Curieux phénomène astronomique

The Indiana Progress de Pennsylvania (Indiana), 22 août 1878s1 Theo Paijmans, Magonia Exchange, 14 mars 2007

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L'article d'origine
L'article d'origine

La Chronique de Pittsburg note un phénomène singulier lié à la planète Jupiter, as seen by Messrs. Gemill and Wampler, of McKeesport, Penn., with a five-inch telescope. At 10:05 P.M., these observers noticed on the eastern margin of the disc of Jupiter a dark round spot, just above the northern belt. It soon moved rapidly westward, just touching the belt and parallel with Jupiter's equator, and passed off the face of the planet at 1:24 A.M., of the 12th. Its appearance while passing across the disc of Jupiter was that of a perfect sphere or globe much larger than any of Jupiter's satellites. It appeared to stand out in space between the planet and the observer, was well and sharply defined, and most intensely black. It reflected no light, and was not seen either before or after its passage across the planet. It could not have been a spot on the globe of Jupiter, for it passed over its disc from first internal contact to last eternal of margins in three hours and nineteen minutes. It was not a satellite nor the shadow of one, because all the four satellites were in full view the whole time. It will be interesting to know whether other observers witnessed this curious transit.

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