. ”

“ As, however, Venus and the earth come back every eight years to nearly the same positions at the same points of their track, an accumulative effect is produced. For the disturbance of one planet upon the other will, of course, be greatest when those two planets are nearest, that is, when they lie in line with the sun and on the same side of it. Every eight years a certain part of the orbit of the earth is, therefore, disturbed by the attraction of Venus with peculiar vigour. ”

“ In the transit of Venus observations are taken at various points upon the earth's surface. The path which Venus describes across the disk of the sun varies with the position of the observer, so also does the angle of her axis vary with that position. The projection of Venus against the sun occurs when she is at her inferior conjunction, and approaching either node. The node is one of the points where the orbit of a planet intercepts the ecliptic, or the orbit of its primary. In this condition the body of Venus will appear as a dark spot crossing the disk of the sun. ”

“ They have made it plain that in one most important respect Venus is very unlike our Earth. Our globe, of course, rotates on its axis once each day, but Venus requires no less than 225 days to complete each rotation. In fact, this planet rotates in such a fashion that she always keeps the same face to the sun. The inhabitants of Venus will therefore find that it is perennial day on one side of this globe and everlasting night on the other. ”

“ The proportion of this disk to the crescent is as 10 to 65. After becoming a "silver bow," Venus disappears from the evening sky, later to appear on the other side of the sun in the same guise, and gradually, as the [Pg 249] days go by, changing to a half moon and on again through all its phases.
The orbit of Venus is tipped slightly from the plane of the earth's orbit; thus only on very rare occasions does it pass directly in front of the sun. Such a passage is called a transit. ”

“ One important result of this is that the question remains undecided whether Venus rotates on her axis at a rate closely corresponding with that of the earth, as some observers think, or whether, as others think, she, like Mercury, turns only once on her axis in going once round the sun. The importance of the question in its bearing on the habitability of Venus is apparent, for if she keeps one face always sunward, then on one side there is perpetual day and on the other perpetual night. ”

“ When at inferior conjunction Venus approaches nearer to the Earth than any other planet, its distance then being 27,000,000 miles. Its greatest elongation varies from 45° to 47° 12'; it therefore can never be much more than three hours above the horizon before sunrise, or after sunset. Venus is a morning star when passing from inferior to superior conjunction, and during the other half of its synodical period it is an evening star. The planet attains its greatest brilliancy at an elongation 40° west or east of the Sun—five weeks before and after inferior conjunction. ”

“ It is open, at least to the writers of the interplanetary romances now so popular, to imagine that on Venus, life, while encompassed with the serenity that results from the circular form of her orbit, and the unchangeableness of her climates, is richer, warmer, more passionate, more exquisite in its forms and more fascinating in its experiences, keener of sense, capable of more delicious joys, than is possible to it amid the manifold inclemencies of the colder earth. ”

“ THE PLANET VENUS.—Camille Flammarion Revolving round the sun in 224 days, Venus has its motion combined with ours in such a manner that it passes its inferior conjunction, between the sun and us, every 584 days; but the plane in which it revolves is inclined 3° 23′ to that in which the earth itself moves. When Venus attains its greatest elongations from the sun it shines in the west in the evening, then in the morning in the east, with a splendid brightness which eclipses that of all the stars. It is, without comparison, the most magnificent star of our sky. ”

“ In Fig. 44 we show three views of Venus under different aspects. The planet is so much closer to the earth when the crescent is seen, that it appears to be part of a much larger circle than that made by Venus when more nearly full. This drawing shows the different aspects of the globe in their true relative proportions. It is very difficult to perceive distinctly any markings on the brilliantly lighted surface. Sometimes observers have seen spots or other features, and occasionally the pointed extremities of the horns have been irregular, as if to show that the surface of Venus is not smooth. ”

“ It is a shield for the inhabitants against the fervors of an unsetting sun. Its presence prevents their real world from being seen from outside."
"Well," said Jack, laughing, "I never heard before that Venus was fond of a veil."
"Not only can they not be seen," continued Edmund, "but they cannot themselves see beyond the screen that covers them."
"Worse and worse!" exclaimed Jack. "The astronomers have certainly made a mistake in naming this bashful planet Venus." ”

“ The planets are considered unfortunate when confused lines, broken semicircle, gridiron marks, or signs contrary to the mounts indicated above, as ♃ to mount of Jupiter, and so on, are found on the mounts or places.
Venus (♀) is dignified when you find on her 52mount a clear star, or red furrows running transversely parallel.
A jovial, merry nature is shown by fulness or elevation of the root of the thumb, but luxurious, amorous, graceful, comely, concupiscent, very honest, just and constant in friendship. ”

“ The splendor of Venus, when at her best, will prevent you at such times from mistaking this planet for an ordinary star. She is then more than twenty times as bright as any star in the heavens. The most conclusive proof of the unrivalled brightness of Venus is found in the fact that she can be recognized in broad daylight without a telescope. Even on the brightest152 June afternoons the lovely planet is sometimes to be discerned like a morsel of white cloud on the perfect azure of the sky. ”

“ The existence on Venus of an atmosphere of considerable density and extent is well established. Proof of this is to be found in the marked diminution of the planet’s brilliancy towards the terminator; and in the faint curved line of light which occasionally may be seen when the planet is near inferior conjunction. When so situated, so much of the planet itself as can be 65 seen illuminated shows as a narrow radiant crescent of light, ending off in two points called indifferently cusps or horns. ”

“ But, should Venus be conjoined or configurated with Mars alone, she will render women licentious and lustful; and if, to both these planets, when thus conjoined or configurated, Jupiter also present himself, Mars being at the same time under the rays of the Sun, women will then mingle in intercourse with servants, and persons meaner than themselves, or with aliens, or vagabonds: but, should it happen that Venus may be under the rays of the Sun, they will then connect themselves with their superiors or masters. ”

“ If the luminous beams from Venus to the Earth only take two or three minutes to reach us, according to its proximity, the attraction between the two planets is transmitted still more rapidly, for it does not even take a whole second. And just think! At the distance of millions of miles we feel the mysterious influence of Venus, we abandon for a moment the regular course of our orbit round the Sun to follow in her path. Celestial mechanics calculates this displacement and accounts for it in its determinations. ”

“ In order to comprehend how great the earth must appear from Venus when the two are in line with the sun, it will only be necessary the coming winter to look at Venus herself, shortly after sundown—at the same time remembering that the splendor which dazzles our eyes comes from but a small fraction of the illuminated surface of that planet, while the earth as seen from Venus will show its whole round face like a full moon! ”

“ I think it to be in the highest degree unlikely that the atmosphere of Venus should chance to suit us in the requisite particulars, and therefore I think there is not much likelihood that Venus is inhabited by any men, women, or children resembling those on this earth. ”

“ You know already how dense the atmosphere of Venus is. It follows that balloons, and all sorts of machines for aerial navigation, can float much more easily here than over the earth. I was prepared to find the inhabitants of Venus skilled in such things, and I'm not surprised by what we see."
"Venus with wings!" cried Jack. "Now, Edmund, that sounds more like it. I guess we've struck the right planet after all." ”

“ It might, for one reason, have been not inappropriate to have commenced our review of the planetary system by the description of the planet Venus. This body is not especially remarkable for its size, for there are other planets hundreds of times larger. The orbit of Venus is no doubt larger than that of Mercury, but it is much smaller than that of the outer planets. Venus has not even the splendid retinue of minor attendants which gives such dignity and such interest to the mighty planets of our system. Yet the fact still remains that Venus is peerless among the planetary host. ”

“ Venus is, under favorable circumstances, a very interesting planet for opera-glass observations. The crescent phase can be seen with a powerful glass near inferior conjunction, and, even when the form of the planet can not be discerned, its exceeding brilliancy makes it an attractive object. The flood of light which Venus pours forth, and which is so dazzling that it baffles the best telescopes, to a greater or less extent, in any effort to descry the features of that resplendent disk, is evidently reflected from a cloud-burdened atmosphere. ”

“ It is the clouds of Venus which in great measure are responsible for its marked brilliancy, since they are an excellent medium for reflecting the sunlight, and give to its surface an albedo greater than that of any other planet, although Saturn is nearly equal to it.
Of course, the presence of such cloud formations indicates that Venus is surrounded by a dense atmosphere, and we have independent evidence of this in the shape of its disk when the planet is very nearly between the earth and sun. ”

“ It has been suggested that light from the earth is responsible for a dusky illumination of the dark side of Venus, which is occasionally seen, and which enables us to distinguish her entire outline even when only the merest line of a crescent is really illuminated. It is known to be earth-shine that causes what is apparently the same phenomenon often seen by us on the moon; but it seems that there is no reason to think that our earth, at its distance, would be sufficiently brilliant to illuminate Venus even so slightly. ”