GLORIOUS VENUS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 32, 30 April 1927, Page 13

GLORIOUS VENUS

THE brightest planet THE LENGTH OF HER DAY . N ’° xt to the Sun/and the Moon the P lanet Venus is by far the tod aII the heavenly bodies, it is curious we should know so about her. oat we may call the geometry of of Venus is well known, ber physical nature and of the ij'ich ° n er surface we know little. iurth 4 fun^ame ntal question as the °* ber day has not yet been Jrw a and the recent suggestion of >ar Steav ®nson, a well-known amau that this is as long - gnt of our days is new. !eJr n Ven Uß is examined through a J^Qef Pe ***• 18 USUall >’ found that her x^ eiar y disc is of uniform brilliance, T-airtw 0110 conspicuous dark •biter 8 such as we And on Mars and -lievJ Astronomers are inclined to if y ’ therefore, that the atmosphere ien ° Ua * a x er y heavy and cloud?to?K n<i t^at any features belonga °tual surface of the planet e ® from our sight tv the envelope. ■■•V?^H nally * howe ver, there is a ' e .« c * ou ds and some dusky r weeks, though more pro‘cas«th tor several days. In such he astronomer watches the bv Care^ hour by hour and itmov ® ay » to see in which direction oVea and how fast.

EARLY research : *l '"J 1 ® a So as 1783 this method was -Tied roj U a PP eare d that Venus Je «kma once on her axis in about as the Earth does, rs , later - however, another ro? e *? arc ‘ < * that the planet ' * a aki ne . n<i onl >' once in the course Sun t a , whole revolution round ? fhat one side of her sur>r Si in snnlight while the • l *°U>tv near iy the extreme cold I? f ouni Professor Pickering .?*th of t * Uli a third v:ilue for the . hours an on Venus, namely, 7 ®«v«rai na . las been confirmed te °ther observers. of , V r o T snn '” suggestion is the r Ti ful observations made by when Venus was a ua object in the evening sky.

and it serves to show that the whole question is still an open one. Perhaps it will only be finally settled one duy when there' is a speciallj’ wide and lasting rift in the clouds which usually hide the surface of Venus.-