FASCIA

, in Architecture. See Facia and Face.

FASCIÆ, in Astronomy, are certain stripes or rows of bright parts, observed on the bodies of some of the planets, like swathes, bands, or belts; especially on the planet Jupiter.

The Fasciæ, or belts of Jupiter, are more lucid than the rest of the dise, and are terminated by parallel lines. They are sometimes broader and sometimes narrower; nor do they always possess the same part of the disc.

M. Huygens also observed a very large kind of Fascia in Mars, in the year 1656; but it was darker than the rest of the disc, and occupied the middle part of it.