A Journey in Other Worlds Part 8

CHAPTER IV.

PREPARING TO ALIGHT.

That afternoon Ayrault brought out some statistical tables he had compiled from a great number of books, and also a diagram of the comparative sizes of the planets. "I have been not a little puzzled at the discrepancies between even the best authors," he said, "scarcely any two being exactly alike, while every decade has seen accepted theories radically changed." Saying which, he spread out the result of his labours (shown on the following pages), which the three friends then studied.

(1) Mean distance from sun in millions of miles (2) Semimajor axis of orbit, earth's distance as 1 (3) Eccentricity of orbit (4) Planets inclination of orbit to elliptic (5) Light at perihelion (6) Light at apehelion (7) Heat, earth as 1

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Mercury... 36.0 0.387 0.2056 [email protected]'8" 10.58 4.59 6.67 Venus..... 67.2 0.723 0.0068 [email protected]'35" 1.94 1.91 1.91 The Earth. 92.9 1.000 0.068 [email protected]'0" 1.03 0.997 1.00 Mars......141.5 1.524 0.0933 [email protected]'2" 0.52 0.360 1.43 Asteroids 204.4 to 2.200 0.4 to [email protected]@ 325.2 to 3.500 0.34 Jupiter.. 483.3 5.203 0.0483 [email protected]'41" 0.04 0.034 0.037 Saturn... 886.0 9.539 0.0561 [email protected]'40" 0.012 0.0099 0.011 Ura.n.u.s.. 1781.9 19.183 0.0463 [email protected]'20" 0.0027 0.0025 0.003 Neptune. 2791.6 30.055 0.0090 '2" 0.0011 0.0011 0.001 -----------------------------------------------------------------

(1) MOVEMENT IN ORBIT. Velocity compared with earth as 1.

(2) MOVEMENT IN ORBIT. Period of revolution in years and days.

(3) MOVEMENT IN ORBIT. Orbital velocity in miles per second.

(4) Mean diameter in miles (5) Surface compared with earth as 1.

(6) Volume compared with earth as 1.

(7) Ma.s.s compared with earth as 1.

Planets (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Mercury..... 0.88 23 to 35 1.6 3,000 0.14 0.056 0.13 Venus.....0.224 1/2 21.9 1.17 7,700 0.94 0.92 0.78 The Earth... 1.00 18.5 1.0 7,918 1.00 1.00 1.00 Mars........ 1.88 15.0 0.81 4,230 0.28 0.139 0.124 Asteroids... 3.29 .... .... From a few to 6.56 miles to 300 Jupiter..... 11.86 8.1 0.44 86,500 118.3 1309.00 316.0 Saturn...... 29.46 6.0 0.32 1,000 0.4 760.0 95.0 Ura.n.u.s...... 84.02 4.2 0.23 31,900 16.3 65.0 14.7 Neptune.... 164.78 3.4 0.18 34,800 19.3 90.0 17.1 -----------------------------------------------------------------

(1) Length of day. hrs. min. sec.

(2) Length of seasons (3) DENSITY Compared with earth as 1 (4) DENSITY Compared with water as 1 (5) FORCE OF GRAVITY AT SURFACE OF PLANET Compared with earth as 1.

(6) FORCE OF GRAVITY AT SURFACE OF PLANET Bodies fall in one second.

(7) Inclination of axis.

Planets (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)

Mercury. ........ ......... 1.24 7.17 0.85 13.7 .....

Venus... 23 21 22 ........ 0.92 5.21 0.83 13.4 53+ The Earth. ..... Spring, 93 1.00 5.67 1.00 16.09 23 1/2 Summer, 93 Terrestrial days Autumn, 90 Winter,89 Mars... 24 37 23 Spring, 191 0.96 2.54 0.38 6.2 27 1/2 Summer, 181 Martian days Autumn, 149 Winter, 147 Asteroids........................................................

Jupiter. 9 55 28 ......... 0.22 1.29 2.55 40.98 1 1/2 Saturn..10 29 17 ......... 0.13 0.63 1.15 18.53 27 Ura.n.u.s. ....... ......... 0.18 1.41 0.91 14.6 102(?) Neptune......... ......... 0.20 0 0.88 14.2 .....

"You see," Ayrault explained, "on Jupiter we shall need our apergetic outfits to enable us to make long marches, while on Saturn they will not be necessary, the increase in our weight as a result of that planet's size being considerably less than the usual load carried by the Roman soldier."

"I do not imagine," said Cortlandt, "we should long be troubled by gravitation without our apergetic outfits even on Jupiter, for, though our weight will be more than doubled, we can take off one quarter of the whole by remaining near the equator, their rapid rotation having apparently been given providentially to all the large planets. Nature will adapt herself to this change, as to all others, very readily.

Although the reclamation of the vast areas of the North American Arctic Archipelago, Alaska, Siberia, and Antarctic Wilkes Land, from the death-grip of the ice in which they have been held will relieve the pressure of population for another century, at the end of that time it will surely be felt again; it is therefore a consolation to feel that the mighty planets Jupiter and Saturn, which we are coming to look upon as our heritage, will not crush the life out of any human beings by their own weight that may alight upon them."

Before going to bed that evening they decided to be up early the next day, to study Jupiter, which was already a brilliant object.

The following morning, on awakening, they went at once to their observatory, and found that Jupiter's disk was plainly visible to the naked eye, and before night it seemed as large as the full moon.

They then prepared to check the Callisto's headlong speed, which Jupiter's attraction was beginning to increase. When about two million miles from the great planet, which was considerably on their left, they espied Callisto ahead and slightly on their right, as Deepwaters had calculated it would be. Applying a mild repulsion to this--which was itself quite a world, with its diameter of over three thousand miles, though evidently as cold and dead as the earth's old moon--they r.e.t.a.r.ded their forward rush, knowing that the resulting motion towards Jupiter would be helped by the giant's pull. Wis.h.i.+ng to be in good condition for their landing, they divided the remainder of the night into watches, two going to sleep at a time, the man on duty standing by to control the course and to get photographic negatives, on which, when they were developed, they found two crescent-shaped continents, a speckled region, and a number of islands. By 7 A. M., according to Eastern standard time, they were but fifty thousand miles from Jupiter's surface, the gigantic globe filling nearly one side of the sky. In preparation for a sally, they got their guns and accoutrements ready, and then gave a parting glance at the car. Their charge of electricity for developing the repulsion seemed scarcely touched, and they had still an abundant supply of oxygen and provisions. The barometer registered twenty-nine inches, showing that they had not lost much air in the numerous openings of the vestibule. The pressure was about what would be found at an alt.i.tude of a few hundred feet, part of the rarefaction being no doubt due to the fact that they did not close the windows until at a considerable height above Van Cortlandt Park.

They saw they should alight in a longitude on which the sun had just risen, the rocky tops of the great mountains s.h.i.+ning like helmets in its rays. Soon they felt a sharp checking of their forward motion, and saw, from the changed appearance of the stars and the sun, that they had entered the atmosphere of their new home.

Not even did Columbus, standing at the prow of the Santa Maria, with the New World before him, feel the exultation and delight experienced by these latter-day explorers of the twenty-first century. Their first adventures on landing the reader already knows.

CHAPTER V.

EXPLORATION AND EXCITEMENT.

When they awoke, the flowers were singing with the volume of a cathedral organ, the chant rising from all around them, and the sun was already above the horizon. Finding a deep natural spring, in which the water was at about blood-heat, they prepared for breakfast by taking a bath, and then found they had brought nothing to eat.

"It was stupid of us not to think of it," said Bearwarden, "yet it will be too much out of our way to return to the Callisto."

"We have two rifles and a gun," said Ayrault, "and have also plenty of water, and wood for a fire. All we need is game."

"The old excuse, that it has been already shot out, cannot hold here,"

said Cortlandt.

"Seeing that we have neither wings nor pneumatic legs, and not knowing the advantage given us by our rifles," added Bearwarden, "it should not be shy either. So far," he continued, "we have seen nothing edible, though just now we should not be too particular; but near a spring like this that kind must exist."

"The question is," said the professor, "whether the game like warm water. If we can follow this stream till it has been on the surface for some time, or till it spreads out, we shall doubtless find a huntsman's paradise."

"A bright idea," said Bearwarden. "Let's have our guns ready, and, as old Deepwaters would say, keep our weather eye open."

The stream flowed off in a southeasterly direction, so that by following it they went towards the volcanoes.

"It is hard to realize," said the professor, "that those mountains must be several hundred miles away, for the reason that they are almost entirely above the horizon. This apparent flatness and wide range of vision is of course the result of Jupiter's vast size. With sufficiently keen sight, or aided by a good gla.s.s, there is no reason why one should not see at least five hundred miles, with but a slight elevation."

"It is surprising," said Ayrault, "that in what is evidently Jupiter's Carboniferous period the atmosphere should be so clear. Our idea has been that at that time on earth the air was heavy and dense."

"So it was, and doubtless is here," replied Cortlandt; "but you must remember that both those qualities would be given it by carbonic-acid gas, which is entirely invisible and transparent. No gas that would be likely to remain in the air would interfere with sight; water vapour is the only thing that could; and though the crust of this planet, even near the surface, is still hot, the sun being so distant, the vapour would not be raised much. By avoiding low places near hot springs, we shall doubtless have very nearly as clear an atmosphere as on earth.

What does surprise me is the ease with which we breathe. I can account for it only by supposing that, the Carboniferous period being already well advanced, most of the carbonic acid is already locked up in the forests or in Jupiter's coal-beds."

"How," asked Bearwarden, "do you account for the 'great red spot' that appeared here in 1878, lasted several years, and then gradually faded?

It was taken as unmistakable evidence that Jupiter's atmosphere was filled with impenetrable banks of cloud. In fact, you remember many of the old books said we had probably never seen the surface."

"That has puzzled me very much," replied Cortlandt, "but I never believed the explanation then given was correct. The Carboniferous period is essentially one of great forest growth; so there would be nothing out of the way in supposing the spot, notwithstanding its length of twenty-seven thousand miles and its breadth of eight thousand miles, to have been forest. It occurred in what would correspond to the temperate region on earth. Now, though the axis of this planet is practically straight, the winds of course change their direction, and so the temperature does vary from day to day. What is more probable than that, owing perhaps to a prolonged norther or cold spell, a long strip of forest lying near the frost line was brought a few degrees below it, so that the leaves changed their colours as they do on earth?

It would, it seems to me, be enough to give the surface a distinct colour; and the fact that the spot's greatest length was east and west, or along the lines of lat.i.tude, so that the whole of that region might have been exposed to the same conditions of temperature, strengthens this hypothesis. The strongest objection is, that the spot is said to have moved; but the motion--five seconds--was so slight that it might easily have been an error in observation, or the first area affected by the cold may have been enlarged on one side. It seems to me that the stability the spot DID have would make the cloud theory impossible on earth, and much more so here, with the far more rapid rotation and more violent winds. It may also have been a cloud of smoke from a volcano in eruption, such as we saw on our arrival, though it is doubtful whether in that case it would have remained nearly stationary while going through its greatest intensity and fading, which would look as though the turned leaves had fallen off and been gradually replaced by new ones; and, in addition to this, the spot since it was first noticed has never entirely disappeared, which might mean a volcanic region constantly emitting smoke, or that the surface, doubtless from some covering whose colour can change, is normally of a different shade from the surrounding region. In any case, we have as yet seen nothing that would indicate a permanently clouded atmosphere."

Though they had walked a considerable distance, the water was not much cooled; and though the stream's descent was so slight that on earth its current would have been very slow, here it rushed along like a mountain torrent, the reason, of course, being that a given amount of water on Jupiter would depress a spring balance 2.55 times as much as on the earth.

"It is strange," said Ayrault, "that, notwithstanding its great speed, the water remains so hot; you would think its motion would cool it."

"So it does," answered the professor. "It of course cools considerably more in a given period--as, for instance, one minute--than if it were moving more slowly, but on account of its speed it has been exposed to the air but a very short time since leaving the spring."

Just before them the stream now widened into a narrow lake, which they could see was straight for some distance.

"The fact is," said Bearwarden, "this water seems in such haste to reach the ocean that it turns neither to right nor to left, and does not even seem to wish to widen out."

As the huge ferns and palms grew to the water's edge, they concluded the best way to traverse the lake would be on a raft. Accordingly, choosing a large overhanging palm, Bearwarden and Ayrault fired each an explosive ball into its trunk, about eighteen inches from the ground.