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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:16:24 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:16:24 -0700 |
| commit | 40c32f5637cdf2ed18ea57ffa30fc6855f545989 (patch) | |
| tree | 8014ff567239a08d7f911dd4664f25130d5d3d4b /25267-h | |
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diff --git a/25267-h/25267-h.htm b/25267-h/25267-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1c59202 --- /dev/null +++ b/25267-h/25267-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8722 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Astronomy for Amateurs, by Camille Flammarion. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + text-indent: 1.25em; + line-height: 130%; + } + p small {font-size: 80%} + p.t1 {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; letter-spacing: 2px;} + p.chap {margin-top: 2em;} + h1 {text-align: center; clear: both;} + h2 {text-align: center; clear: both; font-weight: normal;} + h3 {text-align: center; clear: both; font-weight: normal;} + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + hr.short {width: 10%} + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + table.toc {font-variant: small-caps;} + table.dist {font-size: small;} + .td1 {text-align: right; padding-right: 1em;} + .td2 {text-align: left; padding-right: 3em;} + .td3 {text-align: right; padding-right: 3em;} + .td4 {text-align: center; padding-right: 2em;} + + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum {display: inline; font-size: 75%; text-align: right; + position: absolute; right: 2%; text-indent: 0em; + padding: 1px 1px; font-style: normal; line-height: 110%; + font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; + color: #444; background-color: #FF99CC;} + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + .center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} + .right {text-align: right; padding-right: 2em;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .noin {text-indent: 0em;} + .index {margin-left: 30%; margin-right: 30%;} + .ampm {text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;} + .above, .below { font-size: 70%;} + .above { vertical-align: 0.7ex; } + .below { vertical-align: -0.3ex; } + + .caption {text-indent: 0em; font-size: 85%; font-weight: normal;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: 70%; text-decoration: none; line-height: 70%;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Astronomy for Amateurs, by Camille Flammarion + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Astronomy for Amateurs + +Author: Camille Flammarion + +Translator: Frances A. Welby + +Release Date: April 30, 2008 [EBook #25267] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASTRONOMY FOR AMATEURS *** + + + + +Produced by Jason Isbell, Greg Bergquist and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 420px;"> +<a name="CONTEMPLATION" id="CONTEMPLATION"></a> +<img src="images/frontis.jpg" width="420" height="601" alt="CONTEMPLATION" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Paul Renaud.<br /> +CONTEMPLATION</span> +</div> +<hr /> + + + +<h1>ASTRONOMY FOR<br /> +AMATEURS</h1> + + +<p class="center"><br /><br />BY<br /> +<big>CAMILLE FLAMMARION</big><br /> +<small>AUTHOR OF POPULAR ASTRONOMY</small><br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="center"><small><i>AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY</i></small><br /> +<big>FRANCES A. WELBY</big><br /><br /> +</p> + +<p class="center"><i>ILLUSTRATED</i><br /><br /> +</p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 150px;"> +<img src="images/title.jpg" width="150" height="184" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + +<p class="t1"><small>NEW YORK AND LONDON</small><br /> +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY<br /> +<small>1910</small> +</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p class="center"><small><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1904, by</span></small><br /> + +<small>D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</small><br /> +<br /><br /> + +<small><i>Published October, 1904</i></small></p> + + + +<hr /> +<p class="center">TO<br /> + +<big><span class="smcap">Madame</span> C.R. CAVARÉ</big><br /><br /> + +<small>ORIGINAL MEMBER OF THE ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF FRANCE<br /> +CHÂTEAU DE MAUPERTHUIS</small><br /> +</p> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Madame</span>: I have dedicated none of my works, save Stella—offered to the +liberal-minded, the free and generous friend of progress, and patron of +the sciences, James Gordon Bennett, editor of the New York Herald. In +this volume, Madame, I make another exception, and ask your permission +to offer it to the first woman who consented to be enrolled in the list +of members of the Astronomical Society of France, as foundress of this +splendid work, from the very beginning of our vast association (1887); +and who also desired to take part in the permanent organization of the +Observatory at Juvisy, a task of private enterprise, emancipated from +administrative routine. An Astronomy for Women<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> can not be better +placed than upon the table of a lady whose erudition is equal to her +virtues, and who has consecrated her long career to the pursuit and +service of the Beautiful, the Good, and the True.</p> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Camille Flammarion.</span></p> + +<p><small><span class="smcap">Observatory of Juvisy</span>, <i>November, 1903</i>.</small></p> + + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> +<hr class="short" /> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table class="toc" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="TOC"> +<tr><td align='center'><small>CHAPTER</small></td><td> </td><td align='right'><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align='left'>Introduction</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">I.</td><td align='left'>The Contemplation of the Heavens</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_10">10</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">II.</td><td align='left'>The Constellations</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">III.</td><td align='left'>The Stars, Suns of the Infinite. A Journey through Space</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">IV.</td><td align='left'>Our Star the Sun</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">V.</td><td align='left'>The Planets. A. Mercury, Venus, The Earth, Mars</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">VI.</td><td align='left'>The Planets. B. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">VII.</td><td align='left'>The Comets</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">VIII.</td><td align='left'>The Earth</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_205">205</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">IX.</td><td align='left'>The Moon</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_232">232</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">X.</td><td align='left'>The Eclipses</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_259">259</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XI.</td><td align='left'>On Methods. How Celestial Distances are Determined, and How the Sun is Weighed</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_287">287</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">XII.</td><td align='left'>Life, Universal and Eternal</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_317">317</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1"> </td><td align='left'>Index</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_341">341</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> +<hr class="short" /> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="2" summary="ILLUSTRATIONS"> +<tr><td align='left'>Contemplation</td><td> </td><td align='right'><i><a href="#CONTEMPLATION">Frontispiece</a></i></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align='center'>From a painting by Paul Renaud</td><td align='right'> </td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'><small>FIG.</small></td><td> </td><td align='right'><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1.</td><td align='left'>The great Book of the Heavens is open to all eyes</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>2.</td><td align='left'>The earth in space. June solstice, midday</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>3.</td><td align='left'>The Great Bear (or Dipper) and the Pole Star</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>4.</td><td align='left'>To find the Pole Star</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_35">35</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>5.</td><td align='left'>To find Cassiopeia</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>6.</td><td align='left'>To find Pegasus and Andromeda</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>7.</td><td align='left'>Perseus, the Pleiades, Capella</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>8.</td><td align='left'>To find Arcturus, the Herdsman, and the Northern Crown</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>9.</td><td align='left'>The Swan, Vega, the Eagle</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>10.</td><td align='left'>The Constellations of the Zodiac: summer and autumn; Capricorn, Archer, Scorpion, Balance, Virgin, Lion</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>11.</td><td align='left'>The Constellations of the Zodiac: winter and spring; Crab, Twins, Bull, Ram, Fishes, Water-Carrier</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>12.</td><td align='left'>Orion and his celestial companions</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>13.</td><td align='left'>Winter Constellations</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>14.</td><td align='left'>Spring Constellations</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15.</td><td align='left'>Summer Constellations</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>16.</td><td align='left'>Autumn Constellations</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>17.</td><td align='left'>The double star Mizar</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>18.</td><td align='left'>Triple star ξ in Cancer</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_72">72</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>19.</td><td align='left'>Quadruple star ε of the Lyre</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>20.</td><td align='left'>Sextuple star θ in the Nebula of Orion</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>21.</td><td align='left'>The Star-Cluster in Hercules</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>22.</td><td align='left'>The Star-Cluster in the Centaur</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>23.</td><td align='left'>The Nebula in Andromeda</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>24.</td><td align='left'>Nebula in the Greyhounds</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_82">82</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>25.</td><td align='left'>The Pleiades</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>26.</td><td align='left'>Occultation of the Pleiades by the Moon</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_85">85</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>27.</td><td align='left'>Stellar dial of the double star γ of the Virgin</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>28.</td><td align='left'>Comparative sizes of the Sun and Earth</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>29.</td><td align='left'>Direct photograph of the Sun</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>30.</td><td align='left'>Telescopic aspect of a Sun-Spot</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>31.</td><td align='left'>Rose-colored solar flames 228,000 kilometers (141,500 miles) in height, <i>i.e.</i>, 18 times the diameter of the Earth</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>32.</td><td align='left'>Orbits of the four Planets nearest to the Sun</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>33.</td><td align='left'>Orbits of the four Planets farthest from the Sun</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>34.</td><td align='left'>Mercury near quadrature</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>35.</td><td align='left'>The Earth viewed from Mercury</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>36.</td><td align='left'>The Evening Star</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>37.</td><td align='left'>Successive phases of Venus</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>38.</td><td align='left'>Venus at greatest brilliancy</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>39.</td><td align='left'>The Earth viewed from Venus</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>40.</td><td align='left'>Diminution of the polar snows of Mars during the summer</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>41.</td><td align='left'>Telescopic aspect of the planet Mars (Feb., 1901)</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>42.</td><td align='left'>Telescopic aspect of the planet Mars (Feb., 1901)</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_138">138</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>43.</td><td align='left'>Chart of Mars</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_140">140</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>44.</td><td align='left'>The Earth viewed from Mars</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_144">144</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>45.</td><td align='left'>Telescopic aspect of Jupiter</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>46.</td><td align='left'>Jupiter and his four principal satellites</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>47.</td><td align='left'>Saturn</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>48.</td><td align='left'>Varying perspective of Saturn's Rings, as seen from the Earth</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>49.</td><td align='left'>The Great Comet of 1858</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>50.</td><td align='left'>What our Ancestors saw in a Comet <small>[After Ambroise Paré (1858)]</small></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>51.</td><td align='left'>Prodigies seen in the Heavens by our Forefathers</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>52.</td><td align='left'>The orbit of a Periodic Comet</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_182">182</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>53.</td><td align='left'>The tails of Comets are opposed to the Sun</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>54.</td><td align='left'>A Meteor</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_191">191</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>55.</td><td align='left'>Shooting Stars of November 12, 1799 <small>[From a contemporary drawing]</small></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>56.</td><td align='left'>Fire-Ball seen from the Observatory at Juvisy, August 10, 1899</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>57.</td><td align='left'>Explosion of a Fire-Ball above Madrid, February 10, 1896</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_200">200</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>58.</td><td align='left'>Raphael's Fire-Ball (<i>The Madonna of Foligno</i>)</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_202">202</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>59.</td><td align='left'>A Uranolith</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_203">203</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>60.</td><td align='left'>Motion of the Earth round the Sun</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>61.</td><td align='left'>Inclination of the Earth</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_224">224</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>62.</td><td align='left'>The divisions of the globe. Longitudes and latitudes</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_226">226</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>63.</td><td align='left'>To find the long and short months</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>64.</td><td align='left'>The Full Moon slowly rises</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_234">234</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>65.</td><td align='left'>The Moon viewed with the unaided eye</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_236">236</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>66.</td><td align='left'>The Man's head in the Moon</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>67.</td><td align='left'>Woman's head in the Moon</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_238">238</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>68.</td><td align='left'>The kiss in the Moon</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_239">239</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>69.</td><td align='left'>Photograph of the Moon</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_240">240</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>70.</td><td align='left'>The Moon's Phases</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_241">241</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>71.</td><td align='left'>Map of the Moon</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_247">247</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>72.</td><td align='left'>The Lunar Apennines</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_251">251</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>73.</td><td align='left'>Flammarion's Lunar Ring</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_253">253</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>74.</td><td align='left'>Lunar landscape with the Earth in the sky</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>75.</td><td align='left'>Battle between the Medes and Lydians arrested by an Eclipse of the Sun</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_266">266</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>76.</td><td align='left'>Eclipse of the Moon at Laos (February 27, 1877)</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_269">269</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>77.</td><td align='left'>The path of the Eclipse of May 28, 1900</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>78.</td><td align='left'>Total eclipse of the Sun, May 28, 1900, as observed from Elche (Spain)</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>79.</td><td align='left'>The Eclipse of May 28, 1900, as photographed by King Alfonso XIII, at Madrid</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_285">285</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>80.</td><td align='left'>Measurement of Angles</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_289">289</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>81.</td><td align='left'>Division of the Circumference into 360 degrees</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_291">291</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>82.</td><td align='left'>Measurement of the distance of the Moon</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_292">292</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>83.</td><td align='left'>Measurement of the distance of the Sun</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_297">297</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>84.</td><td align='left'>Small apparent ellipses described by the stars as a result of the annual displacement of the Earth</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_306">306</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2> +<hr class="short" /> + +<p class="chap"><span class="smcap">The</span> Science of Astronomy is sublime and beautiful. Noble, elevating, +consoling, divine, it gives us wings, and bears us through Infinitude. +In these ethereal regions all is pure, luminous, and splendid. Dreams of +the Ideal, even of the Inaccessible, weave their subtle spells upon us. +The imagination soars aloft, and aspires to the sources of Eternal +Beauty.</p> + +<p>What greater delight can be conceived, on a fine spring evening, at the +hour when the crescent moon is shining in the West amid the last glimmer +of twilight, than the contemplation of that grand and silent spectacle +of the stars stepping forth in sequence in the vast Heavens? All sounds +of life die out upon the earth, the last notes of the sleepy birds have +sunk away, the Angelus of the church hard by has rung the close of day. +But if life is arrested around us, we may seek it in the Heavens. These +incandescing orbs are so many points of interrogation suspended above +our heads in the inaccessible depths of space.... Gradually they +multiply. There is Venus, the white star of the shepherd. There Mars, +the little celestial world so near our own.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> There the giant Jupiter. +The seven stars of the Great Bear seem to point out the pole, while they +slowly revolve around it.... What is this nebulous light that blanches +the darkness of the heavens, and traverses the constellations like a +celestial path? It is the Galaxy, the Milky Way, composed of millions on +millions of suns!... The darkness is profound, the abyss immense.... +See! Yonder a shooting star glides silently across the sky, and +disappears!...</p> + +<p>Who can remain insensible to this magic spectacle of the starry Heavens? +Where is the mind that is not attracted to these enigmas? The +intelligence of the amateur, the feminine, no less than the more +material and prosaic masculine mind, is well adapted to the +consideration of astronomical problems. Women, indeed, are naturally +predisposed to these contemplative studies. And the part they are called +to play in the education of our children is so vast, and so important, +that the elements of Astronomy might well be taught by the young mother +herself to the budding minds that are curious about every issue—whose +first impressions are so keen and so enduring.</p> + +<p>Throughout the ages women have occupied themselves successfully with +Astronomy, not merely in its contemplative and descriptive, but also in +its mathematical aspects. Of such, the most illustrious was the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +beautiful and learned Hypatia of Alexandria, born in the year 375 of our +era, public lecturer on geometry, algebra, and astronomy, and author of +three works of great importance. Then, in that age of ignorance and +fanaticism, she fell a victim to human stupidity and malice, was dragged +from her chariot while crossing the Cathedral Square, in March, 415, +stripped of her garments, stoned to death, and burned as a dishonored +witch!</p> + +<p>Among the women inspired with a passion for the Heavens may be cited St. +Catherine of Alexandria, admired for her learning, her beauty and her +virtue. She was martyred in the reign of Maximinus Daza, about the year +312, and has given her name to one of the lunar rings.</p> + +<p>Another celebrated female mathematician was Madame Hortense Lepaute, +born in 1723, who collaborated with Clairaut in the immense calculations +by which he predicted the return of Halley's Comet. "Madame Lepaute," +wrote Lalande, "gave us such immense assistance that, without her, we +should never have ventured to undertake this enormous labor, in which it +was necessary to calculate for every degree, and for a hundred and fifty +years, the distances and forces of the planets acting by their +attraction on the comet. During more than six months, we calculated from +morning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> to night, sometimes even at table, and as the result of this +forced labor I contracted an illness that has changed my constitution +for life; but it was important to publish the result before the arrival +of the comet."</p> + +<p>This extract will suffice for the appreciation of the scientific ardor +of Madame Lepaute. We are indebted to her for some considerable works. +Her husband was clock-maker to the King. "To her intellectual talents," +says one of her biographers, "were joined all the qualities of the +heart. She was charming to a degree, with an elegant figure, a dainty +foot, and such a beautiful hand that Voiriot, the King's painter, who +had made a portrait of her, asked permission to copy it, in order to +preserve a model of the best in Nature." And then we are told that +learned women can not be good-looking!...</p> + +<p>The Marquise du Châtelet was no less renowned. She was predestined to +her career, if the following anecdote be credible. Gabrielle-Émilie de +Breteuil, born in 1706 (who, in 1725, was to marry the Marquis du +Châtelet, becoming, in 1733, the most celebrated friend of Voltaire), +was four or five years old when she was given an old compass, dressed up +as a doll, for a plaything. After examining this object for some time, +the child began angrily and impatiently to strip off the silly draperies +the toy was wrapped in, and after turning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> it over several times in her +little hands, she divined its uses, and traced a circle with it on a +sheet of paper. To her, among other things, we owe a precious, and +indeed the only French, translation of Newton's great work on universal +gravitation, the famous Principia, and she was, with Voltaire, an +eloquent propagator of the theory of attraction, rejected at that time +by the Académie des Sciences.</p> + +<p>Numbers of other women astronomers might be cited, all showing how +accessible this highly abstract science is to the feminine intellect. +President des Brosses, in his charming Voyage en Italie, tells of the +visit he paid in Milan to the young Italian, Marie Agnesi, who delivered +harangues in Latin, and was acquainted with seven languages, and for +whom mathematics held no secrets. She was devoted to algebra and +geometry, which, she said, "are the only provinces of thought wherein +peace reigns." Madame de Charrière expressed herself in an aphorism of +the same order: "An hour or two of mathematics sets my mind at liberty, +and puts me in good spirits; I feel that I can eat and sleep better when +I have seen obvious and indisputable truths. This consoles me for the +obscurities of religion and metaphysics, or rather makes me forget them; +I am thankful there is something positive in this world." And did not +Madame de Blocqueville, last surviving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> daughter of Marshal Davout, who +died in 1892, exclaim in her turn: "Astronomy, science of sciences! by +which I am attracted, and terrified, and which I adore! By it my soul is +detached from the things of this world, for it draws me to those unknown +spheres that evoked from Newton the triumphant cry: '<i>Cœli enarrant +gloriam Dei!</i>'"</p> + +<p>Nor must we omit Miss Caroline Herschel, sister of the greatest observer +of the Heavens, the grandest discoverer of the stars, that has ever +lived. Astronomy gave her a long career; she discovered no less than +seven comets herself, and her patient labors preserved her to the age of +ninety-eight.—And Mrs. Somerville, to whom we owe the English +translation of Laplace's Mécanique céleste, of whom Humboldt said, "In +pure mathematics, Mrs. Somerville is absolutely superior." Like Caroline +Herschel, she was almost a centenarian, appearing always much younger +than her years: she died at Naples, in 1872, at the age of +ninety-two.—So, too, the Russian Sophie Kovalevsky, descendant of +Mathias Corvinus, King of Hungary, who, an accomplished mathematician at +sixteen, married at eighteen, in order to follow the curriculum at the +University (then forbidden to unmarried women); arranging with her young +husband to live as brother and sister until their studies should be +completed. In 1888<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> the Prix Bordin of the Institut was conferred on +her.—And Maria Mitchell of the United States, for whom Le Verrier gave +a <i>fête</i> at the Observatory of Paris, and who was exceptionally +authorized by Pope Pius IX to visit the Observatory of the Roman +College, at that time an ecclesiastical establishment, closed to +women.—And Madame Scarpellini, the Roman astronomer, renowned for her +works on shooting stars, whom the author had the honor of visiting, in +company with Father Secchi, Director of the Observatory mentioned above.</p> + +<p>At the present time, Astronomy is proud to reckon among its most famous +workers Miss Agnes Clerke, the learned Irishwoman, to whom we owe, +<i>inter alia</i>, an excellent History of Astronomy in the Nineteenth +Century;—Mrs. Isaac Roberts, who, under the familiar name of Miss +Klumpke, sat on the Council of the Astronomical Society of France, and +is D. Sc. of the Faculty of Paris and head of the Bureau for measuring +star photographs at the Observatory of Paris (an American who became +English by her marriage with the astronomer Roberts, but is not +forgotten in France);—Mrs. Fleming, one of the astronomers of the +Observatory at Harvard College, U.S.A., to whom we owe the discovery of +a great number of variable stars by the examination of photographic +records, and by spectral photography;—Lady<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> Huggins, who in England is +the learned collaborator of her illustrious husband;—and many others.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>The following chapters, which aim at summing up the essentials of +Astronomy in twelve lessons for amateurs, will not make astronomers or +mathematicians of my readers—much less prigs or pedants. They are +designed to show the constitution of the Universe, in its grandeur and +its beauty, so that, inhabiting this world, we may know where we are +living, may realize our position in the Cosmos, appreciate Creation as +it is, and enjoy it to better advantage. This sun by which we live, this +succession of months and years, of days and nights, the apparent motions +of the heavens, these starry skies, the divine rays of the moon, the +whole totality of things, constitutes in some sort the tissue of our +existence, and it is indeed extraordinary that the inhabitants of our +planet should almost all have lived till now without knowing where they +are, without suspecting the marvels of the Universe.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>For the rest, my little book is dedicated to a woman, muse and +goddess—the charming enchantress Urania, fit companion of Venus, +ranking even above her in the choir of celestial beauties, as purer and +more noble, dominating with her clear glance the immensities of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> the +universe. Urania, be it noted, is feminine, and never would the poetry +of the ancients have imagined a masculine symbol to personify the +pageant of the heavens. Not Uranus, nor Saturn, nor Jupiter can compare +with the ideal beauty of Urania.</p> + +<p>Moreover, I have before me two delightful books, in breviary binding, +dated the one from the year 1686, the other from a century later, 1786. +The first was written by Fontenelle for a Marquise, and is entitled +Entretiens sur la Pluralité des Mondes. In this, banter is pleasantly +married with science, the author declaring that he only demands from his +fair readers the amount of application they would concede to a novel. +The second is written by Lalande, and is called Astronomie des Dames. In +addressing myself to both sexes, I am in honorable company with these +two sponsors and esteem myself the better for it.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>THE CONTEMPLATION OF THE HEAVENS</h3> + + +<p class="chap"><span class="smcap">The</span> crimson disk of the Sun has plunged beneath the Ocean. The sea has +decked itself with the burning colors of the orb, reflected from the +Heavens in a mirror of turquoise and emerald. The rolling waves are gold +and silver, and break noisily on a shore already darkened by the +disappearance of the celestial luminary.</p> + +<p>We gaze regretfully after the star of day, that poured its cheerful rays +anon so generously over many who were intoxicated with gaiety and +happiness. We dream, contemplating the magnificent spectacle, and in +dreaming forget the moments that are rapidly flying by. Yet the darkness +gradually increases, and twilight gives way to night.</p> + +<p>The most indifferent spectator of the setting Sun as it descends beneath +the waves at the far horizon, could hardly be unmoved by the pageant of +Nature at such an impressive moment.</p> + +<p>The light of the Crescent Moon, like some fairy boat suspended in the +sky, is bright enough to cast changing and dancing sparkles of silver +upon the ocean. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> Evening Star declines slowly in its turn toward the +western horizon. Our gaze is held by a shining world that dominates the +whole of the occidental heavens. This is the "Shepherd's Star," Venus of +rays translucent.</p> + +<p>Little by little, one by one, the more brilliant stars shine out. Here +are the white Vega of the Lyre, the burning Arcturus, the seven stars of +the Great Bear, a whole sidereal population catching fire, like +innumerable eyes that open on the Infinite. It is a new life that is +revealed to our imagination, inviting us to soar into these mysterious +regions.</p> + +<p>O Night, diapered with fires innumerable! hast thou not written in +flaming letters on these Constellations the syllables of the great +enigma of Eternity? The contemplation of thee is a wonder and a charm. +How rapidly canst thou efface the regrets we suffered on the departure +of our beloved Sun! What wealth, what beauty hast thou not reserved for +our enraptured souls! Where is the man that can remain blind to such a +pageant and deaf to its language!</p> + +<p>To whatever quarter of the Heavens we look, the splendors of the night +are revealed to our astonished gaze. These celestial eyes seem in their +turn to gaze at, and to question us. Thus indeed have they questioned +every thinking soul, so long as Humanity has existed on our Earth. Homer +saw and sung these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> self-same stars. They shone upon the slow succession +of civilizations that have disappeared, from Egypt of the period of the +Pyramids, Greece at the time of the Trojan War, Rome and Carthage, +Constantine and Charlemagne, down to the Twentieth Century. The +generations are buried with the dust of their ancient temples. The Stars +are still there, symbols of Eternity.</p> + +<p>The silence of the vast and starry Heavens may terrify us; its immensity +may seem to overwhelm us. But our inquiring thought flies curiously on +the wings of dream, toward the remotest regions of the visible. It rests +on one star and another, like the butterfly on the flower. It seeks what +will best respond to its aspirations: and thus a kind of communication +is established, and, as it were, protected by all Nature in these silent +appeals. Our sense of solitude has disappeared. We feel that, if only as +infinitesimal atoms, we form part of that immense universe, and this +dumb language of the starry night is more eloquent than any speech. Each +star becomes a friend, a discreet confidant, often indeed a precious +counsellor, for all the thoughts it suggests to us are pure and holy.</p> + +<p>Is any poem finer than the book written in letters of fire upon the +tablets of the firmament? Nothing could be more ideal. And yet, the +poetic sentiment that the beauty of Heaven awakens in our soul<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> ought +not to veil its reality from us. That is no less marvelous than the +mystery by which we were enchanted.</p> + +<p>And here we may ask ourselves how many there are, even among thinking +human beings, who ever raise their eyes to the starry heavens? How many +men and women are sincerely, and with unfeigned curiosity, interested in +these shining specks, and inaccessible luminaries, and really desirous +of a better acquaintance with them?</p> + +<p>Seek, talk, ask in the intercourse of daily life. You, who read these +pages, who already love the Heavens, and comprehend them, who desire to +account for our existence in this world, who seek to know what the Earth +is, and what Heaven—you shall witness that the number of those +inquiring after truth is so limited that no one dares to speak of it, so +disgraceful is it to the so-called intelligence of our race. And yet! +the great Book of the Heavens is open to all eyes. What pleasures await +us in the study of the Universe! Nothing could speak more eloquently to +our heart and intellect!</p> + +<p>Astronomy is the science <i>par excellence</i>. It is the most beautiful and +most ancient of all, inasmuch as it dates back to the indeterminate +times of highest antiquity. Its mission is not only to make us +acquainted with the innumerable orbs by which our nights are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +illuminated, but it is, moreover, thanks to it that we know where and +what we are. Without it we should live as the blind, in eternal +ignorance of the very conditions of our terrestrial existence. Without +it we should still be penetrated with the naïve error that reduced the +entire Universe to our minute globule, making our Humanity the goal of +the Creation, and should have no exact notion of the immense reality.</p> + +<p>To-day, thanks to the intellectual labor of so many centuries, thanks +also to the immortal genius of the men of science who have devoted their +lives to searching after Truth—men such as Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, +Newton—the veil of ignorance has been rent, and glimpses of the marvels +of creation are perceptible in their splendid truth to the dazzled eye +of the thinker.</p> + +<p>The study of Astronomy is not, as many suppose, the sacrifice of oneself +in a cerebral torture that obliterates all the beauty, the fascination, +and the grandeur of the pageant of Nature. Figures, and naught but +figures, would not be entertaining, even to those most desirous of +instruction. Let the reader take courage! We do not propose that he +shall decipher the hieroglyphics of algebra and geometry. Perish the +thought! For the rest, figures are but the scaffolding, the method, and +do not exist in Nature.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 429px;"> +<img src="images/fig01.jpg" width="429" height="601" alt="Fig. 1.—The great Book of the Heavens is open to all eyes." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 1.</span>—The great Book of the Heavens is open to all eyes.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p><p>We simply beg of you to open your eyes, to see where you are, so that +you may not stray from the path of truth, which is also the path of +happiness. Once you have entered upon it, no persuasion will be needed +to make you persevere. And you will have the profound satisfaction of +knowing that you are thinking correctly, and that it is infinitely +better to be educated than to be ignorant. The reality is far beyond all +dreams, beyond the most fantastic imagination. The most fairy-like +transformations of our theaters, the most resplendent pageants of our +military reviews, the most sumptuous marvels on which the human race can +pride itself—all that we admire, all that we envy on the Earth—is as +nothing compared with the unheard-of wonders scattered through +Infinitude. There are so many that one does not know how to see them. +The fascinated eye would fain grasp all at once.</p> + +<p>If you will yield yourselves to the pleasure of gazing upon the +sparkling fires of Space, you will never regret the moments passed all +too rapidly in the contemplation of the Heavens.</p> + +<p>Diamonds, turquoises, rubies, emeralds, all the precious stones with +which women love to deck themselves, are to be found in greater +perfection, more beautiful, and more splendid, set in the immensity of +Heaven! In the telescopic field, we may watch the progress of armies of +majestic and powerful suns, from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> whose attacks there is naught to fear. +And these vagabond comets and shooting stars and stellar nebulæ, do they +not make up a prodigious panorama? What are our romances in comparison +with the History of Nature? Soaring toward the Infinite, we purify our +souls from all the baseness of this world, we strive to become better +and more intelligent.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>But in the first place, you ask, what are the Heavens? This vault +oppresses us. We can not venture to investigate it.</p> + +<p>Heaven, we reply, is no vault, it is a limitless immensity, +inconceivable, unfathomable, that surrounds us on all sides, and in the +midst of which our globe is floating. <span class="smcap">The Heavens are all that exists</span>, +all that we see, and all that we do not see: the Earth on which we are, +that bears us onward in her rapid flight; the Moon that accompanies us, +and sheds her soft beams upon our silent nights; the good Sun to which +we owe our existence; the Stars, suns of Infinitude; in a word—the +whole of Creation.</p> + +<p>Yes, our Earth is an orb of the Heavens: the sky is her domain, and our +Sun, shining above our heads, and fertilizing our seasons, is as much a +star as the pretty sparkling points that scintillate up there, in the +far distance, and embellish the calm of our nights<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> with their +brilliancy. All are in the Heavens, you as well as I, for the Earth, in +her course through Space, bears us with herself into the depths of +Infinitude.</p> + +<p>In the Heavens there is neither "above" nor "below." These words do not +exist in celestial speech, because their significance is relative to the +surface of this planet only. In reality, for the inhabitants of the +Earth, "low" is the inside, the center of the globe, and "high" is what +is above our heads, all round the Earth. The Heavens are what surround +us on all sides, to Infinity.</p> + +<p>The Earth is, like her fellows, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, +Uranus, Neptune, one of the planets of the great solar family.</p> + +<p>The Sun, her father, protects her, and directs all her actions. She, as +the grateful daughter, obeys him blindly. All float in perfect harmony +over the celestial ocean.</p> + +<p>But, you may say, on what does the Earth rest in her ethereal +navigation?</p> + +<p>On nothing. The Earth turns round the colossal Sun, a little globe of +relatively light weight, isolated on all sides in Space, like a +soap-bubble blown by some careless child.</p> + +<p>Above, below, on all sides, millions of similar globes are grouped into +families, and form other systems of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> worlds revolving round the numerous +and distant stars that people Infinitude; suns more or less analogous to +that by which we are illuminated, and generally speaking of larger bulk, +although our Sun is a million times larger than our planet.</p> + +<p>Among the ancients, before the isolation of our globe in Space and the +motions that incessantly alter its position were recognized, the Earth +was supposed to be the immobile lower half of the Universe. The sky was +regarded as the upper half. The ancients supplied our world with +fantastic supports that penetrated to the Infernal Regions. They could +not admit the notion of the Earth's isolation, because they had a false +idea of its weight. To-day, however, we know positively that the Earth +is based on nothing. The innumerable journeys accomplished round it in +all directions give definite proof of this. It is attached to nothing. +As we said before, there is neither "above" nor "below" in the Universe. +What we call "below" is the center of the Earth. For the rest the Earth +turns upon its own axis in twenty-four hours. Night is only a partial +phenomenon, due to the rotary motion of the planet, a motion that could +not exist under conditions other than that of the absolute isolation of +our globe in space.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/fig02.jpg" width="400" height="401" alt="Fig. 2.—The earth in space. June solstice, midday." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 2.</span>—The earth in space. June solstice, midday.</span> +</div> + +<p>Since the Sun can only illuminate one side of our globe at one moment, +that is to say one hemisphere, it follows that Night is nothing but the +state of the part that is not illuminated. As the Earth revolves upon +itself, all the parts successively exposed to the Sun are in the day, +while the parts situated opposite to the Sun, in the cone of shadow +produced by the Earth itself, are in night. But whether it be noon or +midnight, the stars always occupy the same position in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> the Heavens, +even when, dazzled by the ardent light of the orb of day, we can no +longer see them; and when we are plunged into the darkness of the night, +the god Phœbus still continues to pour his beneficent rays upon the +countries turned toward him.</p> + +<p>The sequence of day and night is a phenomenon belonging, properly +speaking, to the Earth, in which the rest of the Universe does not +participate. The same occurs for every world that is illuminated by a +sun, and endowed with a rotary movement. In absolute space, there is no +succession of nights and days.</p> + +<p>Upheld in space by forces that will be explained at a later point, our +planet glides in the open heavens round our Sun.</p> + +<p>Imagine a magnificent aerostat, lightly and rapidly cleaving space. +Surround it with eight little balloons of different sizes, the smallest +like those sold on the streets for children to play with, the larger, +such as are distributed for a bonus in large stores. Imagine this group +sailing through the air, and you have the system of our worlds in +miniature.</p> + +<p>Still, this is only an image, a comparison. The balloons are held up by +the atmosphere, in which they float at equilibrium. The Earth is +sustained by nothing material. What maintains her in equilibrium is the +ethereal void; an immaterial force; gravitation. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> Sun attracts her, +and if she did not revolve, she would drop into him; but rotating round +him, at a speed of 107,000 kilometers<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> (about 66,000 miles) per hour, +she produces a centrifugal force, like that of a stone in a sling, that +is precisely equivalent, and of contrary sign, to its gravitation toward +the central orb, and these two equilibrated forces keep her at the same +medium distance.</p> + +<p>This solar and planetary group does not exist solitary in the immense +void that extends indefinitely around us. As we said above, each star +that we admire in the depths of the sky, and to which we lift up our +eyes and thoughts during the charmed hours of the night, is another sun +burning with its own light, the chief of a more or less numerous family, +such as are multiplied through all space to infinity. Notwithstanding +the immense distances between the sun-stars, Space is so vast, and the +number of these so great, that by an effect of perspective due solely to +the distance, appearances would lead us to believe that the stars were +touching. And under certain telescopic aspects, and in some of the +astral photographs, they really do appear to be contiguous.</p> + +<p>The Universe is infinite. Space is limitless. If<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> our love for the +Heavens should incite in us the impulse, and provide us with the means +of undertaking a journey directed to the ends of Heaven as its goal, we +should be astonished, on arriving at the confines of the Milky Way, to +see the grandiose and phenomenal spectacle of a new Universe unfold +before our dazzled eyes; and if in our mad career we crossed this new +archipelago of worlds to seek the barriers of Heaven beyond them, we +should still find universe eternally succeeding to universe before us. +Millions of suns roll on in the immensities of Space. Everywhere, on all +sides, Creation renews itself in an infinite variety.</p> + +<p>According to all the probabilities, universal life is distributed there +as well as here, and has sown the germ of intelligence upon those +distant worlds that we divine in the vicinity of the innumerable suns +that plow the ether, for everything upon the Earth tends to show that +Life is the goal of Nature. Burning foci, inextinguishable sources of +warmth and light, these various, multi-colored suns shed their rays upon +the worlds that belong to them and which they fertilize.</p> + +<p>Our globe is no exception in the Universe. As we have seen, it is one of +the celestial orbs, nourished, warmed, lighted, quickened by the Sun, +which in its turn again is but a star.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span></p><p>Innumerable Worlds! We dream of them. Who can say that their unknown +inhabitants do not think of us in their turn, and that Space may not be +traversed by waves of thought, as it is by the vibrations of light and +universal gravitation? May not an immense solidarity, hardly guessed at +by our imperfect senses, exist between the Celestial Humanities, our +Earth being only a modest planet.</p> + +<p>Let us meditate on this Infinity! Let us lose no opportunity of +employing the best of our hours, those of the silence and peace of the +bewitching nights, in contemplating, admiring, spelling out the words of +the Great Book of the Heavens. Let our freed souls fly swift and rapt +toward those marvelous countries where indescribable joys are prepared +for us, and let us do homage to the first and most splendid of the +sciences, to Astronomy, which diffuses the light of Truth within us.</p> + +<p>To poetical souls, the contemplation of the Heavens carries thought away +to higher regions than it attains in any other meditation. Who does not +remember the beautiful lines of Victor Hugo in the Orientales? Who has +not heard or read them? The poem is called "Ecstasy," and it is a +fitting title. The words are sometimes set to music, and the melody +seems to complete their pure beauty:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> +<p class="noin"> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">J'étais seul près des flots par une nuit d'étoiles.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Pas un nuage aux cieux, sur les mers pas de voiles;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Mes yeux plongeaient plus loin que le monde réel,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Et les bois et les monts et toute la nature</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Semblaient interroger, dans un confus murmure,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7em;">Les flots des mers, les feux du ciel.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Et les étoiles d'or, légions infinies,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">A voix haute, à voix basse, avec mille harmonies</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Disaient, en inclinant leurs couronnes de feu;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Et les flots bleus, que rien ne gouverne et n'arrête,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Disaient en recourbant l'écume de leur crête:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7em;">... C'est le Seigneur, le Seigneur Dieu!</span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Note: Free Translation</i></p> + +<p class="noin"> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">I was alone on the waves, on a starry night,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Not a cloud in the sky, not a sail in sight,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">My eyes pierced beyond the natural world...</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">And the woods, and the hills, and the voice of Nature</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Seemed to question in a confused murmur,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7em;">The waves of the Sea, and Heaven's fires.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">And the golden stars in infinite legion,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Sang loudly, and softly, in glad recognition,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Inclining their crowns of fire;...</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">And the waves that naught can check nor arrest</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Sang, bowing the foam of their haughty crest...</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 7em;">Behold the Lord God—Jehovah!</span><br /> +</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p><p>The immortal poet of France was an astronomer. The author more than +once had the honor of conversing with him on the problems of the starry +sky—and reflected that astronomers might well be poets.</p> + +<p>It is indeed difficult to resist a sense of profound emotion before the +abysses of infinite Space, when we behold the innumerable multitude of +worlds suspended above our heads. We feel in this solitary contemplation +of the Heavens that there is more in the Universe than tangible and +visible matter: that there are forces, laws, destinies. Our ants' brains +may know themselves microscopic, and yet recognize that there is +something greater than the Earth, the Heavens;—more absolute than the +Visible, the Invisible;—beyond the more or less vulgar affairs of life, +the sense of the True, the Good, the Beautiful. We feel that an immense +mystery broods over Nature,—over Being, over created things. And it is +here again that Astronomy surpasses all the other sciences, that it +becomes our sovereign teacher, that it is the <i>pharos</i> of modern +philosophy.</p> + +<p>O Night, mysterious, sublime, and infinite! withdrawing from our eyes +the veil spread above us by the light of day, giving back transparency +to the Heavens, showing us the prodigious reality, the shining casket of +the celestial diamonds, the innumerable stars that succeed each other +interminably in immeasurable space!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> Without Night we should know +nothing. Without it our eyes would never have divined the sidereal +population, our intellects would never have pierced the harmony of the +Heavens, and we should have remained the blind, deaf parasites of a +world isolated from the rest of the universe. O Sacred Night! If on the +one hand it rests upon the heights of Truth beyond the day's illusions, +on the other its invisible urns pour down a silent and tranquil peace, a +penetrating calm, upon our souls that weary of Life's fever. It makes us +forget the struggles, perfidies, intrigues, the miseries of the hours of +toil and noisy activity, all the conventionalities of civilization. Its +domain is that of rest and dreams. We love it for its peace and calm +tranquillity. We love it because it is true. We love it because it +places us in communication with the other worlds, because it gives us +the presage of Life, Universal and Eternal, because it brings us Hope, +because it proclaims us citizens of Heaven.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>THE CONSTELLATIONS</h3> + + +<p class="chap"><span class="smcap">In</span> <a href="#CHAPTER_I">Chapter I</a> we saw the Earth hanging in space, like a globe isolated on +all sides, and surrounded at vast distances by a multitude of stars.</p> + +<p>These fiery orbs are suns like that which illuminates ourselves. They +shine by their own light. We know this for a fact, because they are so +far off that they could neither be illuminated by the Sun, nor, still +more, reflect his rays back upon us: and because, on the other hand, we +have been able to measure and analyze their light. Many of these distant +suns are simple and isolated; others are double, triple, or multiple; +others appear to be the centers of systems analogous to that which +gravitates round our own Sun, and of which we form part. But these +celestial tribes are situated at such remote distances from us that it +is impossible to distinguish all the individuals of each particular +family. The most delicate observations have only revealed a few of them. +We must content ourselves here with admiring the principals,—the +sun-stars,—prodigious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> globes, flaming torches, scattered profusely +through the firmament.</p> + +<p>How, then, is one to distinguish them? How can they be readily found and +named? There are so many of them!</p> + +<p>Do not fear; it is quite a simple matter. In studying the surface of the +Earth we make use of geographical maps on which the continents and seas +of which it consists are drawn with the utmost care. Each country of our +planet is subdivided into states, each of which has its proper name. We +shall pursue the same plan in regard to the Heavens, and it will be all +the easier since the Great Book of the Firmament is constantly open to +our gaze. Our globe, moreover, actually revolves upon itself so that we +read the whole in due sequence. Given a clear atmosphere, and a little +stimulus to the will from our love of truth and science, and the +geography of the Heavens, or "uranography," will soon be as familiar to +us as the geography of our terrestrial atom.</p> + +<p>On a beautiful summer's night, when we look toward the starry sky, we +are at first aware only of a number of shining specks. The stars seem to +be scattered almost accidentally through Space; they are so numerous and +so close to one another that it would appear rash to attempt to name +them separately. Yet some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> of the brighter ones particularly attract and +excite our attention. After a little observation we notice a certain +regularity in the arrangement of these distant suns, and take pleasure +in drawing imaginary figures round the celestial groups.</p> + +<p>That is what the ancients did from a practical point of view. In order +to guide themselves across the trackless ocean, the earliest Phenician +navigators noted certain fixed bearings in the sky, by which they mapped +out their routes. In this way they discovered the position of the +immovable Pole, and acquired empire over the sea. The Chaldean pastors, +too, the nomad people of the East, invoked the Heavens to assist in +their migrations. They grouped the more brilliant of the stars into +Constellations with simple outlines, and gave to each of these celestial +provinces a name derived from mythology, history, or from the natural +kingdoms. It is impossible to determine the exact epoch of this +primitive celestial geography. The Centaur Chiron, Jason's tutor, was +reputed the first to divide the Heavens upon the sphere of the +Argonauts. But this origin is a little mythical! In the Bible we have +the Prophet Job, who names Orion, the Pleiades, and the Hyades, 3,300 +years ago. The Babylonian Tables, and the hieroglyphs of Egypt, witness +to an astronomy that had made considerable advance even in those <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>remote +epochs. Our actual constellations, which are doubtless of Babylonian +origin, appear to have been arranged in their present form by the +learned philosopher Eudoxus of Cnidus, about the year 360 <span class="ampm">B.C.</span> Aratus +sang of them in a didactic poem toward 270. Hipparchus of Rhodes was the +first to note the astronomical positions with any precision, one hundred +and thirty years before our era. He classified the stars in order of +magnitude, according to their apparent brightness; and his catalogue, +preserved in the Almagest of Ptolemy, contains 1,122 stars distributed +into forty-eight Constellations.</p> + +<p>The figures of the constellations, taken almost entirely from fable, are +visible only to the eyes of the imagination, and where the ancients +placed such and such a person or animal, we may see, with a little +good-will, anything we choose to fancy. There is nothing real about +these figures. And yet it is indispensable to be able to recognize the +constellations in order to find our way among the innumerable army of +the stars, and we shall commence this study with the description of the +most popular and best known of them all, the one that circles every +night through our Northern Heavens. Needless to name it; it is familiar +to every one. You have already exclaimed—the Great Bear!</p> + +<p>This vast and splendid association of suns, which is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> also known as the +Chariot of David, the Plow or Charles's Wain, and the Dipper, is one of +the finest constellations in the Heavens, and one of the oldest—seeing +that the Chinese hailed it as the divinity of the North, over three +thousand years ago.</p> + +<p>If any of my readers should happen to forget its position in the sky, +the following is a very simple expedient for finding it. Turn to the +North—that is, opposite to the point where the sun is to be found at +midday. Whatever the season of the year, day of the month, or hour of +the night, you will always see, high up in the firmament, seven +magnificent stars, arranged in a quadrilateral, followed by a tail, or +handle, of three stars. This magnificent constellation never sinks below +our horizon. Night and day it watches above us, turning in twenty-four +hours round a very famous star that we shall shortly become acquainted +with. In the figure of the Great Bear, the four stars of the +quadrilateral are found in the body, and the three at the extremity make +the tail. As David's Chariot, the four stars represent the wheels, and +the three others the horses.</p> + +<p>Sometimes our ancestors called them the Seven Oxen, the "oxen of the +celestial pastures," from which the word septentrion (<i>septem triones</i>, +seven oxen of labor) is derived. Some see a Plowshare; others<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> more +familiarly call this figure the Dipper. As it rotates round the pole, +its outline varies with the different positions.</p> + +<p>It is not easy to guess why this constellation should have been called +the Bear. Yet the name has had a certain influence. From the Greek word +<i>arctos</i> (bear) has come arctic, and for its antithesis, antarctic. From +the Latin word <i>trio</i> (ox of labor) has come septentrion, the seven +oxen. Etymology is not always logical. Is not the word "venerate" +derived from Venus?</p> + +<p>In order to distinguish one star from another, the convention of +denoting them by the letters of the Greek Alphabet has been adopted, for +it would be impossible to give a name to each, so considerable is their +number.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>α and β denote the front wheels of the Chariot generally +known as the "pointers;" γ and δ the hind wheels; ε, +ζ, η the three horses. All these stars are of the second order +of magnitude (the specific meaning of this expression will be explained +in the next chapter), except the last (δ) of the quadrilateral, +which is of the third order.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> +<div class="figright" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/fig03.jpg" width="400" height="333" alt="Fig. 3.—The Great Bear (or Dipper), and the Pole-Star." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 3.</span>—The Great Bear (or Dipper), and the Pole-Star.</span> +</div> + +<p>Figure 3 gives the outline of this primitive constellation. In revolving +in twenty-four hours round the Pole, which is situated at the +prolongation of a line drawn from β to α, it occupies every +conceivable position,—as if this page were turned in all directions. +But the relative arrangement of the seven stars remains unaltered. In +contemplating these seven stars it must never be forgotten that each is +a dazzling sun, a center of force and life. One of them is especially +remarkable: ζ, known as Mizar to the Arabs. Those who have good +sight will distinguish near it a minute star, Alcor, or the Cavalier, +also called Saidak by the Arabs—that is, the Test, because it can be +used as a test of vision. But further, if you have a small telescope at +your disposal, direct it upon the fine star Mizar: you will be +astonished<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> at discovering two of the finest diamonds you could wish to +see, with which no brilliant is comparable. There are several double +stars; these we shall become acquainted with later on.</p> + +<p>Meantime, we must not forget our celestial geography. The Great Bear +will help us to find all the adjacent constellations.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/fig04.jpg" width="300" height="201" alt="Fig. 4.—To find the Pole-Star." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 4.</span>—To find the Pole-Star.</span> +</div> + +<p>If a straight line is drawn (Fig. 4) from β through α, which +forms the extremity of the square, and is prolonged by a quantity equal +to the distance of α from the tip of the handle, we come on a star +of second magnitude, which marks the extremity of a figure perfectly +comparable with the Great Bear, but smaller, less brilliant, and +pointing in the contrary direction. This is the Little Bear, composed, +like its big brother, of seven stars; the one situated at the end of the +line by which we have found it is the Pole-Star.</p> + +<p>Immovable in the region of the North Pole, the Pole-Star has captivated +all eyes by its position in the firmament. It is the providence of +mariners who have gone astray on the ocean, for it points them to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +North, while it is the pivot of the immense rotation accomplished round +it by all the stars in twenty-four hours. Hence it is a very important +factor, and we must hasten to find it, and render it due homage. It +should be added that its special immobility, in the prolongation of the +Earth's axis, is merely an effect caused by the diurnal movements of our +planet. Our readers are of course aware that it is the earth that turns +and not the sky. But evidence of this will be given later on. In looking +at the Pole-Star, the South is behind one, the East to the right, and +the West to the left.</p> + +<p>Between the Great and the Little Bear, we can distinguish a winding +procession of smaller stars. These constitute the Dragon.</p> + +<p>We will continue our journey by way of Cassiopeia, a fine constellation +placed on the opposite side of the Pole-Star in relation to the Great +Bear, and shaped somewhat like the open limbs of the letter W. It is +also called the Chair. And, in fact, when the figure is represented with +the line α β below, the line χ γ forms the seat, +and γ δ ε its back.</p> + +<p>If a straight line is drawn from δ of the Great Bear, and +prolonged beyond the Pole-Star in a quantity equal to the distance which +separates these two stars, it is easy to find this constellation (Fig. +5). This group,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> like the preceding, never sets, and is always visible, +opposite to the Great Bear. It revolves in twenty-four hours round the +Pole-Star, and is to be seen, now above, now below, now to the right, +now to the left.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/fig05.jpg" width="550" height="205" alt="Fig. 5.—To find Cassiopeia." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 5.</span>—To find Cassiopeia.</span> +<br /><br /></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/fig06.jpg" width="550" height="311" alt="Fig. 6.—To Find Pegasus and Andromeda." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 6.</span>—To Find Pegasus and Andromeda.</span> +</div> + +<p>If in the next place, starting from the stars α and δ in the +Great Bear, we draw two lines which join at Polaris and are prolonged +beyond Cassiopeia, we arrive at the Square of Pegasus (Fig. 6), a vast +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>constellation that terminates on one side in a prolongation formed of +three stars.</p> + +<p>These three last stars belong to Andromeda, and themselves abut on +Perseus. The last star in the Square of Pegasus is also the first in +Andromeda.</p> + +<p>γ of Andromeda is a magnificent double orb, to which we shall +return in the next chapter, <i>i.e.</i>, the telescope resolves it into two +marvelous suns, one of which is topaz-yellow, and the other +emerald-green. Three stars, indeed, are visible with more powerful +instruments.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 350px;"> +<img src="images/fig07.jpg" width="350" height="409" alt="Fig. 7.—Perseus, the Pleiades, Capella." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 7.</span>—Perseus, the Pleiades, Capella.</span> +</div> + +<p>Above β and near a small star, is visible a faint, whitish, +luminous trail: this is the oblong nebula of Andromeda, the first +mentioned in the history of astronomy, and one of the most beautiful in +the Heavens, perceptible to the unaided eye on very clear nights.</p> + +<p>The stars α, β and γ of Perseus form a concave bow +which will serve in a new orientation. If it is prolonged in the +direction of δ, we find a very brilliant star of the first +magnitude. This is Capella, the Goat, in the constellation of the +Charioteer (Fig. 7).</p> + +<p>If coming back to δ in Perseus, a line is drawn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> toward the South, +we reach the Pleiades, a gorgeous cluster of stars, scintillating like +the finest dust of diamonds, on the shoulder of the Bull, to which we +shall come shortly, in studying the Constellations of the Zodiac.</p> + +<p>Not far off is a very curious star, β of Perseus, or Algol, which +forms a little triangle with two others smaller than itself. This star +is peculiar in that, instead of shining with a fixed light, it varies in +intensity, and is sometimes pale, sometimes brilliant. It belongs to the +category of variable stars which we shall study later on. All the +observations made on it for more than two hundred years go to prove that +a dark star revolves round this sun, almost in the plane of our line of +sight, producing as it passes in front of it a partial eclipse that +reduces it from the second to the fourth magnitude, every other two +days, twenty hours, and forty-nine minutes.</p> + +<p>And now, let us return to the Great Bear, which aided us so beneficently +to start for these distant shores, and whence we shall set out afresh in +search of other constellations.</p> + +<p>If we produce the curved line of the tail, or handle, we encounter a +magnificent golden-yellow star, a splendid sun of dazzling brilliancy: +let us make our bow to Arcturus, α of the Herdsman, which is at +the extremity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> of this pentagonal constellation. The principal stars of +this asterism are of the third magnitude, with the exception of α, +which is of the first. Alongside of the Herdsman is a circle consisting +of five stars of the third and fourth magnitude, save the third, +α, or the Pearl, which is of the second magnitude. This is the +Corona Borealis. It is very easily recognized (Fig. 8).</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/fig08.jpg" width="550" height="244" alt="Fig. 8.—To find Arcturus, the Herdsman, and the Northern Crown." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 8.</span>—To find Arcturus, the Herdsman, and the Northern Crown.</span> +</div> + +<p>A line drawn from the Pole-Star to Arcturus forms the base of an +equilateral triangle, the apex of which, situated opposite the Great +Bear, is occupied by Vega, or α of the Lyre, a splendid diamond of +ideal purity scintillating through the ether. This magnificent star, of +first magnitude, is, with Arcturus, the most luminous in our Heavens. It +burns with a white light, in the proximity of the Milky Way, not far +from a constellation that is very easily recognized by the arrangement +of its principal stars in the form of a cross. It is named Cygnus, the +Bird, or the Swan (Fig. 9), and is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> easy to find by the Square of +Pegasus, and the Milky Way. This figure, the brilliancy of whose +constituents (of the third and fourth magnitudes) contrasts strongly +with the pallor of the Milky Way, includes at its extremity at the foot +of the Cross, a superb double star, β or Albirio: α of Cygnus +is also called Deneb. The first star of which the distance was +calculated is in this constellation. This little orb of fifth magnitude, +which hangs 69,000,000,000,000 kilometers (42,000,000,000,000 miles) +above our Earth, is the nearest of all the stars to the skies of Europe.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/fig09.jpg" width="550" height="290" alt="Fig. 9.—The Swan, Vega, the Eagle." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 9.</span>—The Swan, Vega, the Eagle.</span> +</div> + +<p>Not far off is the fine Eagle, which spreads its wings in the Milky Way, +and in which the star Altaïr, α, of first magnitude, is situated +between its two satellites, β and γ.</p> + +<p>The Constellation of Hercules, toward which the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> motions of the Sun are +impelling us, with all the planets of its system, is near the Lyre. Its +principal stars can be recognized inside the triangle formed by the +Pole-Star, Arcturus, and Vega.</p> + +<p>All the Constellations described above belong to the Northern +Hemisphere. Those nearest the pole are called circumpolar. They revolve +round the pole in twenty-four hours.</p> + +<p>Having now learned the Northern Heavens, we must come back to the Sun, +which we have left behind us. The Earth revolves round him in a year, +and in consequence he seems to revolve round us, sweeping through a vast +circle of the celestial sphere. In each year, at the same period, he +passes the same points of the Heavens, in front of the same +constellations, which are rendered invisible by his light. We know that +the stars are at a fixed position from the Earth, whatever their +distance, and that if we do not see them at noon as at midnight, it is +simply because they are extinguished by the dazzling light of the orb of +day. With the aid of a telescope it is always possible to see the more +brilliant of them.</p> + +<p>The Zodiac is the zone of stars traversed by the Sun in the course of a +year. This word is derived from the Greek <i>Zodiakos</i>, which signifies +"animal," and this etymology arose because most of the figures traced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +on this belt of stars represent animals. The belt is divided into twelve +parts that are called the twelve Signs of the Zodiac, also named by the +ancients the "Houses of the Sun," since the Sun visits one of them in +each month. These are the signs, with the primitive characters that +distinguish them: the Ram ♈, the Bull ♉, the Twins +♊, the Crab ♋, the Lion ♌, the Virgin ♍, the +Balance ♎, the Scorpion ♏, the Archer ♐, the +Goat ♑, the Water-Carrier ♒, the Fishes ♓. The +sign ♈ Aries represents the horns of the Ram, ♉ the head of the +Bull, and so on.</p> + +<p>If you will now follow me into the Houses of the Sun you will readily +recognize them again, provided you have a clear picture of the principal +stars of the Northern Heavens. First, you see the Ram, the initial sign +of the Zodiac; because at the epoch at which the actual Zodiac was +fixed, the Sun entered this sign at the vernal equinox, and the equator +crossed the ecliptic at this point. This constellation, in which the +horns of the Ram (third magnitude) are the brightest, is situated +between Andromeda and the Pleiades. Two thousand years ago, the Ram was +regarded as the symbol of spring; but owing to the secular movement of +the precession of the equinoxes, the Sun is no longer there on March 21: +he is in the Fishes.</p> + +<p>To the left, or east of the Ram, we find the Bull,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> the head of which +forms a triangle in which burns Aldebaran, of first magnitude, a +magnificent red star that marks the right eye; and the Hyades, +scintillating pale and trembling, on its forehead. The timid Pleiades, +as we have seen, veil themselves on the shoulder of the Bull—a +captivating cluster, of which six stars can be counted with the unaided +eye, while several hundred are discovered with the telescope.</p> + +<p>Next the Twins. They are easily recognized by the two fine stars, +α and β, of first magnitude, which mark their heads, and +immortalize Castor and Pollux, the sons of Jupiter, celebrated for their +indissoluble friendship.</p> + +<p>Cancer, the Crab, is the least important sign of the Zodiac. It is +distinguished only by five stars of fourth and fifth magnitudes, +situated below the line of Castor and Pollux, and by a pale cluster +called Præsepe, the Beehive.</p> + +<p>The Lion next approaches, superb in his majesty. At his heart is a +gorgeous star of first magnitude, α or Regulus. This figure forms +a grand trapezium of four stars on the celestial sphere.</p> + +<p>The Virgin exhibits a splendid star of first magnitude; this is Spica, +which with Regulus and Arcturus, form a triangle by which this +constellation can be recognized.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p><p>The Balance follows the Virgin. Its scales, marked by two stars of +second magnitude, are situated a little to the East of Spica.</p> + +<p>We next come to the eighth constellation of the Zodiac, which is one of +the most beautiful of this belt of stars. Antares, a red star of first +magnitude, occupies the heart of the venomous and accursed Scorpion. It +is situated on the prolongation of a line joining Regulus to Spica, and +forms with Vega of the Lyre, and Arcturus of the Herdsman, a great +isosceles triangle, of which this latter star is the apex.</p> + +<p>The Scorpion, held to be a sign of ill luck, has been prejudicial to the +Archer, which follows it, and traces an oblique trapezium in the sky, a +little to the east of Antares. These two southernmost constellations +never rise much above the horizon for France and England. In fable, the +Archer is Chiron, the preceptor of Jason, Achilles and Æsculapius.</p> + +<p>Capricorn lies to the south of Altaïr, on the prolongation of a line +from the Lyre to the Eagle. It is hardly noticeable save for the stars +α and β of third magnitude, which scintillate on its +forehead.</p> + +<p>The Water-Carrier pours his streams toward the horizon. He is not rich +in stars, exhibiting only three of third magnitude that form a very +flattened triangle.</p> + +<p>Lastly the Fishes, concluding sign of the Zodiac, are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> found to the +south of Andromeda and Pegasus. Save for α, of third magnitude, +this constellation consists of small stars that are hardly visible.</p> + +<p>These twelve zodiacal constellations will be recognized on examining the +chart (Figs. 10–11).</p> + +<p>We must now visit the stars of the Southern Heavens, some of which are +equally deserving of admiration.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/fig10.jpg" width="550" height="218" alt="Fig. 10.—The Constellations of the Zodiac: summer and +autumn; Capricorn, Archer, Scorpion, Balance, Virgin, Lion." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 10.</span>—The Constellations of the Zodiac: summer and +autumn;<br /> Capricorn, Archer, Scorpion, Balance, Virgin, Lion.</span> +</div> + +<p>It should in the first place be noted that the signs of the Zodiac and +the Southern Constellations are not, like those which are circumpolar, +perpetually visible at all periods of the year. Their visibility depends +on the time of year and the hour of the night.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>In order to admire the fine constellations of the North, as described +above, we have only to open our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> windows on a clear summer's evening, or +walk round the garden in the mysterious light of these inaccessible +suns, while we look up at the immense fields in which each star is like +the head of a celestial spear.</p> + +<p>But the summer is over, autumn is upon us, and then, too soon, comes +winter clothed in hoar-frost. The days are short and cold, dark and +dreary; but as a compensation the night is much longer, and adorns +herself with her most beautiful jewels, offering us the contemplation of +her inexhaustible treasures.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/fig11.jpg" width="550" height="243" alt="Fig. 11.—The Constellations of the Zodiac: winter and +spring; Crab, Twins, Bull, Ram, Fishes, Water-Carrier." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 11.</span>—The Constellations of the Zodiac: winter and +spring; Crab, Twins, Bull, Ram, Fishes, Water-Carrier.</span> +</div> + +<p>First, let us do homage to the magnificent Orion, most splendid of all +the constellations: he advances like a colossal giant, and confronts the +Bull.</p> + +<p>This constellation appears about midnight in November, in the +south-eastern Heavens; toward eleven<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> o'clock in December and January, +due south; about ten in February, in the south-east; about nine in +March, and about eight in April, in the west; and then sets below our +horizon.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/fig12.jpg" width="500" height="543" alt="Fig. 12.—Orion and his celestial companions." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 12.</span>—Orion and his celestial companions.</span> +</div> + +<p>It is indisputably the most striking figure in the sky, and with the +Great Bear, the most ancient in history, the first that was noticed: +both are referred to in the ancient texts of China, Chaldea, and Egypt.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p><p>Eight principal stars delineate its outline; two are of the first +magnitude, five of the second, and one of the third (Fig. 12). The most +brilliant are Betelgeuse (α) and Rigel (β): the former +marking the right shoulder of the Colossus as it faces us; the second +the left foot. The star on the left shoulder is γ or Bellatrix, of +second magnitude; that of the right foot, χ, is almost of the third. +Three stars of second magnitude placed obliquely at equal distances from +each other, the first or highest of which marks the position of the +equatorial line, indicate the Belt or Girdle. These stars, known as the +Three Kings, and by country people as the Rake, assist greatly in the +recognition of this fine constellation.</p> + +<p>A little below the second star of the Belt, a large white patch, like a +band of fog, the apparent dimensions of which are equal to that of the +lunar disk, is visible to the unaided eye: this is the Nebula of Orion, +one of the most magnificent in the entire Heavens. It was discovered in +1656 by Huyghens, who counted twelve stars in the pale cloud. Since that +date it has been constantly studied and photographed by its many +admirers, while the giant eye of the telescope discovers in it to-day an +innumerable multitude of little stars which reveal the existence of an +entire universe in this region.</p> + +<p>Orion is not merely the most imposing of the celestial figures; it is +also the richest in sidereal wonders. Among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> these, it exhibits the most +complex of all the multiple systems known to us: that of the star +θ situated in the celebrated nebula just mentioned. This marvelous +star, viewed through a powerful telescope, breaks up into six suns, +forming a most remarkable stellar group.</p> + +<p>This region is altogether one of the most brilliant in the entire +firmament. We must no longer postpone our homage to the brightest star +in the sky, the magnificent Sirius, which shines on the left below +Orion: it returns every year toward the end of November. This marvelous +star, of dazzling brilliancy, is the first, α, in the +constellation of the Great Dog, which forms a quadrilateral, the base of +which is adjacent to a triangle erected from the horizon.</p> + +<p>When astronomers first endeavored to determine the distance of the +stars, Sirius, which attracted all eyes to its burning fires, was the +particular object of attention. After long observation, they succeeded +in determining its distance as 92 trillion kilometers (57 trillion +miles). Light, that radiates through space at a velocity of 300,000 +kilometers (186,000 miles) per second, takes no less than ten years to +reach us from this sun, which, nevertheless, is one of our neighbors.</p> + +<p>The Little Dog, in which Procyon (α, of first magnitude) shines +out, is above its big brother. With the exception of α, it has no +bright stars.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/fig13.jpg" width="600" height="484" alt="Fig. 13.—Winter Constellations." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 13.</span>—Winter Constellations.</span> +</div> + +<p>Lastly, toward the southern horizon, we must notice the Hydra, Eridanus, +the Whale, the Southern Fish, the Ship, and the Centaur. This last +constellation, while invisible to our latitudes, contains the star that +is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> nearest to the Earth, α, of first magnitude, the distance of +which is 40 trillion kilometers (25 trillion miles).</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/fig14.jpg" width="600" height="484" alt="Fig. 14.—Spring Constellations." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 14.</span>—Spring Constellations.</span> +</div> + +<p>The feet of the Centaur touch the Southern Cross, which is always +invisible to us, and a little farther<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> down the Southern Pole reigns +over the icy desert of the antarctic regions.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/fig15.jpg" width="600" height="484" alt="Fig. 15.—Summer Constellations." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 15.</span>—Summer Constellations.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/fig16.jpg" width="600" height="484" alt="Fig. 16.—Autumn Constellations." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 16.</span>—Autumn Constellations.</span> +</div> + +<p>In order to complete the preceding descriptions, we subjoin four charts +representing the aspect of the starry heavens during the evenings of +winter, spring, summer, and autumn. To make use of these, we must +suppose them to be placed above our heads, the center marking the +zenith, and the sky descending all round to the horizon.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> The horizon, +therefore, bounds these panoramas. Turning the chart in any direction, +and looking at it from north, south, east, or west, we find all the +principal stars. The first map (Fig. 13) represents the sky in winter +(January) at 8 <span class="ampm">P.M.</span>; the second, in spring (April) at 9 <span class="ampm">P.M.</span>; the third, +in summer (July) at the same hour; the fourth, the sky in autumn +(October) at the same time.</p> + +<p>And so, at little cost, we have made one of the grandest and most +beautiful journeys conceivable. We now have a new country, or, better, +have learned to see and know our own country, for since the Earth is a +planet we must all be citizens of the Heavens before we can belong to +such or such a nation of our lilliputian world.</p> + +<p>We must now study this sublime spectacle of the Heavens in detail.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE STARS, SUNS OF THE INFINITE</h3> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">A Journey through Space</span></p> + + +<p class="chap"><span class="smcap">We</span> have seen from the foregoing summary of the principal Constellations +that there is great diversity in the brightness of the stars, and that +while our eyes are dazzled with the brilliancy of certain orbs, others, +on the contrary, sparkle modestly in the azure depths of the night, and +are hardly perceptible to the eye that seeks to plumb the abysses of +Immensity.</p> + +<p>We have appended the word "magnitude" to the names of certain stars, and +the reader might imagine this to bear some relation to the volume of the +orb. But this is not the case.</p> + +<p>To facilitate the observation of stars of varying brilliancy, they have +been classified in order of magnitude, according to their apparent +brightness, and since the dimensions of these distant suns are almost +wholly unknown to us, the most luminous stars were naturally denoted as +of first magnitude, those which were a little less bright of the second, +and so on. But in reality<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> this word "magnitude" is quite erroneous, for +it bears no relation to the mass of the stars, divided thus at an epoch +when it was supposed that the most brilliant must be the largest. It +simply indicates the apparent brightness of a star, the real brilliancy +depending on its dimensions, its intrinsic light, and its distance from +our planet.</p> + +<p>And now to make some comparison between the different orders. Throughout +the entire firmament, only nineteen stars of first magnitude are +discoverable. And, strictly speaking, the last of this series might just +as well be noted of "second magnitude," while the first of the second +series might be added to the list of stars of the "first order." But in +order to form classes distinct from one another, some limit has to be +adopted, and it was determined that the first series should include only +the following stars, the most luminous in the Heavens, which are +subjoined in order of decreasing brilliancy.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><small>STARS OF THE FIRST MAGNITUDE</small></p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="FIRST MAGNITUDE STARS"> +<tr><td align='right'>1.</td><td align='left'>Sirius, or α of the Great Dog.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>2.</td><td align='left'>Canopus, or α of the Ship.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>3.</td><td align='left'>Capella, or α of the Charioteer.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>4.</td><td align='left'>Arcturus, or α of the Herdsman.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>5.</td><td align='left'>Vega, or α of the Lyre.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>6.</td><td align='left'>Proxima, or α of the Centaur.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>7.</td><td align='left'>Rigel, or β of Orion.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>8.</td><td align='left'>Achernar, or α of Eridanus.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>9.</td><td align='left'>Procyon, or α of the Little Dog.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>10.</td><td align='left'>β of the Centaur.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>11.</td><td align='left'>Betelgeuse, or α of Orion.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>12.</td><td align='left'>Altaïr, or α of the Eagle.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>13.</td><td align='left'>α of the Southern Cross.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>14.</td><td align='left'>Aldebaran, or α of the Bull.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>15.</td><td align='left'>Spica, or α of the Virgin.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>16.</td><td align='left'>Antares, or α of the Scorpion.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>17.</td><td align='left'>Pollux, or β of the Twins.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>18.</td><td align='left'>Regulus, or α of the Lion.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>19.</td><td align='left'>Fomalhaut, or α of the Southern Fish.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p class="center"><small>THE STARS OF THE SECOND MAGNITUDE</small></p> + +<p>Then come the stars of the second magnitude, of which there are +fifty-nine. The stars of the Great Bear (with the exception of δ, +which is of third magnitude), the Pole-Star, the chief stars in Orion +(after Rigel and Betelgeuse), of the Lion, of Pegasus, of Andromeda, of +Cassiopeia, are of this order. These, with the former, constitute the +principal outlines of the constellations visible to us.</p> + +<p>Then follow the third and fourth magnitudes, and so on.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p><p>The following table gives a summary of the series, down to the sixth +magnitude, which is the limit of visibility for the unaided human eye:</p> + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="VARIOUS STAR MAGNITUDES"> +<tr><td align='right'>19</td><td align='left'>stars of first magnitude.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>59</td><td align='left'>of second magnitude.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>182</td><td align='left'>of third magnitude.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>530</td><td align='left'>of fourth magnitude.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>1,600</td><td align='left'>of fifth magnitude.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>4,800</td><td align='left'>of sixth magnitude.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>This makes a total of some seven thousand stars visible to the unaided +eye. It will be seen that each series is, roughly speaking, three times +as populated as that preceding it; consequently, if we multiply the +number of any class by three, we obtain the approximate number of stars +that make up the class succeeding it.</p> + +<p>Seven thousand stars! It is an imposing figure, when one reflects that +all these lucid points are suns, as enormous as they are potent, as +incandescent as our own (which exceeds the volume of the Earth by more +than a million times), distant centers of light and heat, exerting their +attraction on unknown systems. And yet it is generally imagined that +millions of stars are visible in the firmament. This is an illusion; +even the best vision is unable to distinguish stars below the sixth +magnitude, and ordinary sight is far from discovering all of these.</p> + +<p>Again, seven thousand stars for the whole Heavens<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> makes only three +thousand five hundred for half the sky. And we can only see one +celestial hemisphere at a time. Moreover, toward the horizon, the vapor +of the atmosphere veils the little stars of sixth magnitude. In reality, +we never see at a given moment more than three thousand stars. This +number is below that of the population of a small town.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>But celestial space is unlimited, and we must not suppose that these +seven thousand stars that fascinate our eyes and enrich our Heavens, +without which our nights would be black, dark, and empty,<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> comprise +the whole of Creation. They only represent the vestibule of the temple.</p> + +<p>Where our vision is arrested, a larger, more powerful eye, that is +developing from century to century, plunges its analyzing gaze into the +abysses, and reflects back to the insatiable curiosity of science the +light of the innumerable suns that it discovers. This eye is the lens of +the optical instruments. Even opera-glasses disclose stars of the +seventh magnitude. A small astronomical objective penetrates to the +eighth and ninth orders. More powerful instruments attain the tenth. +The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> Heavens are progressively transformed to the eye of the astronomer, +and soon he is able to reckon hundreds of thousands of orbs in the +night. The evolution continues, the power of the instrument is +developed; and the stars of the eleventh and twelfth magnitudes are +discovered successively, and together number four millions. Then follow +the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth magnitudes. This is the +sequence:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="TOTAL BY MAGNITUDE"> +<tr><td class="td1">7th magnitude</td><td align='right'>13,000.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">8th magnitude</td><td align='right'>40,000.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">9th magnitude</td><td align='right'>120,000.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">10th magnitude</td><td align='right'>380,000.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">11th magnitude</td><td align='right'>1,000,000.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">12th magnitude</td><td align='right'>3,000,000.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">13th magnitude</td><td align='right'>9,000,000.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">14th magnitude</td><td align='right'>27,000,000.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">15th magnitude</td><td align='right'>80,000,000.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>Accordingly, the most powerful telescopes of the day, reenforced by +celestial photography, can bring a stream of more than 120 millions of +stars into the scope of our vision.</p> + +<p>The photographic map of the Heavens now being executed comprises the +first fourteen magnitudes, and will give the precise position of some +40,000,000 stars, distributed over 22,054 sheets, forming a sphere 3 +meters 44 centimeters in diameter.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p><p>The boldest imagination is overwhelmed by these figures, and fails to +picture such millions of suns—formidable and burning globes that roll +through space, sweeping their systems along with them. What furnaces are +there! what unknown lives! what vast immensities!</p> + +<p>And again, what enormous distances must separate the stars, to admit of +their free revolution in the ether! In what abysses, at what a distance +from our terrestrial atom, must these magnificent and dazzling Suns +pursue the paths traced for them by Destiny!</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>If all the stars radiated an equal light, their distances might be +calculated on the principle that an object appears smaller in proportion +to its distance. But this equality does not exist. The suns were not all +cast in the same mold.</p> + +<p>Indeed, the stars differ widely in size and brightness, and the +distances that have been measured show that the most brilliant are not +the nearest. They are scattered through Space at all distances.</p> + +<p>Among the nearer stars of which it has been found possible to calculate +the distance, some are found to be of the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, +eighth, and even ninth magnitudes, proving that the most brilliant are +not always the least distant.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p><p>For the rest, among the beautiful and shining stars with which we made +acquaintance in the last chapter may be cited Sirius, which at a +distance of 92 trillion kilometers (57 trillion miles) from here still +dazzles us with its burning fires; Procyon or α of the Little Dog, +as remote as 112 trillion kilometers (69<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> trillion miles); Altaïr of +the Eagle, at 160 trillion kilometers (99 trillion miles); the white +Vega, at 204 trillion kilometers (126<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> trillion miles); Capella, at +276 trillion kilometers (171 trillion miles); and the Pole-Star at 344 trillion kilometers +(213<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> trillion miles). The light that flies through Space at a +velocity of 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second, takes +thirty-six years and a half to reach us from this distant sun: <i>i.e.</i>, +the luminous ray we are now receiving from Polaris has been traveling +for more than the third of a century. When you, gentle reader, were +born, the ray that arrives to-day from the Pole-Star was already +speeding on its way. In the first second after it had started it +traveled 300,000 kilometers; in the second it added another 300,000 +which at once makes 600,000 kilometers; add another 300,000 kilometers +for the third second, and so on during the thirty-six years and a half.</p> + +<p>If we tried to arrange the number 300,000 (which represents the distance +accomplished in one second) in superposed rows, as if for an addition +sum, as many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> times as is necessary to obtain the distance that +separates the Pole-Star from our Earth, the necessary operation would +comprise 1,151,064,000 rows, and the sheet of paper required for the +setting out of such a sum would measure approximately 11,510 kilometers +(about 7,000 miles), <i>i.e.</i>, almost the diameter of our terrestrial +globe, or about four times the distance from Paris to Moscow!</p> + +<p>Is it not impossible to realize that our Sun, with its entire system, is +lost in the Heavens at such a distance from his peers in Space? At the +distance of the least remote of the stars he would appear as one of the +smallest.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>The nearest star to us is α of the Centaur, of first magnitude, a +neighbor of the South Pole, invisible in our latitudes. Its distance is +275,000 radii of the terrestrial orbit, <i>i.e.</i>, 275,000 times 149 +million kilometers, which gives 41 trillions, or 41,000 milliards of +kilometers (= 25<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> trillion miles). [A milliard = 1,000 millions, the +French billion. A trillion = 1,000 milliards, or a million millions, the +English billion. The <i>French</i> nomenclature has been retained by the +translator.] At a speed of 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second +the light takes four years to come from thence. It is a fine double +star.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p><p>The next nearest star after this is a little orb invisible to the +unaided eye. It has no name, and stands as No. 21,185 in the Catalogue +of Lalande. It almost attains the seventh magnitude (6.8). Its distance +is 64 trillion kilometers (39<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> trillion miles).</p> + +<p>The third of which the distance has been measured is the small star in +Cygnus, already referred to in <a href="#CHAPTER_II">Chapter II</a>, in describing the +Constellations. Its distance is 69 trillion kilometers (42<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> trillion +miles). This, too, is a double star. The light takes seven years to +reach us.</p> + +<p>As we have seen, the fine stars Sirius, Procyon, Aldebaran, Altaïr, +Vega, and Capella are more remote.</p> + +<p>Our solar system is thus very isolated in the vastness of Infinitude. +The latest known planet of our system, Neptune, performs its revolutions +in space at 4 milliards, 470 million kilometers (2,771,400,000 miles) +from our Sun. Even this is a respectable distance! But beyond this +world, an immense gulf, almost a void abyss, extends to the nearest +star, α of the Centaur. Between Neptune and Centauris there is no +star to cheer the black and cold solitude of the immense vacuum. One or +two unknown planets, some wandering comets, and swarms of meteors, +doubtless traverse those unknown spaces, but all invisible to us.</p> + +<p>Later on we will discuss the methods that have been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> employed in +measuring these distances. Let us now continue our description.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Now that we have some notion of the distance of the stars we must +approach them with the telescope, and compare them one with another.</p> + +<p>Let us, for example, get close to Sirius: in this star we admire a sun +that is several times heavier than our own, and of much greater mass, +accompanied by a second sun that revolves round it in fifty years. Its +light is exceedingly white, and it notably burns with hydrogen flames, +like Vega and Altaïr.</p> + +<p>Now let us approach Arcturus, Capella, Aldebaran: these are yellow stars +with golden rays, like our Sun, and the vapor of iron, of sodium, and of +many other metals can be identified in their spectrum. These stars are +older than the first, and the ruddy ones, such as Antares, Betelgeuse, +α of Hercules, are still older; several of them are variable, and +are on their way to final extinction.</p> + +<p>The Heavens afford us a perennial store of treasure, wherein the +thinker, poet or artist can find inexhaustible subjects of +contemplation.</p> + +<p>You have heard of the celestial jewels, the diamonds, rubies, emeralds, +sapphires, topazes, and other precious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> stones of the sidereal casket. +These marvels are met with especially among the double stars.</p> + +<p>Our Sun, white and solitary, gives no idea of the real aspect of some of +its brothers in Infinitude. There are as many different types as there +are suns!</p> + +<p>Stars, you will think, are like individuals: each has its distinct +characteristics: no two are comparable. And indeed this reflection is +justified. While human vanity does homage to Phœbus, divine King of +the Heavens, other suns of still greater magnificence form groups of two +or three splendid orbs, which roll the prodigious combinations of their +double, triple, or multiple systems through space, pouring on to the +worlds that accompany them a flood of changing light, now blue, now red, +now violet, etc.</p> + +<p>In the inexhaustible variety of Creation there exist Suns that are +united in pairs, bound by a common destiny, cradled in the same +attraction, and often colored in the most delicate and entrancing shades +conceivable. Here will be a dazzling ruby, its glowing color shedding +joy; there a deep blue sapphire of tender tone; beyond, the finest +emeralds, hue of hope. Diamonds of translucent purity and whiteness +sparkle from the abyss, and shed their penetrating light into the vast +space. What splendors are scattered broadcast over the sky! what +profusion!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p><p>To the naked eye, the groups appear like ordinary stars, mere luminous +points of greater or less brilliancy; but the telescope soon discovers +the beauty of these systems; the star is duplicated into two distinct +suns, in close proximity. These groups of two or several suns are not +merely due to an effect of perspective—<i>i.e.</i>, the presence of two or +more stars in our line of sight; as a rule they constitute real physical +systems, and these suns, associated in a common lot, rotate round one +another in a more or less rapid period, that varies for each system.</p> + +<p>One of the most splendid of these <i>double stars</i>, and at the same time +one of the easiest to perceive, is ζ in the Great Bear, or Mizar, +mentioned above in describing this constellation. It has no contrasting +colors, but exactly resembles twin diamonds of the finest water, which +fascinate the gaze, even through a small objective.</p> + +<p>Its components are of the second and fourth magnitudes, their distance = +14″<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>. Some idea of their appearance in a small telescope may be +obtained from the subjoined figure (Fig. 17).</p> + +<p>Another very brilliant pair is Castor. Magnitudes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> second and third. +Distance 5.6″. Very easy to observe. γ in the Virgin resolves +into two splendid diamonds of third magnitude. Distance, 5.0″. Another +double star is γ of the Ram, of fourth magnitude. Distance, 8.9″.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig17.jpg" width="450" height="448" alt="Fig. 17.—The double star Mizar." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 17.</span>—The double star Mizar.</span> +</div> + +<p>And here are two that are even more curious by reason of their coloring: +γ in Andromeda, composed of a fine orange star, and one +emerald-green, which again is accompanied by a tiny comrade of the +deepest blue. This group in a good telescope is most attractive. +Magnitudes, second and fifth. Distance, 10″.</p> + +<p>β of the Swan, or Albireo, referred to in the last chapter, has +been analyzed into two stars: one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>golden-yellow, the other sapphire. +Magnitudes, third and fifth. Distance, 34″. α of the Greyhounds, +known also as the Heart of Charles II, is golden-yellow and lilac. +Magnitudes, third and fifth. Distance 20″.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<p>α of Hercules revolves a splendid emerald and a ruby in the skies; +ζ of the Lyre exhibits a yellow and a green star; Rigel, an +electric sun, and a small sapphire; Antares is ruddy and emerald-green; +η of Perseus resolves into a burning red star, and one smaller that +is deep blue, and so on.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>These exquisite double stars revolve in gracious and splendid couples +around one another, as in some majestic valse, marrying their +multi-colored fires in the midst of the starry firmament.</p> + +<p>Here, we constantly receive a pure and dazzling white light from our +burning luminary. Its ray, indeed, contains the potentiality of every +conceivable color, but picture the fantastic illumination of the worlds +that gravitate round these multiple and colored suns as they shed floods +of blue and roseate, red, or orange light around them! What a fairy +spectacle must life present upon these distant universes!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p><p>Let us suppose that we inhabit a planet illuminated by two suns, one +blue, the other red.</p> + +<p>It is morning. The sapphire sun climbs slowly up the Heavens, coloring +the atmosphere with a somber and almost melancholy hue. The blue disk +attains the zenith, and is beginning its descent toward the West, when +the East lights up with the flames of a scarlet sun, which in its turn +ascends the heights of the firmament. The West is plunged in the +penumbra of the rays of the blue sun, while the East is illuminated with +the purple and burning rays of the ruby orb.</p> + +<p>The first sun is setting when the second noon shines for the inhabitants +of this strange world. But the red sun, too, accomplishes the law of its +destiny. Hardly has it disappeared in the conflagration of its last +rays, with which the West is flushed, when the blue orb reappears on the +opposite side, shedding a pale azure light upon the world it +illuminates, which knows no night. And thus these two suns fraternize in +the Heavens over the common task of renewing a thousand effects of +extra-terrestrial light for the globes that are subject to their +variations.</p> + +<p>Scarlet, indigo, green, and golden suns; pearly and multi-colored Moons; +are these not fairy visions, dazzling to our poor sight, condemned while +here below to see and know but one white Sun?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p><p>As we have learned, there are not only double, but triple, and also +multiple stars. One of the finest ternary systems is that of γ in +Andromeda, above mentioned. Its large star is orange, its second green, +its third blue, but the two last are in close juxtaposition, and a +powerful telescope is needed to separate them. A triple star more easy +to observe is ζ of Cancer, composed of three orbs of fifth +magnitude, at a distance of 1″ and 5″; the first two revolve round their +common center of gravity in fifty-nine years, the third takes over three +hundred years. The preceding figure shows this system in a fairly +powerful objective (Fig. 18).</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig18.jpg" width="450" height="448" alt="Fig. 18.—Triple star ζ in Cancer." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 18.</span>—Triple star ζ in Cancer.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p><p>In the Lyre, a little above the dazzling Vega, ε is of fourth +magnitude, which seems a little elongated to the unaided eye, and can +even be analyzed into two contiguous stars by very sharp sight. But on +examining this attractive pair with a small glass, it is further obvious +that each of these stars is double; so that they form a splendid +quadruple system of two couples (Fig. 19): one of fifth and a half and +sixth magnitudes, at a distance of 2.4″, the other of sixth and +seventh, 3.2″ distant. The distance between the two pairs is 207″.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig19.jpg" width="450" height="448" alt="Fig. 19.—Quadruple star ε of the Lyre." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 19.</span>—Quadruple star ε of the Lyre.</span> +</div> + +<p>In speaking of Orion, we referred to the marvelous star θ situated +in the no less famous Nebula, below<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> the Belt; this star forms a +dazzling sextuple system, in the very heart of the nebula (Fig. 20). How +different to our Sun, sailing through Space in modest isolation!</p> + +<p>Be it noted that all these stars are animated by prodigious motions that +impel them in every direction.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig20.jpg" width="450" height="448" alt="Fig. 20.—Sextuple star θ in the Nebula of Orion." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 20.</span>—Sextuple star θ in the Nebula of Orion.</span> +</div> + +<p>There are no fixed stars. On every side throughout Infinity, the burning +suns—enormous globes, blazing centers of light and heat—are flying at +giddy speed toward an unknown goal, traversing millions of miles each +day, crossing century by century such vast spaces as are inconceivable +to the human intellect.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p><p>If the stars appear motionless to us, it is because they are so remote, +their secular movements being only manifested on the celestial sphere by +imperceptible displacements. But in reality these suns are in perpetual +commotion in the abysses of the Heavens, which they quicken with an +extraordinary animation.</p> + +<p>These perpetual and cumulative motions must eventually modify the aspect +of the Constellations: but these changes will only take effect very +slowly; and for thousands and thousands of years longer the heroes and +heroines of mythology will keep their respective places in the Heavens, +and reign undisturbed beneath the starry vault.</p> + +<p>Examination of these star motions reveals the fact that our Sun is +plunging with all his system (the Earth included) toward the +Constellation of Hercules. We are changing our position every moment: in +an hour we shall be 70,000 kilometers (43,500 miles) farther than we are +at present. The Sun and the Earth will never again traverse the space +they have just left, and which they have deserted forever.</p> + +<p>And here let us pause for an instant to consider the <i>variable stars</i>. +Our Sun, which is constant and uniform in its light, does not set the +type of all the stars. A great number of them are variable—either +periodically, in regular cycles—or irregularly.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p><p>We are already acquainted with the variations of Algol, in Perseus, due +to its partial eclipse by a dark globe gravitating in the line of our +vision. There are several others of the same type: these are not, +properly speaking, variable stars. But there are many others the +intrinsic light of which undergoes actual variations.</p> + +<p>In order to realize this, let us imagine that our Earth belongs to such +a sun, for example, to a star in the southern constellation of the +Whale, indicated by the letter ο, which has been named the +"wonderful" (Mira Ceti). Our new sun is shining to-day with a dazzling +light, shedding the gladness of his joyous beams upon nature and in our +hearts. For two months we admire the superb orb, sparkling in the azure +illuminated with its radiance. Then of a sudden, its light fades, and +diminishes in intensity, though the sky remains clear. Imperceptibly, +our fine sun darkens; the atmosphere becomes sad and dull, there is an +anticipation of universal death. For five long months our world is +plunged in a kind of penumbra; all nature is saddened in the general +woe.</p> + +<p>But while we are bewailing the cruelty of our lot, our cherished +luminary revives. The intensity of its light increases slowly. Its +brilliancy augments, and finally, at the end of three months, it has +recovered its former splendors, and showers its bright beams upon our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +world, flooding it with joy. But—we must not rejoice too quickly! This +splendid blaze will not endure. The flaming star will pale once more; +fade back to its minimum; and then again revive. Such is the nature of +this capricious sun. It varies in three hundred and thirty-one days, and +from yellow at the maximum, turns red at the minimum. This star, Mira +Ceti, which is one of the most curious of its type, varies from the +second to the ninth magnitudes: we cite it as one example; hundreds of +others might be instanced.</p> + +<p>Thus the sky is no black curtain dotted with brilliant points, no empty +desert, silent and monotonous. It is a prodigious theater on which the +most fantastic plays are continually being acted. Only—there are no +spectators.</p> + +<p>Again, we must note the <i>temporary stars</i>, which shine for a certain +time, and then die out rapidly. Such was the star in Cassiopeia, in +1572, the light of which exceeded Sirius in its visibility in full +daylight, burning for five months with unparalleled splendor, dominating +all other stars of first magnitude; after which it died out gradually, +disappearing at the end of seventeen months, to the terror of the +peoples, who saw in it the harbinger of the world's end: that of 1604, +in the Constellation of the Serpent, which shone for a year; of 1866, of +second magnitude, in the Northern Crown,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> which appeared for a few weeks +only; of 1876, in the Swan; of 1885, in the Nebula of Andromeda; of +1891, in the Charioteer; and quite recently, of 1901, in Perseus.</p> + +<p>These temporary stars, which appear spontaneously to the observers on +the Earth, and quickly vanish again, are doubtless due to collisions, +conflagrations, or celestial cataclysms. But we only see them long after +the epoch at which the phenomena occurred, years upon years, and +centuries ago. For instance, the conflagration photographed by the +author in 1901, in Perseus, must have occurred in the time of Queen +Elizabeth. It has taken all this time for the rays of light to reach us.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>The Heavens are full of surprises, on which we can bestow but a fleeting +glance within these limits. They present a field of infinite variety.</p> + +<p>Who has not noticed the Milky Way, the pale belt that traverses the +entire firmament and is so luminous on clear evenings in the +Constellations of the Swan and the Lyre? It is indeed a swarm of stars. +Each is individually too small to excite our retina, but as a whole, +curiously enough, they are perfectly visible. With opera-glasses we +divine the starry constitution: a small telescope shows us marvels. +Eighteen millions of stars were counted there with the gauges of William +Herschel.</p> + +<p>Now this Milky Way is a symbol, not of the Universe,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> but of the +Universes that succeed each other through the vast spaces to Infinity.</p> + +<p>Our Sun is a star of the Milky Way. It surrounds us like a great circle, +and if the Earth were transparent, we should see it pass beneath our +feet as well as over our heads. It consists of a very considerable mass +of star-clusters, varying greatly in extent and number, some projected +in front of others, while the whole forms an agglomeration.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig21.jpg" width="450" height="448" alt="Fig. 21.—The Star-Cluster in Hercules." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 21.</span>—The Star-Cluster in Hercules.</span> +</div> + +<p>Among this mass of star-groups, several thousands of which are already +known to us, we will select one of the most curious, the Cluster in +Hercules, which can be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> distinguished with the unaided eye, between the +stars η and ζ of that constellation. Many photographs of it +have been taken in the author's observatory at Juvisy, showing some +thousands of stars; and one of these is reproduced in the accompanying +figure (Fig. 21). Is it not a veritable universe?</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig22.jpg" width="450" height="448" alt="Fig. 22.—The Star-Cluster in the Centaur." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 22.</span>—The Star-Cluster in the Centaur.</span> +</div> + +<p>Another of the most beautiful, on account of its regularity, is that of +the Centaur (Fig. 22).</p> + +<p>These groups often assume the most extraordinary shapes in the +telescope, such as crowns, fishes, crabs, open mouths, birds with +outspread wings, etc.</p> + +<p>We must also note the <i>gaseous nebulæ</i>, universes in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> the making, +<i>e.g.</i>, the famous Nebula in Orion, of which we obtained some notion a +while ago in connection with its sextuple star: and also that in +Andromeda (Fig. 23).</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig23.jpg" width="450" height="601" alt="Fig. 23.—The Nebula in Andromeda." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 23.</span>—The Nebula in Andromeda.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig24.jpg" width="450" height="601" alt="Fig. 24.—Nebula in the Greyhounds." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 24.</span>—Nebula in the Greyhounds.</span> +</div> + +<p>Perhaps the most marvelous of all is that of the Greyhounds, which +evolves in gigantic spirals round a dazzling focus, and then loses +itself far off in the recesses of space. Fig. 24 gives a picture of it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig25.jpg" width="450" height="258" alt="Fig. 25.—The Pleiades." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 25.</span>—The Pleiades.</span> +</div> + +<p>Without going thus far, and penetrating into telescopic depths, my +readers can get some notion of these star-clusters with the help of a +small telescope or opera-glasses, or even with the unaided eye, by +looking at the beautiful group of the Pleiades, already familiar to us +on another page, and using it as a test of vision. The little map +subjoined (Fig. 25) will be an assistance in recognizing them, and in +estimating their magnitudes, which are in the following order:</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="THE PLEIADES"> +<tr><td class='td2'>Alcyone</td><td align='right'>3.0.</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>Electra</td><td align='right'>4.5.</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>Atlas</td><td align='right'>4.6.</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>Maia</td><td align='right'>5.0.</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>Merope</td><td align='right'>5.5.</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>Taygeta</td><td align='right'>5.8.</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>Pleione</td><td align='right'>6.3.</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>Celæno</td><td align='right'>6.5.</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>Asterope</td><td align='right'>6.8.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>Good eyes distinguish the first six, sharp sight detects the three +others.</p> + +<p>In the times of the ancient Greeks, seven were accounted of equal +brilliancy, and the poets related that the seventh star had fled at the +time of the Trojan War. Ovid adds that she was mortified at not being +embraced by a god, as were her six sisters. It is probable that only the +best sight could then distinguish Pleione, as in our own day. The +angular distance from Atlas to Pleione is 5′.</p> + +<p>The length of this republic, from Atlas and Pleione to Celæno, is 4′/23″ +of time, or 1°6′ of arc; the breadth, from Merope to Asterope, is +36′.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>In the quadrilateral, the length from Alcyone to Electra is 36′, and the +breadth from Merope to Maia 25′. To us it appears as though, if the Full +Moon were placed in front of this group of nine stars, she would cover +it entirely, for to the naked eye she appears much larger than all the +Pleiades together. But this is not so. She only measures 31′, less than +half the distance from Atlas to Celæno; she is hardly broader than the +distance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> from Alcyone to Atlas, and could pass between Merope and +Taygeta without touching either of these stars. This is a perennial and +very curious optical illusion. When the Moon passes in front of the +Pleiades, and occults them successively, it is hard to believe one's +eyes. The fact occurred, <i>e.g.</i>, on July 23, 1897, during a fine +occultation observed at the author's laboratory of Juvisy (Fig. 26).</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig26.jpg" width="450" height="439" alt="Fig. 26.—Occultation of the Pleiades by the Moon." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 26.</span>—Occultation of the Pleiades by the Moon.</span> +</div> + +<p>Photography here discovers to us, not 6, 9, 12, 15, or 20 stars, but +hundreds and millions.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p><p>These are the most brilliant flowers of the celestial garden.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig27.jpg" width="450" height="299" alt="Fig. 27.—Stellar dial of the double star γ of the Virgin." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 27.</span>—Stellar dial of the double star γ of the Virgin.</span> +</div> + +<p>We, alas, can but glance at them rapidly. In contemplating them we are +transported into immensities both of space and time, for the stellar +periods measured by these distant universes often overpower in their +magnitude the rapid years in which our terrestrial days are estimated. +For instance, one of the double stars we spoke of above, γ of the +Virgin, sees its two components, translucent diamonds, revolve around +their common center of gravity, in one hundred and eighty years. How +many events took place in France, let us say, in a single year of this +star!—The Regency, Louis XV, Louis XVI, the Revolution, Napoleon, Louis +XVIII, Louis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> Philippe, the Second Republic, Napoleon III, the +Franco-German War, the Third Republic.... What revolutions here, during +a single year of this radiant pair! (Fig. 27.)</p> + +<p>But the pageant of the Heavens is too vast, too overwhelming. We must +end our survey.</p> + +<p>Our Milky Way, with its millions of stars, represents for us only a +portion of the Creation. The illimitable abysses of Infinitude are +peopled by other universes as vast, as imposing, as our own, which are +renewed in all directions through the depths of Space to endless +distance. Where is our little Earth? Where our Solar System? We are fain +to fold our wings, and return from the Immense and Infinite to our +floating island.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>OUR STAR THE SUN</h3> + + +<p class="chap"><span class="smcap">In</span> the incessant agitation of daily life in which we are involved by the +thousand superfluous wants of modern "civilization," one is prone to +assume that existence is complete only when it reckons to the good an +incalculable number of petty incidents, each more insignificant than the +last. Why lose time in thinking or dreaming? We must live at fever heat, +must agitate, and be infatuated for inanities, must create imaginary +desires and torments.</p> + +<p>The thoughtful mind, prone to contemplation and admiration of the +beauties of Nature, is ill at ease in this perpetual vortex that +swallows everything—satisfaction, in a life that one has not time to +relish; love of the beautiful, that one views with indifference; it is a +whirlpool that perpetually hides Truth from us, forgotten forever at the +bottom of her well.</p> + +<p>And why are our lives thus absorbed in merely material interests? To +satisfy our pride and vanity! To make ourselves slaves to chimeras! If +the Moon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> were inhabited, and if her denizens could see us plainly +enough to note and analyze the details of human existence on the surface +of our planet, it would be curious and perhaps a little humiliating for +us, to see their statistics. What! we should say, is this the sum of our +lives? Is it for this that we struggle, and suffer, and die? Truly it is +futile to give ourselves such trouble.</p> + +<p>And yet the remedy is simple, within the power of every one; but one +does not think of it just because it is too easy, although it has the +immense advantage of lifting us out of the miseries of this weary world +toward the inexpressible happiness that must always awaken in us with +the knowledge of the Truth: we need only open our eyes to see, and to +look out. Only—one hardly ever thinks of it, and it is easier to let +one's self be blinded by the illusion and false glamor of appearances.</p> + +<p>Think what it would be to consecrate an hour each day to voluntary +participation in the harmonious Choir of Nature, to raise one's eyes +toward the Heavens, to share the lessons taught by the Pageant of the +Universe! But, no: there is no time, no time for the intellectual life, +no time to become attached to real interests, no time to pursue them.</p> + +<p>Among the objects marshaled for us in the immense spectacle of Nature, +nothing without exception has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> struck the admiration and attention of +man as much as the Sun, the God of Light, the fecundating orb, without +which our planet and its life would never have issued from nonentity, +<i>the visible image of the invisible god</i>, as said Cicero, and the poets +of antiquity. And yet how many beyond the circle of those likely to read +these pages know that this Sun is a star in the Milky Way, and that +every star is a sun? How many take any account of the reality and +grandeur of the Universe? Inquire, and you will find that the number of +people who have any notion, however rudimentary, of its construction, is +singularly restricted. Humanity is content to vegetate, much after the +fashion of a race of moles.</p> + +<p>Henceforward, you will know that you are living in the rays of a star, +which, from its proximity, we term a sun. To the inhabitants of other +systems of worlds, our splendid Sun is only a more or less brilliant, +luminous point, according as the spot from which it is observed is +nearer or farther off. But to us its "terrestrial" importance renders it +particularly precious; we forget all the sister stars on its account, +and even the most ignorant hail it with enthusiasm without exactly +knowing what its rôle in the universe may be, simply because they feel +that they depend on it, and that without it life would become extinct on +this globe. Yes, it is the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> beneficent rays of the Sun that shed upon +our Earth the floods of light and heat to which Life owes its existence +and its perpetual propagation.</p> + +<p>Hail, vast Sun! a little star in Infinitude, but for us a colossal and +portentous luminary. Hail, divine Benefactor! How should we not adore, +when we owe him the glow of the warm and cheery days of summer, the +gentle caresses by which his rays touch the undulating ears, and gild +them with the touch? The Sun sustains our globe in Space, and keeps it +within his rays by the mysteriously powerful and delicate cords of +attraction. It is the Sun that we inhale from the embalmed corollas of +the flowers that uplift their gracious heads toward his light, and +reflect his splendors back to us. It is the Sun that sparkles in the +foam of the merry wine; that charms our gaze in those first days of +spring, when the home of the human race is adorned with all the charms +of verdant and flowering youth. Everywhere we find the Sun; everywhere +we recognize his work, extending from the infinitely great to the +infinitely little. We bow to his might, and admire his power. When in +the sad winter day he disappears behind the snowy eaves, we think his +fiery globe will never rise to mitigate the short December days which +are alleviated with his languid beams.</p> + +<p>April restores him to superb majesty, and our hearts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> are filled with +hope in the illumination of those beauteous, sunny hours.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Our celestial journey carried us far indeed from our own Solar System. +Guided by the penetrating eye of the telescope, we reached such distant +creations that we lost sight of our cherished luminary.</p> + +<p>But we remember that he burns yonder, in the midst of the pale cosmic +cloud we term the Milky Way. Let us approach him, now that we have +visited the Isles of Light in the Celestial Ocean; let us traverse the +vast plains strewn with the burning gold of the Suns of the Infinite.</p> + +<p>We embark upon a ray of light, and glide rapidly to the portals of our +Universe. Soon we perceive a tiny speck, scintillating feebly in the +depths of Space, and recognize it as our own celestial quarters. This +little star shines like the head of a gold pin, and increases in size as +we advance toward it. We traverse a few more trillion miles in our rapid +course, and it shines out like a fine star of the first magnitude. It +grows larger and larger. Soon we divine that it is our humble Earth that +is shining before us, and gladly alight upon her. In future we shall not +quit our own province of the Celestial Kingdom, but will enter into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +relations with this solar family, which interests us the more in that it +affects us so closely.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig28.jpg" width="450" height="540" alt="Fig. 28.—Comparative sizes of the Sun and Earth." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 28.</span>—Comparative sizes of the Sun and Earth.</span> +</div> + +<p>The Sun, which is manifested to us as a fine white disk at noon, while +it is fiery red in the evening, at its setting, is an immense globe, +whose colossal dimensions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> surpass those of our terrestrial atom beyond +all conceivable proportion.</p> + +<p>In diameter, it is, in effect, 108<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> times as large as the Earth; that +is to say, if our planet be represented by a globe 1 meter in diameter, +the Sun would figure as a sphere 108<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> meters across. This is shown on +the accompanying figure (Fig. 28), which is in exact proportion.</p> + +<p>If our world were set down upon the Sun, with all its magnificence, all +its wealth, its mountains, its seas, its monuments, and its inhabitants, +it would only be an imperceptible speck. It would occupy less space in +the central orb than one grain in a grenade. If the Earth were placed in +the center of the Sun, with the Moon still revolving round it at her +proper distance of 384,000 kilometers (238,500 miles), only half the +solar surface would be covered.</p> + +<p>In volume the Sun is 1,280,000 times vaster than our abode, and 324,000 +times heavier in mass. That the giant only appears to us as a small +though very brilliant disk, is solely on account of its distance. Its +apparent dimensions by no means reveal its majestic proportions to us.</p> + +<p>When observed with astronomical instruments, or photographed, we +discover that its surface is not smooth, as might be supposed, but +granulated, presenting a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> number of luminous points dispersed over a +more somber background. These granulations are somewhat like the pores +of a fruit, <i>e.g.</i>, a fine orange, the color of which recalls the hue of +the Sun when it sinks in the evening, and prepares to plunge us into +darkness. At times these pores open under the influence of disturbances +that arise upon the solar surface, and give birth to a Sun-Spot. For +centuries scientists and lay people alike refused to admit the existence +of these spots, regarding them as so many blemishes upon the King of the +Heavens. Was not the Sun the emblem of inviolable purity? To find any +defect in him were to do him grievous injury. Since the orb of day was +incorruptible, those who threw doubt on his immaculate splendor were +fools and idiots. And so when Scheiner, one of the first who studied the +solar spots with the telescope, published the result of his experiments +in 1610, no one would believe his statements.</p> + +<p>Yet, from the observations of Galileo and other astronomers, it became +necessary to accept the evidence, and stranger still to recognize that +it is by these very spots that we are enabled to study the physical +constitution of the Sun.</p> + +<p>They are generally rounded or oval in shape, and exhibit two distinct +parts; first, the central portion, which is black, and is called the +<i>nucleus</i>, or <i>umbra</i>; second,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> a clearer region, half shaded, which has +received the name of <i>penumbra</i>. These parts are sharply defined in +outline; the penumbra is gray, the nucleus looks black in relation to +the dazzling brilliancy of the solar surface; but as a matter of fact it +radiates a light 2,000 times superior in intensity to that of the full +moon.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig29.jpg" width="450" height="452" alt="Fig. 29.—Direct photograph of the Sun." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 29.</span>—Direct photograph of the Sun.</span> +</div> + +<p>Some idea of the aspect of these spots may be obtained from the +accompanying reproduction of a photograph of the Sun (taken September 8, +1898, at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> author's observatory at Juvisy), and from the detailed +drawing of the large spot that broke out some days later (September 13), +crossed by a bridge, and furrowed with flames. As a rule, the spots +undergo rapid transformations.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig30.jpg" width="450" height="511" alt="Fig. 30.—Telescopic aspect of a Sun-Spot." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 30.</span>—Telescopic aspect of a Sun-Spot.</span> +</div> + +<p>These spots, which appear of insignificant dimensions<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> to the observers +on the Earth, are in reality absolutely gigantic. Some that have been +measured are ten times as large as the Earth's diameter, <i>i.e.</i>, 120,000 +kilometers (74,500 miles).</p> + +<p>Sometimes the spots are so large that they can be seen with the unaided +eye (protected with black or dark-blue glasses). They are not formed +instantaneously, but are heralded by a vast commotion on the solar +surface, exhibiting, as it were, luminous waves or <i>faculæ</i>. Out of this +agitation arises a little spot, that is usually round, and enlarges +progressively to reach a maximum, after which it diminishes, with +frequent segmentation and shrinkage. Some are visible only for a few +days; others last for months. Some appear, only to be instantly +swallowed in the boiling turmoil of the flaming orb. Sometimes, again, +white incandescent waves emerge, and seem to throw luminous bridges +across the central umbra. As a rule the spots are not very profound. +They are funnel-shaped depressions, inferior in depth to the diameter of +the Earth, which, as we have seen, is 108 times smaller than that of the +Sun.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>The Sun-Spots are not devoid of motion, and from their movements we +learn that the radiant orb revolves upon itself in about twenty-five +days. This rotation was determined in 1611, by Galileo, who, while +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>observing the spots, saw that they traversed the solar disk from east +to west, following lines that are oblique to the plane of the ecliptic, +and that they disappear at the western border fourteen days after their +arrival at the eastern edge. Sometimes the same spot, after being +invisible for fourteen days, reappears upon the eastern edge, where it +was observed twenty-eight days previously. It progresses toward the +center of the Sun, which is reached in seven days, disappears anew in +the west, and continues its journey on the hemisphere opposed to us, to +reappear under observation two weeks later, if it has not meantime been +extinguished. This observation proves that the Sun revolves upon itself. +The reappearance of the spots occurs in about twenty-seven days, because +the Earth is not stationary, and in its movement round the burning +focus, a motion effected in the same direction as the solar rotation, +the spots are still visible two and a half days after they disappeared +from the point at which they had been twenty-five days previously. In +reality, the rotation of the Sun occupies twenty-five and a half days, +but strangely enough this globe <i>does not rotate in one uniform period</i>, +like the Earth; the rotation periods, or movements of the different +parts of the solar surface, diminish from the Sun's equator toward its +poles. The period is twenty-five days at the equator, twenty-six at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> the +twenty-fourth degree of latitude, north or south, twenty-seven at the +thirty-seventh degree, twenty-eight at the forty-eighth. The spots are +usually formed between the equator and this latitude, more especially +between the tenth and thirtieth degrees. They have never been seen round +the poles.</p> + +<p>Toward the edges of the Sun, again, are very brilliant and highly +luminous regions, which generally surround the spots, and have been +termed <i>faculæ</i> (<i>facula</i>, a little torch). These faculæ, which +frequently occupy a very extensive surface, seem to be the seat of +formidable commotions that incessantly revolutionize the face of our +monarch, often, as we said, preceding the spots. They can be detected +right up to the poles.</p> + +<p>Our Sun, that appears so calm and majestic, is in reality the seat of +fierce conflagrations. Volcanic eruptions, the most appalling storms, +the worst cataclysms that sometimes disturb our little world, are gentle +zephyrs compared with the solar tempests that engender clouds of fire +capable at one burst of engulfing globes of the dimensions of our +planet.</p> + +<p>To compare terrestrial volcanoes with solar eruptions is like comparing +the modest night-light that consumes a midge with the flames of the fire +that destroys a town.</p> + +<p>The solar spots vary in a fairly regular period of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> eleven to twelve +years. In certain years, <i>e.g.</i>, 1893, they are vast, numerous and +frequent; in other years, <i>e.g.</i>, 1901, they are few and insignificant. +The statistics are very carefully preserved. Here, for instance, is the +surface showing sun-spots expressed in millionths of the extent of the +visible solar surface:</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="SUN SPOT CYCLES"> +<tr><td class='td2'>1889</td><td align='right'>78</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>1890</td><td align='right'>99</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>1891</td><td align='right'>569</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>1892</td><td align='right'>1,214</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>1893</td><td align='right'>1,464</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>1895</td><td align='right'>974</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>1896</td><td align='right'>543</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>1897</td><td align='right'>514</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>1898</td><td align='right'>375</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>1899</td><td align='right'>111</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>1900</td><td align='right'>75</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>1901</td><td align='right'>29</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>1902</td><td align='right'>62</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>The years 1889 and 1901 were <i>minima</i>; the year 1893 a <i>maximum</i>.</p> + +<p>It is a curious fact that terrestrial magnetism and the boreal auroras +exhibit an oscillation parallel to that of the solar spots, and +apparently the same occurs with regard to temperature.</p> + +<p>We must regard our sun as a globe of gas in a state of combustion, +burning at high temperature, and giving off a prodigious amount of heat +and light. The dazzling surface of this globe is called a <i>photosphere</i> +(light sphere). It is in perpetual motion, like the waves of an ocean of +fire, whose roseate and transparent flames measure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> some 15,000 +kilometers (9,300 miles) in height. This stratum of rose-colored flames +has received the name of <i>chromosphere</i> (color sphere). It is +transparent; it is not directly visible, but is seen only during the +total eclipses of the Sun, when the dazzling disk of that luminary is +entirely concealed by the Moon; or with the aid of the spectroscope. The +part of the Sun that we see is its luminous surface, or photosphere.</p> + +<p>From this agitated surface there is a constant ejection of gigantic +eruptions, immense jets of flame, geysers of fire, projected at a +terrific speed to prodigious heights.</p> + +<p>For years astronomers were greatly perplexed as to the nature of these +incandescent masses, known as prominences, which shot out like +fireworks, and were only visible during the total eclipses of the Sun. +But now, thanks to an ingenious invention of Janssen and Lockyer, these +eruptions can be observed every day in the spectroscope, and have been +registered since 1868, more particularly in Rome and in Catania, where +the Society of Spectroscopists was founded with this especial object, +and publishes monthly bulletins in statistics of the health of the Sun.</p> + +<p>These prominences assume all imaginable forms, and often resemble our +own storm-clouds; they rise above the chromosphere with incredible +velocity, often <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>exceeding 200 kilometers (124 miles) per second, and +are carried up to the amazing height of 300,000 kilometers (186,000 +miles).</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig31.jpg" width="450" height="548" alt="Fig. 31.—Rose-colored solar flames." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 31.</span>—Rose-colored solar flames 228,000 kilometers +(141,500 miles) in height, <i>i.e.</i>, 18 times the diameter of the Earth.</span> +</div> + +<p>The Sun is surrounded with these enormous flames on every side; +sometimes they shoot out into space like splendid curving roseate +plumes; at others they rear their luminous heads in the Heavens, like +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> cleft and waving leaves of giant palm-trees. Having illustrated a +remarkable type of solar spot, it is interesting to submit to the reader +a precise observation of these curious solar flames. That reproduced +here was observed in Rome, January 30, 1885. It measured 228,000 +kilometers (141,500 miles) in height, eighteen times the diameter of the +earth (represented alongside in its relative magnitude). (Fig. 31.)</p> + +<p>Solar eruptions have been seen to reach, in a few minutes, a height of +more than 100,000 kilometers (62,000 miles), and then to fall back in a +flaming torrent into that burning and inextinguishable ocean.</p> + +<p>Observation, in conjunction with spectral analysis, shows these +prominences to be due to formidable explosions produced within the +actual substance of the Sun, and projecting masses of incandescent +hydrogen into space with considerable force.</p> + +<p>Nor is this all. During an eclipse one sees around the black disk of the +Moon as it passes in front of the Sun and intercepts its light, a +brilliant and rosy aureole with long, luminous, branching feathers +streaming out, like aigrettes, which extend a very considerable distance +from the solar surface. This aureole, the nature of which is still +unknown to us, has received the name of <i>corona</i>. It is a sort of +immense atmosphere, extremely rarefied. Our superb torch, accordingly, +is a brazier<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> of unparalleled activity—a globe of gas, agitated by +phenomenal tempests whose flaming streamers extend afar. The smallest of +these flames is so potent that it would swallow up our world at a single +breath, like the bombs shot out by Vesuvius, that fall back within the +crater.</p> + +<p>What now is the real heat of this incandescent focus? The most accurate +researches estimate the temperature of the surface of the Sun at +7,000°C. The internal temperature must be considerably higher. A +crucible of molten iron poured out upon the Sun would be as a stream of +ice and snow.</p> + +<p>We can form some idea of this calorific force by making certain +comparisons. Thus, the heat given out appears to be equal to that which +would be emitted by a colossal globe of the same dimensions (that is, as +voluminous as twelve hundred and eighty thousand terrestrial globes), +entirely covered with a layer of incandescent coal 28 kilometers (18 +miles) in depth, all burning at equal combustion. The heat emitted by +the Sun, at each second, is equal to that which would result from the +combustion of eleven quadrillions six hundred thousand milliards of tons +of coal, all burning together. This same heat would bring to the boil in +an hour, two trillions nine hundred milliards of cubic kilometers of +water at freezing-point.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p><p>Our little planet, gravitating at 149,000,000 kilometers (93,000,000 +miles) from the Sun, arrests on the way, and utilizes, only the half of +a milliard part of this total radiation.</p> + +<p>How is this heat maintained? One of the principal causes of the heat of +the Sun is its condensation. According to all probabilities, the solar +globe represents for us the nucleus of a vast nebula, that extended in +primitive times beyond the orbit of Neptune, and which in its +contraction has finally produced this central focus. In virtue of the +law of transformation of motion into heat, this condensation, which has +not yet reached its limit, suffices to raise this colossal globe to its +level of temperature, and to maintain it there for millions of years. In +addition, a substantial number of meteors is forever falling into it. +This furnace is a true pandemonium.</p> + +<p>The Sun weighs three hundred and twenty-four thousand times more than +the Earth—that is to say, eighteen hundred and seventy octillions of +kilograms:</p> + +<p class="center"> +1,870,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000<br /> +(1,842,364,532,019,704,433,497,536,945 tons). +</p> + +<p>In <a href="#CHAPTER_XI">Chapter XI</a> we shall explain the methods by which it has been found +possible to weigh the Sun and determine its exact distance.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p><p>I trust these figures will convey some notion of the importance and +nature of the Sun, the stupendous orb on whose rays our very existence +depends. Its apparent dimension (which is only half a degree, 32′, and +would be hidden from sight, like that of the full moon, which is about +the same, by the tip of the little finger held out at arm's length), +represents, as we have seen, a real dimension that is colossal, <i>i.e.</i>, +1,383,000 kilometers (more than 857,000 miles), and this is owing to the +enormous distance that separates us from it. This distance of +149,000,000 kilometers (93,000,000 miles) is sufficiently hard to +appreciate. Let us say that 11,640 terrestrial globes would be required +to throw a bridge from here to the Sun, while 30 would suffice from the +Earth to the Moon. The Moon is 388 times nearer to us than the Sun. We +may perhaps conceive of this distance by calculating that a train, +moving at constant speed of 1 kilometer (0.6214 mile) a minute, would +take 149,000,000 minutes, that is to say 103,472 days, or 283 years, to +cross the distance that separates us from this orb. Given the normal +duration of life, neither the travelers who set out for the Sun, nor +their children, nor their grandchildren, would arrive there: only the +seventh generation would reach the goal, and only the fourteenth could +bring us back news of it.</p> + +<p>Children often cry for the Moon. If one of these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> inquisitive little +beings could stretch out its arms to touch the Sun, and burn its fingers +there, it would not feel the burn for one hundred and sixty-seven years +(when it would no longer be an infant), for the nervous impulse of +sensation can only be transmitted from the ends of the fingers to the +brain at a velocity of 28 meters per second.</p> + +<p>'Tis long. A cannon-ball would reach the Sun in ten years. Light, that +rapid arrow that flies through space at a velocity of 300,000 kilometers +(186,000 miles per second), takes only eight minutes seventeen seconds +to traverse this distance.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>This brilliant Sun is not only sovereign of the Earth; he is also the +head of a vast planetary system.</p> + +<p>The orbs that circle round the Sun are opaque bodies, spherical in +shape, receiving their light and heat from the central star, on which +they absolutely depend. The name of planets given to them signifies +"wandering" stars. If you observe the Heavens on a fine starry night, +and are sufficiently acquainted with the principal stars of the Zodiac +as described in a preceding chapter, you may be surprised on certain +evenings to see the figure of some zodiacal constellation slightly +modified by the temporary presence of a brilliant orb perhaps surpassing +in its luminosity the finest stars of the first magnitude.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p><p>If you watch this apparition for some weeks, and examine its position +carefully in regard to the adjacent stars, you will observe that it +changes its position more or less slowly in the Heavens. These wandering +orbs, or <i>planets</i>, do not shine with intrinsic light; they are +illuminated by the Sun.</p> + +<p>The planets, in effect, are bodies as opaque as the Earth, traveling +round the God of Day at a speed proportional to their distance. They +number eight principal orbs, and may be divided into two quite distinct +groups by which we may recognize them: the first comprises four planets, +of relatively small dimensions in comparison with those of the second +group, which are so voluminous that the least important of them is +larger than the other four put together.</p> + +<p>In order of distance from the Sun, we first encounter:</p> + +<p class="center"> +<small>MERCURY, VENUS, THE EARTH, AND MARS</small> +</p> + +<p>These are the worlds that are nearest to the orb of day.</p> + +<p>The four following, and much more remote, are, still in order of +distance:</p> + +<p class="center"> +<small>JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS, AND NEPTUNE</small> +</p> + +<p>This second group is separated from the first by a vast space occupied +by quite a little army of minute planets, tiny cosmic bodies, the +largest of which measures<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> little more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) in +diameter, and the smallest some few miles only.</p> + +<p>The planets which form these three groups represent the principal +members of the solar family. But the Sun is a patriarch, and each of his +daughters has her own children who, while obeying the paternal influence +of the fiery orb, are also obedient to the world that governs them. +These secondary asters, or <i>satellites</i>, follow the planets in their +course, and revolve round them in an ellipse, just as the others rotate +round the Sun. Every one knows the satellite of the Earth, the Moon. All +the other planets of our system have their own moons, some being even +more favored than ourselves in this respect, and having several. Mars +has two; Jupiter, five; Saturn, eight; Uranus, four; and Neptune, one +(at least as yet discovered).</p> + +<p>In order to realize the relations between these worlds, we must +appreciate their distances by arranging them in a little table:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table class="dist" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="PLANET DISTANCES FROM THE SUN"> +<tr><td> </td><td class="td4">Distance in<br />Millions of<br />Kilometers.</td><td class="td4">Distance in<br />Millions of<br />Miles.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">Mercury</td><td class="td3">57</td><td class="td3">35</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">Venus</td><td class="td3">108</td><td class="td3">67</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">The Earth</td><td class="td3">149</td><td class="td3">93</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">Mars</td><td class="td3">226</td><td class="td3">140</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">Jupiter</td><td class="td3">775</td><td class="td3">481</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">Saturn</td><td class="td3">1,421</td><td class="td3">882</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">Uranus</td><td class="td3">2,831</td><td class="td3">1,755</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">Neptune</td><td class="td3">4,470</td><td class="td3">2,771</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p><p>The Sun is at the center (or, more properly speaking, at the focus, for +the planets describe an ellipse) of this system, and controls them. +Neptune is thirty times farther from the Sun than the Earth. These +disparities of distance produce a vast difference in the periods of the +planetary revolutions; for while the Earth revolves round the Sun in a +year, Venus in 224 days, and Mercury in 88, Mars takes nearly 2 years to +accomplish his journey, Jupiter 12 years, Saturn 29, Uranus 84, and +Neptune 165.</p> + +<p>Even the planets and their moons do not represent the Sun's complete +paternity. There are further, in the solar republic, certain vagabond +and irregular orbs that travel at a speed that is often most immoderate, +occasionally approaching the Sun, not to be consumed therein, but, as it +appears, to draw from its radiant source the provision of forces +necessary for their perigrinations through space. These are the +<i>Comets</i>, which pursue an extremely elongated orbit round the Sun, to +which at times they approximate very closely, at other times being +excessively distant.</p> + +<p>And now to recapitulate our knowledge of the Solar Empire. In the first +place, we see a colossal globe of fire dominating and governing the +worlds that belong to him. Around him are grouped planets, in number +eight principal, formed of solid and obscure matter, gravitating<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> round +the central orb. Other secondary orbs, the satellites, revolve round the +planets, which keep them within the sphere of their attraction. And +lastly, the comets, irregular celestial bodies, track the whole extent +of the great solar province. To these might be added the whirlwinds of +meteors, as it were disaggregated comets, which also circle round the +Sun, and give origin to shooting stars, when they come into collision +with the Earth.</p> + +<p>Having now a general idea of our celestial family, and an appreciation +of the potent focus that controls it, let us make direct acquaintance +with the several members of which it is composed.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>THE PLANETS</h3> + +<p class="center"><i>A.</i>—<span class="smcap">Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars</span></p> + + +<p class="chap"><span class="smcap">And</span> now we are in the Solar System, at the center, or, better, at the +focus of which burns the immense and dazzling orb. We have appreciated +the grandeur and potency of the solar globe, whose rays spread out in +active waves that bear a fecundating illumination to the worlds that +gravitate round him; we have appreciated the distance that separates the +Sun from the Earth, the third of the planets retained within his domain, +or at least I trust that the comparisons of the times required by +certain moving objects to traverse this distance have enabled us to +conceive it.</p> + +<p>We said that the four planets nearest to the Sun are Mercury, at a +distance of 57 million kilometers (35,000,000 miles); Venus, at 108 +million (67,000,000 miles); the Earth, at 149 million (93,000,000 +miles); and Mars at 226 million (140,000,000 miles). Let us begin our +planetary journey with these four stations.</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p><p class="center">MERCURY</p> + +<p>A little above the Sun one sometimes sees, now in the West, in the +lingering shimmer of the twilight, now in the East, when the tender +roseate dawn announces the advent of a clear day, a small star of the +first magnitude which remains but a very short time above the horizon, +and then plunges back into the flaming sun. This is Mercury, the agile +and active messenger of Olympus, the god of eloquence, of medicine, of +commerce, and of thieves. One only sees him furtively, from time to +time, at the periods of his greatest elongations, either after the +setting or before the rising of the radiant orb, when he presents the +aspect of a somewhat reddish star.</p> + +<p>This planet, like the others, shines only by the reflection of the Sun +whose illumination he receives, and as he is in close juxtaposition with +it, his light is bright enough, though his volume is inconsiderable. He +is smaller than the Earth. His revolution round the Sun being +accomplished in about three months, he passes rapidly, in a month and a +half, from one side to the other of the orb of day, and is alternately a +morning and an evening star. The ancients originally regarded it as two +separate planets; but with attentive observation,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> they soon perceived +its identity. In our somewhat foggy climates, it can only be discovered +once or twice a year, and then only by looking for it according to the +indications given in the astronomic almanacs.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig32.jpg" width="450" height="465" alt="Fig. 32.—Orbits of the four Planets nearest to the Sun." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 32.</span>—Orbits of the four Planets nearest to the Sun.</span> +</div> + +<p>Mercury courses round the Sun at a distance of 57,000,000 kilometers +(35,000,000 miles), and accomplishes his revolution in 87 days, 23 +hours, 15 minutes; <i>i.e.</i>, 2 months, 27 days, 23 hours, or a little less +than three of our months. If the conditions of life are the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> same there +as here, the existence of the Mercurians must be four times as short as +our own. A youth of twenty, awaking to the promise of the life he is +just beginning in this world, is an octogenarian in Mercury. There the +fair sex would indeed be justified in bewailing the transitory nature of +life, and might regret the years that pass too quickly away. Perhaps, +however, they are more philosophic than with us.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig33.jpg" width="450" height="443" alt="Fig. 33.—Orbits of the four Planets farthest from the Sun." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 33.</span>—Orbits of the four Planets farthest from the Sun.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p><p>The orbit of Mercury, which of course is within that of the Earth, is +not circular, but elliptical, and very eccentric, so elongated that at +certain times of the year this planet is extremely remote from the solar +focus, and receives only half as much heat and light as at the opposite +period; and, in consequence, his distance from the Earth varies +considerably.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/fig34.jpg" width="400" height="399" alt="Fig. 34.—Mercury near quadrature." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 34.</span>—Mercury near quadrature.</span> +</div> + +<p>This globe exhibits <i>phases</i>, discovered in the seventeenth century by +Galileo, which recall those of the Moon. They are due to the motions of +the planet round the Sun, and are invisible to the unaided eye, but with +even a small instrument, one can follow the gradations and study Mercury +under every aspect. Sometimes, again, he passes exactly in front of the +Sun, and his disk is projected like a black point upon the luminous +surface of the flaming orb. This occurred, notably, on May 10, 1891, and +November 10, 1894; and the phenomenon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> will recur on November 12, 1907, +and November 6, 1914.</p> + +<p>Mercury is the least of all the worlds in our system (with the exception +of the cosmic fragments that circulate between the orbit of Mars and +that of Jupiter). His volume equals only 5/100 that of the Earth. His +diameter, in comparison with that of our planet, is in the ratio of 373 +to 1,000 (a little more than <span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">3</span>) and measures 4,750 kilometers (2,946 +miles). His density is the highest of all the worlds in the great solar +family, and exceeds that of our Earth by about <span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">3</span>; but weight there is +less by almost <span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span>.</p> + +<p>Mercury is enveloped in a very dense, thick atmosphere, which doubtless +sensibly tempers the solar heat, for the Sun exhibits to the Mercurians +a luminous disk about seven times more extensive than that with which we +are familiar on the Earth, and when Mercury is at perihelion (that is, +nearest to the Sun), his inhabitants receive ten times more light and +heat than we obtain at midsummer. In all probability, it would be +impossible for us to set foot on this planet without being shattered by +a sunstroke.</p> + +<p>Yet we may well imagine that Nature's fecundity can have engendered +beings there of an organization different from our own, adapted to an +existence in the proximity of fire. What magnificent landscapes may +there be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> adorned with the luxuriant vegetation that develops rapidly +under an ardent and generous sun?</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/fig35.jpg" width="400" height="606" alt="Fig. 35.—The Earth viewed from Mercury." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 35.</span>—The Earth viewed from Mercury.</span> +</div> + +<p>Observations of Mercury are taken under great difficulties, just because +of the immediate proximity of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> the solar furnace; yet some have detected +patches that might be seas. In any case, these observations are +contradictory and uncertain.</p> + +<p>Up to the present it has been impossible to determine the duration of +the rotation. Some astronomers even think that the Sun's close proximity +must have produced strong tides, that would, as it were, have +immobilized the globe of Mercury, just as the Earth has immobilized the +Moon, forcing it perpetually to present the same side to the Sun. From +the point of view of habitation, this situation would be somewhat +peculiar; perpetual day upon the illumined half, perpetual night upon +the other hemisphere, and a fairly large zone of twilight between the +two. Such a condition would indeed be different from the succession of +terrestrial days and nights.</p> + +<p>As seen from Mercury, the Earth we inhabit would shine out in the starry +sky<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> as a magnificent orb of first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> magnitude, with the Moon +alongside, a faithful little companion. They should form a fine double +star, the Earth being a brilliant orb of first magnitude, and the Moon +of third, a charming couple, and admired doubtless as an enchanted and +privileged abode.</p> + +<p>It is at midnight during the oppositions of the Earth with the Sun that +our planet is the most beautiful and brilliant, as is Jupiter for +ourselves. The constellations are the same, viewed from Mercury or from +the Earth.</p> + +<p>But is this little solar planet inhabited? We do not yet know. We can +only reply: why not?</p> + + +<p class="center">VENUS</p> + +<p>When the sunset atmosphere is crimson with the glorious rays of the King +of Orbs, and all Nature assumes the brooding veil of twilight, the most +indifferent eyes are often attracted and captivated by the presence of a +star that is almost dazzling, and illuminates with its white and limpid +light the heavens darkened by the disappearance of the God of Day.</p> + +<p>Hail, Venus, Queen of the Heavens! the "Shepherd's Star," gentle mother +of the loves, goddess of beauty, eternally adored and cherished, sung +and immortalized upon Earth, by poets and artists. Her splendid +brilliancy attracted notice from earliest antiquity, and we find her,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +radiant and charming, in the works of the ancients, who erected altars +to her and adorned their poetry with her grace and beauty. Homer calls +her Callisto the Beautiful; Cicero names her Vesper, the evening star, +and Lucifer, the star of the morning—for it was with this divinity as +with Mercury. For a long while she was regarded as two separate planets, +and it was only when it came to be observed that the evening and the +morning star were always in periodic succession, that the identity of +the orb was recognized.</p> + +<p>Her radiant splendor created her mythological personality, just as the +agility of Mercury created that of the messenger of the gods.</p> + +<p>We do not see her aerial chariot in the Heavens drawn by a flight of +doves with white and fluttering wings, but we follow the lustrous orb +led on through space by solar attraction. And in the beautiful evenings +when she is at her greatest distance from our Sun, the whole world +admires this white and dazzling Venus reigning as sovereign over our +twilight<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> for hours after sunset, and in addition to the <i>savants</i> +who are practically occupied with astronomy, millions of eyes are raised +to this celestial splendor, and for a moment millions of human beings +feel some curiosity about the mysteries of the Infinite. The brutalities +of daily life would fain petrify our dreams, but thought is not yet +stifled to the point of checking all aspirations after eternal truth, +and when we gaze at the starry sky it is hard not to ask ourselves the +nature of those other worlds, and the place occupied by our own planet +in the vast concert of sidereal harmony.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig36.jpg" width="450" height="561" alt="Fig. 36.—The Evening Star." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 36.</span>—The Evening Star.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span></p><p>Even through a small telescope, Venus offers remarkable phases.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig37.jpg" width="450" height="226" alt="Fig. 37.—Successive phases of Venus." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 37.</span>—Successive phases of Venus.</span> +</div> + +<p>Fig. 37 gives some notion of the succession of these, and of the +planet's variations in magnitude during its journey round the Sun. +Imagine it to be rotating in a year of 224 days, 16 hours, 49 minutes, 8 +seconds at a distance of 108 million kilometers (67,000,000 miles), the +Earth being at 149 million kilometers (93,000,000 miles). Like Mercury, at certain +periods it passes between the Sun and ourselves, and as its illuminated +hemisphere is of course turned toward the orb of day, we at those times +perceive only a sharp and very luminous crescent. At<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> such periods Venus +is entirely, so to say, against the Sun, and presents to us her greatest +apparent dimension (Fig. 38). Sometimes, again, like Mercury, she passes +immediately in front of the Sun, forming a perfectly round black spot; +this happened on December 8, 1874, and December 6, 1882; and will recur +on June 7, 2004, and June 5, 2012. These transits have been utilized in +celestial geometry in measuring the distance of the Sun.</p> + +<p>You will readily divine that the distance of Venus varies considerably +according to her position in relation to the Earth: when she is between +the Sun and ourselves she is nearest to our world; but it is just at +those times that we see least of her surface, because she exhibits to us +only a slender crescent. Terrestrial astronomers are accordingly very +badly placed for the study of her physical constitution. The best +observations can be made when she is situated to right or left of the +Sun, and shows us about half her illuminated disk—during the day for +choice, because at night there is too much irradiation from her dazzling +light.</p> + +<p>These phases were discovered by Galileo, in 1610. His observations were +among the first that confirmed the veracity of the system of Copernicus, +affording an evident example of the movement of the planets round the +sun. They are often visible to the unaided eye with good sight, either +at dusk, or through light clouds.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> +<div class="figleft" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/fig38.jpg" width="400" height="390" alt="Fig. 38.—Venus at greatest brilliancy." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 38.</span>—Venus at greatest brilliancy.</span> +</div> + +<p>Venus, surrounded by a highly dense and rarefied atmosphere, which +increases the difficulties of observing her surface, might be called the +twin sister of the Earth, so similar are the dimensions of the two +worlds. But, strange as it may seem to the many admirers, who are ready +to hail in her an abode of joy and happiness, it is most probable that +this planet, attractive as she is at a distance, would be a less +desirable habitation than our floating island. In fact, the atmosphere +of Venus is perpetually covered with cloud, so that the weather there +must be always foggy. No definite geographical configuration can be +discovered on her, despite the hopes of the eighteenth-century +astronomers. We are not even sure that she rotates upon herself, so +contradictory are the observations, and so hard is it to distinguish +anything clearly upon her surface. A single night of observation +suffices to show the rotation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> of Mars or of Jupiter; but the beautiful +Evening Star remains obstinately veiled from our curiosity.</p> + +<p>Several astronomers, and not the least considerable, think that the +tides produced by the Sun upon her seas, or globe in its state of +pristine fluidity, must have been strong enough to seize and fix her, as +the Earth did for the Moon, thus obliging her to present always the same +face to the Sun. Certain telescopic observations would even seem to +confirm this theoretical deduction from the calculations of celestial +mechanics.</p> + +<p>The author ventures to disagree with this opinion, its apparent +probability notwithstanding, because he has invariably received a +contrary impression from all his telescopic observations. He has quite +recently (spring of 1903) repeated these observations. Choosing a +remarkably clear and perfectly calm atmosphere, he examined the splendid +planet several times with great attention in the field of the telescope. +The right or eastern border (reversed image) was dulled by the +atmosphere of Venus; this is the line of separation between day and +night. Beneath, at the extreme northern edge, he was attracted on each +occasion by a small white patch, a little whiter than the rest of the +surface of the planet, surrounded by a light-gray penumbra, giving the +exact effect of a polar snow, very analogous to that observed at the +poles of Mars. To the author this white<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> spot on the boreal horn of +Venus does not appear to be due to an effect of contrast, as has +sometimes been supposed.</p> + +<p>Now, if the globe of Venus has poles, it must turn upon itself.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately it has proved impossible to distinguish any sign upon the +disk, indicative of the direction and speed of its rotary movement, +although these observations were made, with others, under excellent +conditions.—Three o'clock in the afternoon, brilliant sun, sky clear +blue, the planet but little removed from the meridian—at which time it +is less dazzling than in the evening.</p> + +<p>There is merely the impression; but it is so definite as to prevent the +author from adopting the new hypothesis, in virtue of which the planet, +as it gravitates round the Sun, presents always the same hemisphere.</p> + +<p>If this hypothesis were a reality, Venus would certainly be a very +peculiar world. Eternal day on the one side; eternal night on the other. +Maximum light and heat at the center of the hemisphere perpetually +turned to the Sun; maximum cold and center of night at the antipodes. +This icy hemisphere would possibly be uninhabitable, but the resources +of Nature are so prodigious, and the law of Life is so imperious, so +persistent, under the most disadvantageous and deplorable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> terrestrial +conditions, that it would be transcending our rights to declare an +impossibility of existence, even in this eternal night. The currents of +the atmosphere would no doubt suffice to set up perpetual changes of +temperature between the two hemispheres, in comparison with which our +trade-winds would be the lightest of breezes.</p> + +<p>Yes, mystery still reigns upon this adjacent earth, and the most +powerful instruments of the observatories of the whole world have been +unable to solve it. All we know is that the diameter, surface, volume +and mass of this planet, and its weight at the surface, do not differ +sensibly from those that characterize our own globe: that this planet is +sister to our own, and of the same order, hence probably formed of the +same elements. We further know that, as seen from Venus (Fig. 39), the +Earth on which we live is a magnificent star, a double orb more +brilliant even than when viewed from Mercury. It is a dazzling orb of +first magnitude, accompanied by its moon, a star of the second and a +half magnitude.</p> + +<p>And thus the worlds float on in space, distant symbols of hopes not +realized on any one of them, all at different stages of their degree of +evolution, representing an ever-growing progress in the sequence of the +ages.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/fig39.jpg" width="400" height="603" alt="Fig. 39.—The Earth viewed from Venus." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 39.</span>—The Earth viewed from Venus.</span> +</div> + +<p>When we contemplate this radiant Venus, it is difficult, even if we can +not form any definite idea as to her actual state as regards habitation, +to assume that she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> must be a dreary desert, and not, on the contrary, +to hail in her a celestial land, differing more or less from our own +dwelling-place, travailing with her sisters in the accomplishment of the +general plan of Nature.</p> + +<p>Such are the characteristic features of our celestial neighbor. In +quitting her, we reach the Earth, which comes immediately next her in +order of distance, 149 million kilometers (93,000,000 miles) from the +Sun, but as we shall devote an entire chapter to our own planet, we will +not halt at this point, but cross in one step the distance that +separates Mars from Venus.</p> + +<p>Let us only remark in passing, that our planet is the largest of the +four spheres adjacent to the Sun. Here are their comparative diameters:</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table class="dist" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="COMPARATIVE PLANET DIAMETERS"> +<tr><td> </td><td class="td4">The Earth = 1.</td><td class="td4">In Kilometers.</td><td class="td4">In Miles.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Mercury</td><td class="td3">0.373</td><td class="td3">4,750</td><td class="td3">2,946</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Venus</td><td class="td3">0.999</td><td class="td3">12,730</td><td class="td3">7,894</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Earth</td><td class="td3">1.000</td><td class="td3">12,742</td><td class="td3">7,926</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Mars</td><td class="td3">0.528</td><td class="td3">6,728</td><td class="td3">4,172</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>It will be seen that Venus is almost identical with the Earth.</p> + + +<p class="center">MARS</p> + +<p>Two hundred and twenty-six millions of kilometers (140,000,000 miles) +from the Sun is the planet Mars, gravitating in an orbit exterior to +that which the Earth takes annually round the same center.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p><p>Unfortunate Mars! What evil fairy presided at his birth? From +antiquity, all curses seem to have fallen upon him. He is the god of war +and of carnage, the protector of armies, the inspirer of hatred among +the peoples, it is he who pours out the blood of Humanity in +international hecatombs. Here, again, as in the case of Mercury and +Venus, the appearance has originated the idea. Mars, in fact, burns like +a drop of blood in the depths of the firmament, and it is this ruddy +color that inspired its name and attributes, just as the dazzling +whiteness of Venus made her the goddess of love and beauty. Why, indeed, +should the origins of mythology be sought elsewhere than in astronomy?</p> + +<p>While Humanity was attributing to the presumptive influence of Mars the +defects inherent in its own terrestrial nature, this world, unwitting of +our sorrows, pursued the celestial path marked out for it in space by +destiny.</p> + +<p>This planet is, as we have said, the first encountered after the Earth. +Its orbit is very elongated, very eccentric. Mars accomplishes it in a +period of 1 year, 321 days, 22 hours, <i>i.e.</i>, 1 year, 10 months, 21 +days, or 687 days. The velocity of its transit is 23 kilometers (14.5 +miles) per second; that of the Earth is 30 (19 miles). Our planet, +traveling through space at an average distance of 149 million kilometers +(93,000,000 miles) from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> the central focus, is separated from Mars by an +average distance of 76 million kilometers (47,000,000 miles); but as its +orbit is equally elliptic and elongated it follows that at certain +epochs the two planets approach one another by something less than 60 +million kilometers (37,000,000 miles). These are the periods selected +for making the best observations upon our neighbor of the ruddy rays. +The oppositions of Mars arrive about every twenty-six months, but the +periods of its greatest proximity, when this planet approaches to within +56 million kilometers (34,700,000 miles) of the Earth, occur only every +fifteen years.</p> + +<p>Mars is then passing perihelion, while our world is at aphelion (or +greatest distance from the Sun). At such epochs this globe presents to +us an apparent diameter 63 times smaller than that of the Moon, <i>i.e.</i>, +a telescope that magnifies 63 times would show him to us of the same +magnitude as our satellite viewed with the unaided eye, and an +instrument that magnified 630 times would show him ten times larger in +diameter.</p> + +<p>In dimensions he differs considerably from our world, being almost half +the size of the Earth. In diameter he measures only 6,728 kilometers +(4,172 miles), and his circumference is 21,125 kilometers (13,000 +miles). His surface is only <span class="above">29</span>⁄<span class="below">100</span> of the terrestrial surface, and his +volume only <span class="above">15</span>⁄<span class="below">100</span> of our own.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span></p><p>This difference in volume causes Mars to be an earth in miniature. When +we study his aspects, his geography, his meteorology, we seem to see in +space a reduction of our own abode, with certain dissimilarities that +excite our curiosity, and make him even more interesting to us.</p> + +<p>The Martian world weighs nine times and a half less than our own. If we +represent the weight of the Earth by 1,000, that of Mars would be +represented by 105. His density is much less than our own; it is only +<span class="above">7</span>⁄<span class="below">10</span> that of the Earth. A man weighing 70 kilograms, transported to the +adjacent globe, would weigh only 26 kilograms.</p> + +<p>The earliest telescopic observations revealed the existence of more or +less accentuated markings upon the surface of Mars. The progress of +optics, admitting of greater magnifications, exhibited the form of these +patches more clearly, while the study of their motions enabled the +astronomers to determine with remarkable precision the diurnal rotation +of this planet. It occurs in 24 hours, 37 minutes, 23.65 seconds. Day +and night are accordingly a little longer on Mars than on the Earth, but +the difference is obviously inconsiderable. The year of Mars consists of +668 Martian days. The inclination of the axis of rotation of this globe +upon the plane of its orbit is much the same as our own. In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +consequence, its seasons are analogous to ours in intensity, while twice +the length, the Martian year being almost equal to two of our years. The +intensity of the seasons is indeed more accentuated than upon the Earth, +since the orbit of Mars is very elongated. But there, as here, are three +quite distinct zones: the torrid, the temperate, and the glacial.</p> + +<p>By means of the telescope we can follow the variations of the Martian +seasons, especially in what concerns the polar snows, which regularly +aggregate during the winter, and melt no less regularly during the heat +of the summer. These snows are very easily observed, and stand out +clearly with dazzling whiteness. The reader can judge of them by the +accompanying figure, which sums up the author's observations during one +of the recent oppositions of Mars (1900–1901). The size of the polar cap +diminished from 4,680 kilometers to 840. The solstice of the Martian +summer was on April 11th. The snows were still melting on July 6th. +Sometimes they disappear almost entirely during the Martian month that +corresponds to our month of August, as never happens with our polar ice. +Hence, though this planet is farther away from the Sun than ourselves, +it does not appear to be colder, or, at any rate, it is certain that the +polar snows are much less thick.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, there are hardly ever clouds on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> Mars; the Martian +atmosphere is almost always limpid, and one can say that fine weather is +the chronic state of the planet. At times, light fogs or a little vapor +will appear in certain regions, but they are soon dissipated, and the +sky clears up again.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;"> +<img src="images/fig40.jpg" width="300" height="1268" alt="Fig. 40.—Diminution of the polar snows of Mars during +the summer." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 40.</span>—Diminution of the polar snows of Mars during +the summer.</span> +</div> + +<p>Since the invention of the telescope, a considerable number of drawings +have been made, depicting Mars under every aspect, and the agreement +between these numerous observations gives us a sufficient acquaintance +with the planet to admit of our indicating the characteristic features +of its geography, and of drawing out <i>areographic</i> maps (<i>Ares</i>, Mars). +Its appearance can be judged of from the two drawings here reproduced, +as made (February, 1901) at the Observatory of Juvisy, and from the +general chart drawn from the total sum of observations (Figs. 41, 42 and +43).</p> + +<p>It will be seen at the first glance that the geography of Mars is very +different from that of our own globe:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> while three-quarters of the Earth +are covered with the liquid element, Mars seems to be more evenly +divided, and must indeed have rather more land than water. We find no +immense oceans surrounding the continents, and separating them like +islands; on the contrary, the seas are reduced to long gulfs compressed +between the shores, like the Mediterranean for example, nor is it even +certain that these gray spots do all represent true seas. It has been +agreed to term <i>sea</i> the parts that are lightly tinged with green, and +to give the name of <i>continent</i> to the spots colored yellow. That is the +hue of the Martian soil, due either to the soil itself, which would +resemble that of the Sahara, or, to take a less arid region, that seen +on the line between Marseilles and Nice, in the vicinity of the +Esterels; or perhaps to some peculiar vegetation. During ascents in a +balloon, the author has often remarked that the hue of the ripe corn, +with the Sun shining on it, is precisely that presented to us by the +continents of Mars in the best hours for observation.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 350px;"> +<img src="images/fig41.jpg" width="350" height="349" alt="Fig. 41.—Telescopic aspect of the planet Mars (Feb., +1901)." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 41.</span>—Telescopic aspect of the planet Mars (Feb., +1901).</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p><p>As to the "seas," it is pretty certain that there must be water, or +some kind of liquid, deriving above all from the melting of the polar +snows in spring and summer; but it may possibly be in conjunction with +some vegetation, aquatic plants, or perhaps vast meadows, which appear +to us from here to be the more considerable in proportion as the water +that nourishes them has been more abundant.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 350px;"> +<img src="images/fig42.jpg" width="350" height="348" alt="Fig. 42.—Telescopic aspect of the planet Mars (Feb., +1901)." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 42.</span>—Telescopic aspect of the planet Mars (Feb., +1901).</span> +</div> + +<p>Mars, like our globe, is surrounded with a protective atmosphere, which +retains the rays of the Sun, and must preserve a medium temperature +favorable to the conservation of life upon the surface of the planet. +But the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> circulation of the water, so important to terrestrial life, +whether animal or vegetable, which is effected upon our planet by the +evaporation of the seas, clouds, winds, rains, wells, rivers and +streams, comes about quite differently on Mars; for, as was remarked +above, it is rarely that any clouds are observed there. Instead of being +vertical, as here, this circulation is horizontal: the water coming from +the source of the polar snows finds its way into the canals and seas, +and returns to be condensed at the poles by a light drift of invisible +vapors directed from the equator to the poles. There is never any rain.</p> + +<p>We have spoken of <i>canals</i>. One of the great puzzles of the Martian +world is incontestably the appearance of straight lines that furrow its +surface in all directions, and seem to connect the seas. M. +Schiaparelli, the distinguished Director of the Observatory of Milan, +who discovered them in 1877, called them canals, without, however, +postulating anything as to their real nature. Are they indeed canals? +These straight lines, measuring sometimes 600 kilometers (372 miles) in +length, and more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) in breadth, have much +the same hue as the seas on which they open. For a quarter of a century +they have been surveyed by the greater number of our observers. But it +must be confessed that, even with the best instruments, we only approach +Mars at a distance of 60,000 kilometers (37,200 miles), which is still a +little far off, and we may be sure that we do not distinguish the true +details of the surface.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> These details at the limits of visibility +produce the appearance of canals to our eyes. They may possibly be lines +of lakes, or oases. The future will no doubt clear up this mystery for +us.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a href="images/fig43a.jpg"> +<img src="images/fig43.jpg" width="600" height="308" alt="Fig. 43.—Chart of Mars." title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 43.</span>—Chart of Mars.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p><p>As to the inhabitants of Mars, this world is in a situation as +favorable as our Earth for habitation, and it would be difficult to +discover any reason for perpetual sterility there. It appears to us, on +the contrary, by its rapid and frequent variations of aspect, to be a +very living world. Its atmosphere, which is always clear, has not the +density of our own, and resembles that of the highest mountains. The +conditions of existence there vary from ours, and appear to be more +delicate, more ethereal.</p> + +<p>There as here, day succeeds to night, spring softens the rigors of +winter; the seasons unfold, less disparate than our own, of which we +have such frequent reason to complain. The sky is perpetually clear. +There are never tempests, hurricanes, nor cyclones, the wind never gets +up any force there, on account of the rarity of the atmosphere, and the +low intensity of weight.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p><p>Differing from ours, this world may well be a more congenial +habitation. It is more ancient than the Earth, smaller, less massive. It +has run more quickly through the phases of its evolution. Its astral +life is more advanced, and its Humanity should be superior to our own, +just as our successors a million years hence, for example, will be less +coarse and barbarous than we are at present: the law of progress governs +all the worlds, and, moreover, the physical constitution of the planet +Mars is less dense than our own.</p> + +<p>There is no need to despair of entering some day into communication with +these unknown beings. The luminous points that have been observed are no +signals, but high summits or light clouds illuminated by the rising or +setting sun. But the idea of communication with them in the future is no +more audacious and no less scientific than the invention of spectral +analysis, X-rays, or wireless telegraphy.</p> + +<p>We may suppose that the study of astronomy is further advanced in Mars +than on the Earth, because humanity itself has advanced further, and +because the starry sky is far finer there, far easier to study, owing to +the limpidity of its pure, clear atmosphere.</p> + +<p>Two small moons (hardly larger than the city of Paris) revolve rapidly +round Mars; they are called Phobos and Deimos. The former, at a distance +of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> 6,000 kilometers (3,730 miles) from the surface, accomplishes its +revolution rapidly, in seven hours, thirty-nine minutes, and thus makes +the entire circle of the Heavens three times a day. The second +gravitates at 20,000 kilometers (12,400 miles), and turns round its +center of attraction in thirty hours and eighteen minutes. These two +satellites were discovered by Mr. Hall, at the University of Washington, +in the month of August, 1877.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Among the finest and most interesting of the celestial phenomena admired +by the Martians, at certain epochs of the year,—now at night when the +Sun has plunged into his fiery bed, now in the morning, a little before +the aurora,—is a magnificent star of first magnitude, never far removed +from the orb of day, which presents to them the same aspects as does +Venus to ourselves. This splendid orb, which has doubtless received the +most flattering names from those who contemplate it, this radiant star +of a beautiful greenish blue, courses in space accompanied by a little +satellite, sparkling like some splendid diamond, after sunset, in the +clear sky of Mars. This superb orb is the Earth, and the little star +accompanying it is the Moon.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/fig44.jpg" width="400" height="604" alt="Fig. 44.—The Earth viewed from Mars." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 44.</span>—The Earth viewed from Mars.</span> +</div> + +<p>Yes, to the Martians our Earth is a star of the morning and evening; +doubtless they have determined her phases. Many a vow, and many a hope +must have been wafted toward her, more than one broken heart must have +permitted its unrealized dreams to wander<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> forth to our planet as to an +abode of happiness where all who have suffered in their native world +might find a haven. But our planet, alas! is not as perfect as they +imagine.</p> + +<p>We must not dally upon Mars, but hasten our celestial excursion toward +Jupiter.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>THE PLANETS</h3> + +<p class="center"><i>B.</i>—<span class="smcap">Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.</span></p> + + +<p class="chap"><span class="smcap">Before</span> we attack the giant world of our system, we must halt for a few +moments upon the minor planets which circulate between the orbit of Mars +and that of Jupiter. These minute asters, little worlds, the largest of +which measures scarcely more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) in diameter, +are fragments of cosmic matter that once belonged to a vast ring, formed +at the time when the solar system was only an immense nebula; and which, +instead of condensing into a single globe coursing between Mars and +Jupiter, split up into a considerable quantity of particles constituting +at the present time the curious and highly interesting Republic of the +Asteroids.</p> + +<p>These lilliputian worlds at first received the names of the more +celebrated of the minor mythological divinities—Ceres, Pallas, Juno, +Vesta, etc., but as they rapidly increased in number, it was found +necessary to call them by modern, terrestrial names, and more than one +daughter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> of Eve, the Egeria of some astronomer, now has her name +inscribed in the Heavens. The first minor planet was discovered on the +first day of the nineteenth century, January 1, 1801, by Piazzi, +astronomer at Palermo. While he was observing the small stars in the +constellation of the Bull beneath the clear Sicilian skies, this famous +astronomer noticed one that he had never seen before.</p> + +<p>The next night, directing his telescope to the same part of the Heavens, +he perceived that the fair unknown had moved her station, and the +observations of the following days left him no doubt as to the nature of +the visitor: she was a planet, a wandering star among the +constellations, revolving round the Sun. This newcomer was registered +under the name of Ceres.</p> + +<p>Since that epoch several hundreds of them have been discovered, +occupying a zone that extends over a space of more than 400 million +kilometers (249,000,000 miles). These celestial globules are invisible +to the naked eye, but no year passes without new and numerous recruits +being added to the already important catalogue of these minute asters by +the patient observers of the Heavens. To-day, they are most frequently +discovered by the photographic method of following the displacement of +the tiny moving points upon an exposed sensitive plate.</p> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p><p class="center">JUPITER</p> + +<p>And now let us bow respectfully before Jupiter, the giant of the worlds. +This glorious planet is indeed King of the Solar System.</p> + +<p>While Mercury measures only 4,750 kilometers (2,946 miles) in diameter, +and Mars 6,728 kilometers (4,172), Jupiter is no less than 140,920 kilometers +(87,400 miles) in breadth; that is to say, eleven times larger than the +Earth. He is 442,500 kilometers (274,357 miles) in circumference.</p> + +<p>In volume he is equivalent to 1,279 terrestrial globes; hence he is only +a million times smaller than the Sun. The previously described planets +of our system, Mercury, Venus, the Earth, and Mars combined, would form +only an insignificant mass in comparison with this colossus. A hundred +and twenty-six Earths joined into one group would present a surface +whose extent would still not be quite as vast as the superficies of this +titanic world. This immense globe weighs 310 times more than that which +we inhabit. Its density is only the quarter of our own; but weight is +twice and a half times as great there as here. The constituents of +things and beings are thus composed of materials lighter than those upon +the Earth; but, as the planet exerts a force<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> of attraction twice and a +half times as powerful, they are in reality heavier and weigh more. A +graceful maiden weighing fifty kilograms would if transported to Jupiter +immediately be included in the imposing society of the "Hundred Kilos."</p> + +<p>Jupiter rotates upon himself with prodigious rapidity. He accomplishes +his diurnal revolution in less than ten hours! There the day lasts half +as long as here, and while we reckoned fifteen days upon our calendar, +the Jovian would count thirty-six. As Jupiter's year equals nearly +twelve of ours, the almanac of that planet would contain 10,455 days! +Obviously, our pretty little pocket calendars would never serve to +enumerate all the dates in this vast world.</p> + +<p>This splendid globe courses in space at a distance of 775,000,000 +kilometers (480,500,000 miles) from the Sun. Hence it is five times +(5.2) as remote from the orb of day as our Earth, and its orbit is five +times vaster than our own. At that distance the Sun subtends a diameter +five times smaller than that which we see, and its surface is +twenty-seven times less extensive; accordingly this planetary abode +receives on an average twenty-seven times less light and heat than we +obtain.</p> + +<p>In the telescope Jupiter presents an aspect analogous to that likely to +be exhibited by a world covered with clouds, and enveloped in dense +vapors (Fig. 45).</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p><p>It is, in fact, the seat of formidable perturbations, of strange +revolutions by which it is perpetually convulsed, for although of more +ancient formation than the Earth, this celestial giant has not yet +arrived at the stable condition of our dwelling-place. Owing to its +considerable volume, this globe has probably preserved its original +heat, revolving in space as an obscure Sun, but perhaps still burning. +In it we see what our own planet must have been in its primordial epoch, +in the pristine times of terrestrial genesis.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/fig45.jpg" width="400" height="371" alt="Fig. 45.—Telescopic aspect of Jupiter." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 45.</span>—Telescopic aspect of Jupiter.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p><p>Since its orbital revolution occupies nearly twelve years, Jupiter +comes back into opposition with the Sun every 399 days, <i>i.e.</i>, 1 year, +34 days, that is with one month and four days' delay each year. At these +periods it is located at the extremity of a straight line which, passing +by the Earth, is prolonged to the Sun. These are the epochs to be +selected for observation. It shines then, all night, like some dazzling +star of the first magnitude, of excessive whiteness: nor can it be +confounded either with Venus, more luminous still (for she is never +visible at midnight, in the full South, but is South-west in the +evening, or South-east in the morning), nor with Mars, whose fires are +ruddy.</p> + +<p>In the telescope, the immense planet presents a superb disk that an +enlargement of forty times shows us to be the same size to all +appearance as that of the Moon seen with the unaided eye. Its shape is +not absolutely spherical, but spheroid—that is, flattened at the poles. +The flattening is <span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">17</span>.</p> + +<p>We know that the Earth's axis dips a certain quantity on the plane of +her orbit, and that it is this inclination that produces the seasons. +Now it is not the same for Jupiter. His axis of rotation remains almost +vertical throughout the course of his year, and results in the complete +absence of climates and seasons. There is neither glacial zone, nor +tropic zone; the position of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> Jupiter is eternally that of the Earth at +the season of the equinox, and the vast world enjoys, as it were, +perpetual spring. It knows neither the hoar-frost nor the snows of +winter. The heat received from the Sun diminishes gradually from the +equator to the poles without abrupt transitions, and the duration of day +and night is equal there throughout the entire year, under every +latitude. A privileged world, indeed!</p> + +<p>It is surrounded by a very dense, thick atmosphere, which undergoes more +extensive variations than could be produced by the Sun at such a +distance. Spectral analysis detects a large amount of water-vapor, +showing that this planet still possesses a very considerable quantity of +intrinsic heat.</p> + +<p>Most conspicuous upon this globe are the larger or smaller bands or +markings (gray and white, sometimes tinted yellow, or of a maroon or +chocolate hue) by which its surface is streaked, particularly in the +vicinity of the equator. These different belts vary, and are constantly +modified, either in form or color. Sometimes, they are irregular, and +cut up; at others they are interspersed with more or less brilliant +patches. These patches are not affixed to the surface of the globe, like +the seas and continents of the Earth; nor do they circulate round the +planet like the satellites, in more or less elongated and regular +revolutions, but are relatively mobile, like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> our clouds in the +atmosphere, while observation of their motion does not give the exact +period of the rotation of Jupiter. Some only appear upon the agitated +disk to vanish very quickly; others subsist for a considerable period.</p> + +<p>One has been observed for over a quarter of a century, and appears to be +almost immobile upon this colossal globe. This spot, which was red at +its first appearance, is now pale and ghostly. It is oval (<i>vide</i> Fig. +45) and measures 42,000 kilometers (26,040 miles) in length by 15,000 +kilometers (9,300 miles) in width. Hence it is about four times as long as the +diameter of our Earth; that is, relatively to the size of Jupiter, as +are the dimensions of Australia in proportion to our globe. The +discussion of a larger number of observations leads us to see in it a +sort of continent in the making, a scoria recently ejected from the +mobile and still liquid and heated surface of the giant Jupiter. The +patch, however, oscillates perceptibly, and appears to be a floating +island.</p> + +<p>We must add that this vast world, like the Sun, <i>does not rotate all in +one period</i>. Eight different currents can be perceived upon its surface. +The most rapid is that of the equatorial zone, which accomplishes its +revolution in 9 hours, 50 minutes, 29 seconds. A point situated on the +equator is therefore carried forward at a speed of 12,500 meters (7 +miles) per second, and it is this giddy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> velocity of Jupiter that has +produced the flattening of the poles. From the equator to the poles, the +swiftness of the currents diminishes irregularly, and the difference +amounts to about five minutes between the movement of the equatorial +stream, and that of the northern and southern currents. But what is more +curious still is that the velocity of one and the same stream is subject +to certain fluctuations; thus, in the last quarter of a century, the +speed of the equatorial current has progressively diminished. In 1879, +the velocity was 9 hours, 49 minutes, 59 seconds, and now it is, as we +have already seen, 9 hours, 50 minutes, 29 seconds, which represents a +substantial reduction. The rotation of the red patch, at 25 degrees of +the southern latitude, is effected in 9 hours, 55 minutes, 40 seconds.</p> + +<p>We are confronted with a strange and mysterious world. It is the world +of the future.</p> + +<p>This giant gravitates in space accompanied by a suite of five +satellites. These are:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table class="dist" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="MOONS OF JUPITER"> +<tr><td align='center'>Names.</td><td align='center' colspan='2'>Distance from surface of Jupiter.</td><td align='center' colspan='2'>Time of revolution.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'></td><td align='right'>Kilometers.</td><td align='right'>Miles.</td><td align='right'>Days.</td><td align='right'>Hours.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">5.</td><td align='right'>200,000</td><td align='right'>124,000</td><td> </td><td class="td1">11</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">1. Io</td><td align='right'>430,000</td><td align='right'>266,000</td><td class="td1">1</td><td class="td1">18</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">2. Europa</td><td align='right'>682,000</td><td align='right'>422,840</td><td class="td1">3</td><td class="td1">13</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">3. Ganymede</td><td align='right'>1,088,000</td><td align='right'>674,560</td><td class="td1">7</td><td class="td1">4</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">4. Callisto</td><td align='right'>1,914,000</td><td align='right'>1,186,680</td><td class="td1">16</td><td class="td1">16</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>The four principal satellites of Jupiter were discovered at the same +time, on the same evenings <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>(January 7 and 8, 1610), by the two +astronomers who were pointing their telescopes at Jupiter: Galileo in +Italy, and Simon Marius in Germany.</p> + +<p>On September 9, 1892, Mr. Barnard, astronomer of the Lick Observatory, +California, discovered a new satellite, extremely minute, and very near +the enormous planet. It has so far received no name, and is known as the +fifth, although the four principal are numbered in the order of their +distances.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig46.jpg" width="450" height="168" alt="Fig. 46.—Jupiter and his four principal satellites." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 46.</span>—Jupiter and his four principal satellites.</span> +</div> + +<p>The four classical satellites are visible in the smallest instruments +(Fig. 46): the third is the most voluminous.</p> + +<p>Such is the splendid system of the mighty Jupiter. Once, doubtless, this +fine planet illuminated the troop of worlds that derived their treasure +of vitality from him with his intrinsic light: to-day, however, these +moons in their turn shed upon the extinct central globe the pale soft +light which they receive from our solar focus,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> illuminating the brief +Jovian nights (which last less than five hours, on account of the +twilight) with their variable brilliancy.</p> + +<p>At the distance of the first satellite, Jupiter exhibits a disk +<i>fourteen hundred times</i> vaster than that of the Full Moon! What a +dazzling spectacle, what a fairy scene must the enormous star afford to +the inhabitants of that tiny world! And what a shabby figure must our +Earth and Moon present in the face of such a body, a real miniature of +the great solar system!</p> + +<p>Our ancestors were well inspired when they attributed the sovereignty of +Olympus to this majestic planet. His brilliancy corresponds with his +real grandeur. His dominion in the midnight Heavens is unique. Here +again, as for Venus, Mars, and Mercury, astronomy has created the legend +of the fables of mythology.</p> + +<p>Let us repeat in conclusion that our Earth becomes practically invisible +for the inhabitants of the other worlds beyond the distance of Jupiter.</p> + + +<p class="center">SATURN</p> + +<p>Turn back now for a moment to the plan of the Solar System.</p> + +<p>We had to cross 775 million kilometers (480,000,000 miles) when we left +the Sun, in order to reach the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>immense orb of Jupiter, which courses in +space at 626 million kilometers (388,000,000 miles) from the terrestrial +orbit. From Jupiter we had to traverse a distance of 646 million +kilometers (400,000,000 miles) in order to reach the marvelous system of +Saturn, where our eyes and thoughts must next alight.</p> + +<p>Son of Uranus and Vesta, Saturn was the God of Time and Fate. He is +generally represented as an aged man bearing a scythe. His mythological +character is only the expression of his celestial aspect, as we have +seen for the brilliant Jupiter, for the pale Venus, the ruddy Mars, and +the agile Mercury. The revolution of Saturn is the slowest of any among +the planets known to the ancients. It takes almost thirty years for its +accomplishment, and at that distance the Saturnian world, though it +still shines with the brilliancy of a star of the first magnitude, +exhibits to our eyes a pale and leaden hue. Here is, indeed, the god of +Time, with slow and almost funereal gait.</p> + +<p>Poor Saturn won no favor with the poets and astrologers. He bore the +horrid reputation of being the inexhaustible source of misfortune and +evil fates,—whereof he is wholly innocent, troubling himself not at all +with our world nor its inhabitants.</p> + +<p>This world travels in the vastness of the Heavens at a distance of 1,421 +million kilometers (881,000,000 miles)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> from the Sun. Hence it is ten +times farther from the orb of day than the Earth, though still +illuminated and governed by the Sun-God. Its gigantic orbit is ten times +larger than our own.</p> + +<p>Its revolution round the Sun is accomplished in 10,759 days, <i>i.e.</i>, 29 +years, 167 days, and as this strange planet rotates upon itself with +great rapidity in 10 hours, 15 minutes, its year comprises no less than +25,217 days. What a calendar! The Saturnians must needs have a +prodigious memory not to get hopelessly involved in this interminable +number of days. A curious world, where each year stands for almost +thirty of our own, and where the day is more than half as short again as +ours. But we shall presently find other and more extraordinary +differences on this planet.</p> + +<p>In the first place it is nearly nine and a half times larger than our +world. It is a globe, not spherical, but spheroidal, and the flattening +of its poles, which is one-tenth, exceeds that of all the other planets, +even Jupiter. It follows that its equatorial diameter is 112,500 +kilometers (69,750 miles), while its polar diameter measures only +110,000 kilometers (68,200 miles).</p> + +<p>In volume, Saturn is 719 times larger than the Earth, but its density is +only <span class="above">128</span>⁄<span class="below">1,000</span> of our own; <i>i.e.</i>, the materials of which it is composed +are much less heavy, so that it weighs only 92 times more than our +Earth. Its<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> surface is 85 times vaster than that of the Earth, no +insignificant proportion.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig47.jpg" width="450" height="252" alt="Fig. 47.—Saturn." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 47.</span>—Saturn.</span> +</div> + +<p>The dipping of Saturn's axis of rotation is much the same as our own. +Hence we conclude that the seasons of this planet are analogous to ours +in relative intensity. Only upon this far-off world each season lasts +for seven years. At the distance at which it gravitates in space, the +heat and light which it receives from the Sun are 90 times less active +than such as reach our selves; but it apparently possesses an atmosphere +of great density, which may be constituted so that the heat is +preserved, and the planet maintained in a calorific condition but little +inferior to our own.</p> + +<p>In the telescope, the disk of Saturn exhibits large belts that recall +those of Jupiter, though they are broader<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> and less accentuated (Fig. +47). There are doubtless zones of clouds or rapid currents circulating +in the atmosphere. Spots are also visible whose displacement assists in +calculating the diurnal motions of this globe.</p> + +<p>The most extraordinary characteristic of this strange world is, however, +the existence of a vast <i>ring</i>, which is almost flat and very large, and +entirely envelops the body of the planet. It is suspended in the +Saturnian sky, like a gigantic triumphal arch, at a height of some +20,000 kilometers (12,400 miles) above the equator. This splendid arch +is circular, like an immense crown illuminated by the Sun. From here we +only see it obliquely, and it appears to us elliptical; a part of the +ring seems to pass in front of Saturn, and its shadow is visible on the +planet, while the opposite part passes behind.</p> + +<p>This ring, which measures 284,000 kilometers (176,080 miles) in +diameter, and less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) in breadth, is divided +into three distinct zones: the exterior is less luminous than the +center, which is always brighter than the planet itself; the interior is +very dark, and spreads out like a dusky and faintly transparent veil, +through which Saturn can be distinguished.</p> + +<p>What is the nature of these vast concentric circles that surround the +planet with a luminous halo? They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> are composed of an innumerable number +of particles, of a quantity of cosmic fragments, which are swept off in +a rapid revolution, and gravitate round the planet at variable speed and +distance. The nearer particles must accomplish their revolution in 5 +hours, 50 minutes, and the most distant in about 12 hours, 5 minutes, to +prevent them from being merged in the surface of Saturn: their own +centrifugal force sustains them in space.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig48.jpg" width="450" height="313" alt="Fig. 48. Varying perspective of Saturn's Rings, as seen from the Earth." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 48.</span>—Varying perspective of Saturn's Rings, as seen from the Earth.</span> +</div> + +<p>With a good glass the effect of these rings is most striking, and one +can not refrain from emotion on contemplating this marvel, whereby one +of the brothers of our terrestrial country is crowned with a golden +diadem.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> Its aspects vary with its perspective relative to the Earth, as +may be seen from the subjoined figure (Fig. 48).</p> + +<p>We must not quit the Saturnian province without mentioning the eight +satellites that form his splendid suite:</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table class="dist" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="MOONS OF SATURN"> +<tr><td align='center'>Names.</td><td align='center' colspan='2'>Distance from the planet.</td><td align='center' colspan='3'>Time of revolution.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'></td><td align='center'>Kilometers.</td><td align='center'>Miles.</td><td align='center'>Days.</td><td align='center'>Hours.</td><td align='right'>Minutes.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">1. Mimas</td><td align='right'>207,000</td><td class="td1">128,340</td><td> </td><td class="td1">22</td><td class="td1">37</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">2. Enceladus</td><td align='right'>257,600</td><td class="td1">159,712</td><td class="td1">1</td><td class="td1">8</td><td class="td1">53</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">3. Tethys</td><td align='right'>328,800</td><td class="td1">203,856</td><td class="td1">1</td><td class="td1">21</td><td class="td1">18</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">4. Dione</td><td align='right'>421,200</td><td class="td1">261,144</td><td class="td1">2</td><td class="td1">17</td><td class="td1">41</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">5. Rhea</td><td align='right'>588,400</td><td class="td1">364,808</td><td class="td1">4</td><td class="td1">12</td><td class="td1">25</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">6. Titan</td><td align='right'>1,364,000</td><td class="td1">845,680</td><td class="td1">15</td><td class="td1">22</td><td class="td1">41</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">7. Hyperion</td><td align='right'>1,650,000</td><td class="td1">1,023,000</td><td class="td1">21</td><td class="td1">6</td><td class="td1">39</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">8. Japhet</td><td align='right'>3,964,000</td><td class="td1">2,457,680</td><td class="td1">79</td><td class="td1">7</td><td class="td1">54</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Here is a marvelous system, with, what is more, eight different kinds of +months for the inhabitants of Saturn; eight moons with constantly +varying phases juggling above the rings!</p> + +<p>Now we shall cross at a bound the 1,400 million kilometers (868,000,000 +miles) that separate us from the last station but one of the immense +solar system.</p> + + +<p class="center">URANUS</p> + +<p>On March 13, 1781, William Herschel, a Hanoverian astronomer who had +emigrated to England, having abandoned the study of music to devote +himself to the sublime science of the Heavens, was observing the vast<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +fields with their constellations of golden stars, when he perceived a +luminous point that appeared to him to exceed that of the other +celestial luminaries in diameter. He replaced the magnification of his +telescope by more powerful eye-pieces, and found that the apparent +diameter of the orb increased proportionately with the amplification of +the power, which does not happen in the case of stars at infinite +distance. His observations on the following evenings enabled him to note +the slow and imperceptible movement of this star upon the celestial +sphere, and left him in no further doubt: there was no star, but some +much nearer orb, in all probability a comet, for the great astronomer +dared not predict the discovery of a new planet. And it was thus, under +the name of cometary orb, that the seventh child of the Sun was +announced. The astronomers sought to determine the motions of the new +arrival, to discover for it an elliptical orbit such as most comets +have. But their efforts were vain, and after several months' study the +conclusion was reached that here was a new planet, throwing back the +limits of the solar system to a point far beyond that of the Saturnian +frontier, as admitted from antiquity.</p> + +<p>This new world received the name of Uranus, father of Saturn, his +nearest neighbor in the solar empire. Uranus shines in the firmament as +a small star of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> sixth magnitude, invisible to the unaided eye for +normal sight, at a distance of 2,831,000,000 kilometers (1,755,000,000 +miles) from the Sun. Smaller than Jupiter and Saturn, this planet is yet +larger than Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Earth together, thus +presenting proportions that claim our respect and admiration.</p> + +<p>His diameter may be taken at about 55,000 kilometers (34,200 miles), +that is, rather more than four times the breadth of the terrestrial +diameter. Sixty-nine times more voluminous than the Earth, and seventeen +times more extensive in surface, this new world is much less than our +own in density. The matter of which it is composed is nearly five times +lighter than that of our globe.</p> + +<p>Spectral analysis shows that this distant planet is surrounded with an +atmosphere very different from that which we breathe, enclosing gases +that do not exist in ours.</p> + +<p>The Uranian globe courses over the fields of infinity in a vast orbit +seventeen times larger than our own, and its revolution lasts 36,688 +days, <i>i.e.</i>, 84 years, 8 days. It travels slowly and sadly under the +pale and languishing rays of the Sun, which sends it nearly three +hundred times less of light and heat than we receive. At this distance +the solar disk would present a diameter seventeen times smaller than +that which we admire, and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> surface three hundred times less vast. A +dull world indeed! And what an interminable year! The idle people who +are in the habit of being bored must find time even longer upon Uranus +than upon our little Earth, where the days pass so rapidly. And if +matters are arranged there as here, a babe of a year old, beginning to +babble in its nurse's arms, would already have lived as long as an old +man of eighty-four in this world.</p> + +<p>But what most seriously complicates the Calendar of the Uranians is the +fact that the four moons which accompany the planet accomplish their +revolution in four different kinds of months, in two, four, eight, and +thirteen days, as is shown in the following table:</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table class="dist" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="MOONS OF URANUS"> +<tr><td align='right'></td><td align='center' colspan='2'>Distance from the planet.</td><td align='center' colspan='3'>Time of revolution.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'></td><td align='center'>Kilometers.</td><td align='center'>Miles.</td><td align='center'>Days.</td><td align='center'>Hours.</td><td align='center'>Minutes.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">1. Ariel</td><td class="td1">196,000</td><td class="td1">121,520</td><td class="td1">2</td><td class="td1">12</td><td class="td1">29</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">2. Umbriel</td><td class="td1">276,000</td><td class="td1">171,120</td><td class="td1">4</td><td class="td1">3</td><td class="td1">27</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">3. Titania</td><td class="td1">450,000</td><td class="td1">279,000</td><td class="td1">8</td><td class="td1">16</td><td class="td1">56</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td2">4. Oberon</td><td class="td1">600,000</td><td class="td1">372,000</td><td class="td1">13</td><td class="td1">11</td><td class="td1">7</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>The most curious fact is that these satellites do not rotate like those +of the other planets. While the moons of the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and +Saturn accomplish their revolution from east to west, the satellites of +Uranus rotate in a plane almost perpendicular to the ecliptic, and it is +doubtless the same for the rotation of the planet.</p> + +<p>If we had to quit the Earth, and fixate ourselves upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> another world, +we should prefer Mars to Uranus, where everything must be so different +from terrestrial arrangements? But who knows? Perhaps, after all, this +planet might afford us some agreeable surprises. <i>Il ne faut jurer de +rien.</i></p> + + +<p class="center">NEPTUNE</p> + +<p>And here we reach the frontier of the Solar System, as actually known to +us. In landing on the world of Neptune, which circles through the +Heavens in eternal twilight at a distance of more than four milliard +kilometers (2,480,000,000 miles) from the common center of attraction of +the planetary orbs, we once again admire the prodigies of science.</p> + +<p>Uranus was discovered with the telescope, Neptune by calculation. In +addition to the solar influence, the worlds exert a mutual attraction +upon each other that slightly deranges the harmony ordered by the Sun. +The stronger act upon the weaker, and the colossal Jupiter alone causes +many of the perturbations in our great solar family. Now during regular +observations of the position of Uranus in space, some inexplicable +irregularities were soon perceived. The astronomers having full faith in +the universality of the law of attraction, could not do otherwise than +attribute these irregularities<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> to the influence of some unknown planet +situated even farther off. But at what distance?</p> + +<p>A very simple proportion, known as Bode's law, has been observed, which +indicates approximately the relative distances of the planets from the +Sun. It is as follows: Starting from 0, write the number 3, and double +successively,</p> + + +<p class="center">0 3 6 12 24 48 96 192 384.</p> + + +<p>Then, add the number 4 to each of the preceding figures, which gives the +following series:</p> + +<p class="center"> +4 7 10 16 28 52 100 196 388.<br /> +</p> + +<p>Now it is a very curious fact that if the distance between the Earth and +the Sun be represented by 10, the figure 4 represents the orbit of +Mercury, 7 that of Venus, 16 of Mars; the figure 28 stands for the +medium distance of the minor planets; the distances of Jupiter, Saturn, +and Uranus agree with 52, 100, and 196.</p> + +<p>The immortal French mathematician Le Verrier, who pursued the solution +of the Uranian problem, supposed naturally that the disturbing planet +must be at the distance of 388, and made his calculations accordingly. +Its direction in the Heavens was indicated by the form of the +disturbances; the orbit of Uranus bulging, as it were, on the side of +the disturbing factor.</p> + +<p>On August 31, 1846, Le Verrier announced the position of the +ultra-Uranian planet, and on September<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> 23d following, a German +astronomer, Galle, at the Observatory of Berlin, who had just received +this intelligence, pointed his telescope toward the quarter of the +Heavens designated, and, in fact, attested the presence of the new orb. +Without quitting his study table, Le Verrier, by the sole use of +mathematics, had detected, and, as it were, touched at pen's point the +mysterious stranger.</p> + +<p>Only, it is proved by observation and calculation that it is less remote +than was expected from the preceding law, for it gravitates at a +distance of 300, given that from the Earth to the Sun as 10.</p> + +<p>This planet was called Neptune, god of the seas, son of Saturn, brother +of Jupiter. The name is well chosen, since the King of the Ocean lives +in darkness in the depths of the sea, and Le Verrier's orb is also +plunged in the semi-obscurity of the depths of the celestial element. +But it was primarily selected to do justice to an English astronomer, +Adams, who had simultaneously made the same calculations as Le Verrier, +and obtained the same results—without publishing them. His work +remained in the records of the Greenwich Observatory.</p> + +<p>The English command the seas, and wherever they dip their finger into +the water and find it salt, they feel themselves "at home," and know +that "Neptune's trident<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> is the scepter of the world," hence this +complimentary nomenclature.</p> + +<p>Neptune is separated by a distance of four milliards, four hundred +million kilometers from the solar center.</p> + +<p>At such a distance, thirty times greater than that which exists between +the Sun and our world, Neptune receives nine hundred times less light +and heat than ourselves; <i>i.e.</i>, Spitzbergen and the polar regions of +our globe are furnaces compared with what must be the Neptunian +temperature. Absolutely invisible to the unaided eye, this world +presents in the telescope the aspect of a star of the eighth magnitude. +With powerful magnifications it is possible to measure its disk, which +appears to be slightly tinged with blue. Its diameter is four times +larger than our own, and measures about 48,000 kilometers (29,900 +miles), its surface is sixteen times vaster than that of the Earth, and +to attain its volume we should have to put together fifty-five globes +similar to our own. Weight at its surface must be about the same as +here, but its medium density is only <span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">3</span> that of the Earth.</p> + +<p>It gravitates slowly, dragging itself along an orbit thirty times vaster +than that of our globe, and its revolution takes 164 years, 281 days, +<i>i.e.</i>, 164 years, 9 months. A single year of Neptune thus covers +several generations<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> of terrestrial life. Existence must, indeed, be +strange in that tortoise-footed world!</p> + +<p>While in their rotation period, Mercury accomplishes 47 kilometers +(29<span class="above">3</span>⁄<span class="below">8</span> miles) per second, and the Earth 29<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> (18<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">8</span> miles), Neptune +rolls along his immense orbit at a rate of only 5<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> kilometers (about +3<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">4</span> miles) per second.</p> + +<p>The vast distance that separates us prevents our distinguishing any +details of his surface, but spectral analysis reveals the presence of an +absorbent atmosphere in which are gases unknown to the air of our +planet, and of which the chemical composition resembles that of the +atmosphere of Uranus.</p> + +<p>One satellite has been discovered for Neptune. It has a considerable +inclination, and rotates from east to west.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>And here we have reached the goal of our interplanetary journey. After +visiting the vast provinces of the solar republic, we feel yet greater +admiration and gratitude toward the luminary that governs, warms, and +illuminates the worlds of his system.</p> + +<p>In conclusion, let us again insist that the Earth,—a splendid orb as +viewed from Mercury, Venus, and Mars,—begins to disappear from Jupiter, +where she becomes no more than a tiny spark oscillating from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> side to +side of the Sun, and occasionally passing in front of him as a small +black dot. From Saturn the visibility of our planet is even more +reduced. As to Uranus and Neptune, we are invisible there, at least to +eyes constructed like our own. We do not possess in the Universe the +importance with which we would endow ourselves.</p> + +<p>Neptune up to the present guards the portals of our celestial system; we +will leave him to watch over the distant frontier; but before returning +to the Earth, we must glance at certain eccentric orbs, at the mad, +capricious comets, which imprint their airy flight upon the realms of +space.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE COMETS</h3> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Shooting Stars, Bolides, Uranoliths or Meteoric Stones</span></p> + + +<p class="chap"><span class="smcap">What</span> marvels have been reviewed by our dazzled eyes since the outset of +these discussions! We first surveyed the magnificent host of stars that +people the vast firmament of Heaven; next we admired and wondered at +suns very differently constituted from our own; then returning from the +depths of space, crossing at a bound the abyss that separates us from +these mysterious luminaries, the distant torches of our somber night, +terrible suns of infinity, we landed on our own beloved orb, the superb +and brilliant day-star. Thence we visited his celestial family, his +system, in which our Earth is a floating island. But the journey would +be incomplete if we omitted certain more or less vagabond orbs, that +occasionally approach the Sun and Earth, some of which may even collide +with us upon their celestial path. These are in the first place the +comets, then the shooting stars, the fire-balls, and meteorites.</p> + +<p>Glittering, swift-footed heralds of Immensity, these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> comets with golden +wings glide lightly through Space, shedding a momentary illumination by +their presence. Whence come they? Whither are they bound?</p> + +<p>What problems they propound to us, when, as in some beautiful display of +pyrotechnics, the arch of Heaven is illuminated with their fantastic +light!</p> + +<p>But first of all—what is a Comet?</p> + +<p>If instead of living in these days of the telescope, of spectrum +analysis, and of astral photography, we were anterior to Galileo, and to +the liberation of the human spirit by Astronomy, we should reply that +the comet is an object of terror, a dangerous menace that appears to +mortals in the purity of the immaculate Heavens, to announce the most +fatal misfortunes to the inhabitants of our planet. Is a comet visible +in the Heavens? The reigning prince may make his testament and prepare +to die. Another apparition in the firmament bodes war, famine, the +advent of grievous pestilence. The astrologers had an open field, and +their fertile imagination might hazard every possible conjecture, seeing +that misfortunes, great or small, are not altogether rare in this +sublunar world.</p> + +<p>How many intellects, and those not the most vulgar, from antiquity to +the middle of the last century cursed the apparition of these hirsute +stars, which brought desolation to the heart of man, and poured their +fatal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> effluvia upon the head of poor Humanity. The history of the +superstitions and fears that they inspired of old would furnish matter +for the most thrilling of romances. But, on the other hand, the volume +would be little flattering to the common-sense of our ancestors. Despite +the respect we owe our forefathers, let us recall for a moment the +prejudices attaching to the most famous comets whose passage, as +observed from the Earth, has been preserved to us in history.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig49.jpg" width="450" height="339" alt="Fig. 49.—Great Comet of 1858." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 49.</span>—Great Comet of 1858.</span> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<p>Without going back to the Deluge, we note that the Romans established a +relation between the Great Comet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> of 43 <span class="ampm">B.C.</span> and the death of Cæsar, who +had been assassinated a few months previously. It was, they asserted, +the soul of their great Captain, transported to Heaven to reign in the +empyrean after ruling here below. Were not the Emperors Lords of both +Earth and Heaven?</p> + +<p>We must in justice recognize that certain more independent spirits +emancipated themselves from these superstitions, and we may cite the +reply of Vespasian to his friends, who were alarmed at the evil presage +of a flaming comet: "Fear nothing," he said, "this bearded star concerns +me not; rather should it threaten my neighbor the King of the Parthians, +since he is hairy and I am bald."</p> + +<p>In the year 837 one of these mysterious visitants appeared in the +Heavens. It was in the reign of Lewis the Debonair. Directly the King +perceived the comet, he sent for an astrologer, and asked what he was to +conclude from the apparition. As the answers were unsatisfactory he +tried to avert the augury by prayers to Heaven, by ordaining a general +fast to all his Court, and by building churches. Notwithstanding, he +died three years later, and the historians profited by this slender +coincidence to set up a correlation between the fatal star and the death +of the Sovereign. This comet, famous in history, is no other than that +of Halley, in one of its appearances.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span></p><p>This comet returned to explore the realms near the Sun in 1066, at the +moment when William of Normandy was undertaking the Conquest of England, +and was misguided enough to go across and reign in London, instead of +staying at home and annexing England, thus by his action founding the +everlasting rivalry between France and this island. A beneficial +influence was attributed to the comet in the Battle of Hastings.</p> + +<p>A few centuries later it again came into sight from the Earth, in 1456, +three years after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks. Feeling +ran high in Europe, and this celestial omen was taken for a proof of the +anger of the Almighty. The moment was decisive; the Christians had to be +rescued from a struggle in which they were being worsted. At this +conjuncture, Pope Calixtus resuscitated a prayer that had fallen into +disuse, the <i>Angelus</i>; and ordered that the bells of the churches should +be rung each day at noon, that the Faithful might join at the same hour +in prayer against the Turks and the Comet. This custom has lasted down +to our own day.</p> + +<p>Again, to the comet of 1500 was attributed the tempest that caused the +death of Bartholomew Diaz, a celebrated Portuguese navigator, who +discovered the Cape of Good Hope.</p> + +<p>In 1528 a bearded star of terrific aspect alarmed the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> world, and the +more serious spirits were influenced by this menacing comet, which +burned in the Heavens like "a great and gory sword." In a chapter on +Celestial Monsters the celebrated surgeon Ambroise Paré describes this +awful phenomenon in terms anything but seductive, or reassuring, showing +us the menacing sword surrounded by the heads it had cut off (Fig. 50).</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/fig50.jpg" width="400" height="525" alt="Fig. 50.—What our Ancestors saw in a Comet." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 50.</span>—What our Ancestors saw in a Comet.<br /> +<i>After Ambroise Paré (1528).</i></span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/fig51.jpg" width="500" height="849" alt="Fig. 51.—Prodigies seen in the Heavens by our Forefathers." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 51.</span>—Prodigies seen in the Heavens by our Forefathers.</span> +</div> + +<p>Omens of battle, 1547.</p> + +<p>Deer and warriors, July 19, 1550.</p> + +<p>Cavalry, and a bloody branch crossing the sun, June 11, 1554.]</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span></p><p>Our fathers saw many other prodigies in the skies; their descendants, +less credulous, can study the facsimile reproduced in Fig. 51, of the +drawings published in the year 1557 by Conrad Lycosthenes in his curious +Book of Prodigies.</p> + +<p>So, too, it is asserted that Charles V renounced the jurisdiction of his +Estates, which were so vast that "the Sun never slept upon them," +because he was terrified by the comet of 1556 which burned in the skies +with an alarming brilliancy, into passing the rest of his days in prayer +and devotion.</p> + +<p>It is certain that comets often exhibit very strange characteristics, +but the imagination that sees in them such dramatic figures must indeed +be lively. In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance these were swords of +fire, bloody crosses, flaming daggers, etc., all horrible objects ready +to destroy our poor human race!</p> + +<p>At the time of the Romans, Pliny made some curious distinctions between +them: "The Bearded Ones let loose their hair like a majestic beard; the +Javelin darts forth like an arrow; if the tail is shorter and ends in a +point, it is called the Sword; this is the palest of all the Comets; it +shines like a sword, without rays; the Plate or Disk is named in +conformity with its figure; its color is amber, the Barrel is actually +shaped like a barrel, as it might be in smoke, with light streaming +through it; the Horn imitates the figure of a horn erected in the sky,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +and the Lamp that of a burning flame; the Equine represents a horse's +mane, shaken violently with a circular motion. There are bristled +comets; these resemble the skins of beasts with the fur on them, and are +surrounded by a nebulosity. Lastly, the tails of certain comets have +been seen to menace the sky in the form of a lance."</p> + +<p>These hairy orbs that appear in all directions, and whose trajectories +are sometimes actually perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic, +appear to obey no regular law. Even in the seventeenth century the +perspicacious Kepler had not divined their true character, seeing in +them, like most of his contemporaries, emanations from the earth, a sort +of vapor, losing itself in space. These erratic orbs could not be +assimilated with the other members of our grand solar family where, +generally speaking, everything goes on in regular order.</p> + +<p>And even in our own times, have we not seen the people terrified at the +sight of a flaming comet? Has not the end of the world by the agency of +comets been often enough predicted? These predictions are so to speak +periodic; they crop up each time that the return of these cosmical +formations is announced by the astronomers, and always meet with a +certain number of timid souls who are troubled as to our destinies.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p><p>To-day we know that these wanderers are subject to the general laws +that govern the universe. The great Newton announced that, like the +planets, they were obedient to universal attraction; that they must +follow an extremely elongated curve, and return periodically to the +focus of the ellipse. From the basis of these data Halley calculated the +progress of the comet of 1682, and ascertained that its motions +presented such similarity with the apparitions of 1531 and 1607, that he +believed himself justified in identifying them and in announcing its +return about the year 1759. Faithful to the call made upon it, +irresistibly attracted by the Orb of Day, the comet, at first pale, then +ardent and incandescent, returned at the date assigned to it by +calculation, three years after the death of the illustrious astronomer. +Shining upon his grave it bore witness to the might of human thought, +able to snatch the profoundest secrets from the Heavens!</p> + +<p>This fine comet returns every seventy-six years, to be visible from the +Earth, and has already been seen twenty-four times by the astonished +eyes of man. It appears, however, to be diminishing in magnitude. Its +last appearance was in 1835, and we shall see it again in 1910, a little +sooner than its average period, the attraction of Jupiter having this +time slightly accelerated its course, while in 1759 it retarded it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p><p>The comets thus follow a very elongated orbit, either elliptic, turning +round the Sun, or parabolic, dashing out into space. In the first case, +they are periodic (Fig. 52), and their return can be calculated. In the +second they surprise us unannounced, and return to the abysses of +eternity to reappear no more.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig52.jpg" width="450" height="189" alt="Fig. 52.—The orbit of a Periodic Comet." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 52.</span>—The orbit of a Periodic Comet.</span> +</div> + +<p>Their speed is even greater than that of the planets, it is equivalent +to this, multiplied by the square root of 2, that is to say by 1.414. +Thus at the distance of the Earth from the Sun this velocity = 29,500 +meters (18 miles) per second, multiplied by the above number, that is, +41,700 meters (over 25 miles). At the distance of Mercury it = 47 × +1.414 or 66,400 meters (over 40 miles) per second.</p> + +<p>Among the numerous comets observed, we do not as yet know more than some +twenty of which the orbit has been determined. Periodicity in these +bearded orbs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> is thus exceptional, if we think of the innumerable +multitude of comets that circle through the Heavens. Kepler did not +exaggerate when he said "there are as many comets in the skies as there +are fishes in the sea." These scouts of the sidereal world constitute a +regular army, and if we are only acquainted with the dazzling generals +clad in gold, it is because the more modest privates can only be +detected in the telescope. Long before the invention of the latter, +these wanderers in the firmament roamed through space as in our own day, +but they defied the human eye, too weak to detect them. Then they were +regarded as rare and terrible objects that no one dared to contemplate. +To-day they may be counted by hundreds. They have lost in prestige and +in originality; but science is the gainer, since she has thus endowed +the solar system with new members. No year passes without the +announcement of three or four new arrivals. But the fine apparitions +that attract general attention by their splendor are rare enough.</p> + +<p>These eccentric visitors do not resemble the planets, for they have no +opaque body like the Earth, Venus, Mars, or any of the rest. They are +transparent nebulosities, of extreme lightness, without mass nor +density. We have just photographed the comet of the moment, July, 1903: +the smallest stars are visible through its tail, and even through the +nucleus.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p><p>They arrive in every direction from the depths of space, as though to +reanimate themselves in the burning, luminous, electric solar center.</p> + +<p>Attracted by some potent charm toward this dazzling focus, they come +inquisitive and ardent, to warm themselves at its furnace. At first pale +and feeble, they are born again when the Sun caresses them with his +fervid heat. Their motions accelerate, they haste to plunge wholly into +the radiant light. At length they burst out luminous and superb, when +the day-star penetrates them with his burning splendor, illuminates them +with a marvelous radiance, and crowns them with glory. But the Sun is +generous. Having showered benefits upon these gorgeous celestial +butterflies that flutter round him as round some altar of the gods, he +grants them liberty to visit other heavens, to seek fresh universes....</p> + +<p>The original parabola is converted into an ellipse, if the imprudent +adventurer in returning to the Sun passes near some great planet, such +as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune, and suffers its attraction. It +is then imprisoned by our system, and can no longer escape from it. +After reenforcement at the solar focus, it must return to the identical +point at which it felt the first pangs of a new destiny. Henceforward, +it belongs to our celestial family, and circles in a closed curve.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +Otherwise, it is free to continue its rapid course toward other suns and +other systems.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>As a rule, the telescope shows three distinct parts in a comet. There is +first the more brilliant central point, or <i>nucleus</i>, surrounded by a +nebulosity called the <i>hair</i>, or <i>brush</i>, and prolonged in a luminous +appendix stretching out into the <i>tail</i>. The <i>head</i> of the comet is the +brush and the nucleus combined.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig53.jpg" width="450" height="179" alt="Fig. 53.—The tails of Comets are opposed to the Sun." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 53.</span>—The tails of Comets are opposed to the Sun.</span> +</div> + +<p>It is usually supposed that the tail of a comet follows it throughout +the course of its peregrinations. Nothing of the kind. The appendix may +even precede the nucleus; it is always opposite the Sun,—that is to +say, it is situated on the prolongation of a straight line, starting +from the Sun, and passing through the nucleus (Fig. 53). The tail does +not exist, so long as the comet is at a distance from the orb of day; +but in approaching the Sun, the nebulosity is heated and dilates, giving +birth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> to those mysterious tails and fantastic streamers whose +dimensions vary considerably for each comet. The dilations and +transformations undergone by the tail suggest that they may be due to a +repulsive force emanating from the Sun, an electric charge transmitted +doubtless through the ether. It is as though Phœbus blew upon them +with unprecedented force.</p> + +<p>Telescopic comets are usually devoid of tail, even when they reach the +vicinity of the Sun. They appear as pale nebulosities, rounded or oval, +more condensed toward the center, without, however, showing any distinct +nucleus. These stars are only visible for a minute fraction of their +course, when they reach a point not far from the Sun and the terrestrial +orbit.</p> + +<p>The finest comets of the last century were those of 1811, 1843, 1858, +1861, 1874, 1880, 1881, and 1882. The Great Comet of 1811, after +spreading terror over certain peoples, notably in Russia, became the +providence of the vine-growers. As the wine was particularly good and +abundant that year, the peasants attributed this happy result to the +influence of the celestial visitant.</p> + +<p>In 1843 one of these strange messengers from the Infinite appeared in +our Heavens. It was so brilliant that it was visible in full daylight on +February 28th, alongside of the Sun. This splendid comet was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>accompanied by a marvelous rectilinear tail measuring 300,000,000 +kilometers (186,000,000 miles) in length, and its flight was so rapid +that it turned the solar hemisphere at perihelion in two hours, +representing a speed of 550 kilometers (342 miles) a second.</p> + +<p>But the most curious fact is that this radiant apparition passed so near +the Sun that it must have traversed its flames, and yet emerged from +them safe and sound.</p> + +<p>Noteworthy also was the comet of 1858 (Fig. 49), discovered at Florence +by Donati. Its tail extended to a length of 90,000,000 kilometers +(55,900,000 miles), and its nucleus had a diameter of at least 900 +kilometers (559 miles). It is a curious coincidence that the wine was +remarkably excellent and abundant in that year also.</p> + +<p>The comet of 1861 almost rivaled the preceding.</p> + +<p>Coggia's Comet, in 1874, was also remarkable for its brilliancy, but was +very inferior to the last two. Finally, the latest worthy of mention +appeared in 1882. This magnificent comet also touched the Sun, traveling +at a speed of 480 kilometers (299 miles) per second. It crossed the +gaseous atmosphere of the orb of day, and then continued its course +through infinity. On the day of, and that following, its perihelion, it +could be detected with the unaided eye in full daylight, enthroned in +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> Heavens beside the dazzling solar luminary. For the rest, it was +neither that of 1858 nor of 1861.</p> + +<p>Since 1882 we have not been favored with a visit from any fine comet; +but we are prepared to give any such a reception worthy of their +magnificence: first, because now that we have fathomed them we are no +longer awestruck; second, because we would gladly study them more +closely.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>In short, these hirsute stars, whose fantastic appearance impressed the +imagination of our ancestors so vividly, are no longer formidable. Their +mass is inconsiderable; they seem to consist mainly of the lightest of +gases. Analysis of their incandescence reveals a spectrum closely +resembling that of many nebulæ; the presence of carbon is more +particularly obvious. Even the nucleus is not solid, and is often +transparent.</p> + +<p>It is fair to say that the action of a comet might be deleterious if one +of these orbs were to arrive directly upon us. The transformation of +motion into heat, and the combination of the cometary gases with the +oxygen of our atmosphere might produce a conflagration, or a general +poisoning of the atmosphere.</p> + +<p>But the collision of a comet with a planet is almost an impossibility. +This phenomenon could only occur if the comet crossed the planetary +orbit at the exact<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> moment at which the planet was passing. When we +think of the immensity of space, of the extraordinary length of way +traversed by a world in its annual journey round the Sun, and the speed +of its rotation, we see why this coincidence is hardly likely to occur. +Thus, among the hundreds of comets catalogued, a few only cut the +terrestrial orbit. One of them, that of 1832, traversed the path of our +globe in the nights of October 29 and 30 in that year; but the Earth +only passed the same point thirty days later, and at the critical period +was more than 80,000,000 kilometers (50,000,000 miles) away from the +comet.</p> + +<p>On June 30, 1861, however, the Earth passed through the extremity of the +tail of the Great Comet of that year. No one even noticed it. The +effects were doubtless quite immaterial.</p> + +<p>In 1872 we were to collide with Biela's Comet, lost since 1852; now, as +we shall presently see, we came with flying colors out of that +disagreeable situation, because the comet had disintegrated, and was +reduced to powder. So we may sleep in peace as regards future danger +likely to come to us from comets. There is little fear of the +destruction of humanity by these windy bags.</p> + +<p>These ethereal beauties whose blond locks float carelessly upon the +azure night are not concerned with us; they seem to have no other +preoccupation than to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> race from sun to sun, visiting new Heavens, +indifferent to the astonishment they produce in us. They speed +restlessly and tirelessly through infinity; they are the Amazons of +space.</p> + +<p>What suns, what worlds must they have visited since the moment of their +birth! If these splendid fugitives could relate the story of their +wanderings, how gladly should we listen to the enchanting descriptions +of the various abodes they have journeyed to! But alas! these mysterious +explorers are dumb; they tell none of their secrets, and we must needs +respect their enigmatic silence.</p> + +<p>Yet, some of them have left us a modest token of remembrance, an almost +impalpable nothing, sufficient, however, to enable us to address our +thanks to the considerate messenger.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Can there be any one upon the Earth who has not been struck by the +phosphorescent lights that glide through the somber night, leaving a +brilliant silver or golden track—the luminous, ephemeral trail of a +meteor?</p> + +<p>Sometimes, when Night has silently spread the immensity of her wings +above the weary Earth, a shining speck is seen to detach itself in the +shades of evening from the starry vault, shooting lightly through the +constellations to lose itself in the infinitude of space.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig54.jpg" width="450" height="650" alt="Fig. 54.—A Meteor." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 54.</span>—A Meteor.</span> +</div> + +<p>These bewitching sparks attract our eyes and chain our senses. +Fascinating celestial fireflies, their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> dainty flames dart in every +direction through space, sowing the fine dust of their gilded wings upon +the fields of Heaven. They are born to die; their life is only a breath; +yet the impression which they make upon the imagination of mortals is of +the profoundest.</p> + +<p>The young girl dreaming in the delicious tranquillity of the transparent +night smiles at this charming sister in the Heavens (Fig. 54). What can +not this adorable star announce to the tender and loving heart? Is it +the shy messenger of the happiness so long desired? Its unpremeditated +appearance fills the soul with a ray of hope and makes it tremble. It is +a golden beam that glides into the heart, expanding it in the thrills of +a sudden and ephemeral pleasure.... The radiant meteor seems to quit the +velvet of the deep blue sky to respond to the appeal of the imploring +voice that seeks its succor.</p> + +<p>What secrets has it not surprised! And who bears malice against it? It +is the friend of the betrothed who invoke its passage to confide their +wishes, and associate it with their dreams. Tradition holds that if a +wish be formulated during the visible passage of a meteor it will +certainly be fulfilled before the year is out. Between ourselves, +however, this is but a surviving figment of the ancestral imagination, +for this celestial jewel takes no such active part in the doings of +Humanity.... Besides, try to express a wish distinctly in a second!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span></p><p>It is a curious fact that while comets have so often spread terror on +the Earth, shooting stars should on the contrary have been regarded with +benevolent feelings at all times. And what is a shooting star? These +dainty excursionists from the celestial shores are not, as is supposed, +true stars. They are atoms, nothings, minute fragments deriving in +general from the disintegration of comets. They come to us from a vast +distance, from millions on millions of miles, and circle in swarms +around the Sun, following a very elongated ellipse which closely +resembles that of the cometary orbit. Their flight is extremely rapid, +reaching sometimes more than 40 kilometers (25 miles) per second, a +cometary speed that is, as we have seen, greatly above that of our +terrestrial vehicle, which amounts to 29 to 30 kilometers (about 19 +miles).</p> + +<p>These little corpuscles are not intrinsically luminous; but when the +orbit of a swarm of meteors crosses our planet, a violent shock arises, +the speed of which may be as great as 72 kilometers (45 miles) in the +first second if we meet the star shower directly; the average rate, +however, does not exceed 30 to 40 kilometers (19 to 25 miles), for these +meteors nearly always cross our path obliquely. The height at which they +arrive is usually 110 kilometers (68 miles), and 80 kilometers (50 +miles) at the moment of disappearance of the meteor; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> shooting stars +have been observed at 300 kilometers (186 miles).</p> + +<p>The friction caused by this collision high up in the atmosphere +transforms the motion into heat. The molecules incandesce, and burn like +true stars with a brilliancy that is often magnificent.</p> + +<p>But their glory is of short duration. The excessive heat resulting from +the shock consumes the poor firefly; its remains evaporate, and drop +slowly to the Earth, where they are deposited on the surface of the soil +in a sort of ferruginous dust mixed with carbon and nickel. Some one +hundred and forty-six milliards of them reach us annually, as seen by +the unaided eye, and many more in the telescope; the effect of these +showers of meteoric matter is an insensible increase in the mass of our +globe, a slight lessening of its rotary motion, and the acceleration of +the lunar movements of revolution.</p> + +<p>Although the appearance of shooting stars is a common enough phenomenon, +visible every night of the year, there are certain times when they +arrive in swarms, from different quarters of the sky. The most +remarkable dates in this connection are the night of August 10th and the +morning of November 14th. Every one knows the shooting stars of August +10th, because they arrive in the fine warm summer evenings so favorable +to general contemplation of the Heavens. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>phenomenon lasts till the +12th, and even beyond, but the maximum is on the 10th. When the sky is +very clear, and there is no moon, hundreds of shooting stars can be +counted on those three nights, sometimes thousands. They all seem to +come from the same quarter of the Heavens, which is called the +<i>radiant</i>, and is situated for the August swarm in the constellation of +Perseus, whence they have received the name of <i>Perseids</i>. Our +forefathers also called them the tears of St. Lawrence, because the +feast of that saint is on the same date. These shooting stars describe a +very elongated ellipse, and their orbit has been identified with that of +the Great Comet of 1862.</p> + +<p>The shower of incandescent asteroids on November 14th is often much more +abundant than the preceding. In 1799, 1833, and 1866, the meteors were +so numerous that they were described as showers of rain, especially on +the first two dates. For several hours the sky was furrowed with falling +stars. An English mariner, Andrew Ellicot, who made the drawing we +reproduce (Fig. 55), described the phenomenon as stupendous and alarming +(November 12, 1799, 3 <span class="ampm">A.M.</span>). The same occurred on November 13, 1833. The +meteors that scarred the Heavens on that night were reckoned at 240,000. +These shooting stars received the name of <i>Leonids</i>, because their +radiant is situated in the constellation of the Lion.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig55.jpg" width="450" height="667" alt="Fig. 55.—Shooting Stars of November 12, 1799." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 55.</span>—Shooting Stars of November 12, 1799.<br /> +<i>From a contemporary drawing.</i></span> +</div> + +<p>This swarm follows the same orbit as the comet of 1866, which travels as +far as Uranus, and comes back to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> the vicinity of the Sun every +thirty-three years. Hence we were entitled to expect another splendid +apparition in 1899, but the expectations of the astronomers were +disappointed. All the preparations for the appropriate reception of +these celestial visitors failed to bring about the desired result. The +notes made in observatories, or in balloons, admitted of the +registration of only a very small number of meteors. The maximum was +thirteen. During that night, some 200 shooting stars were counted. There +were more in 1900, 1901, and, above all, in 1902. This swarm has become +displaced.</p> + +<p>The night of November 27th again is visited by a number of shooting +stars that are the disaggregated remains of the Comet of Biela. This +comet, discovered by Biela in 1827, accomplished its revolution in six +and a half years, and down to 1846 it responded punctually to the +astronomers who expected its return as fixed by calculation. But on +January 13, 1846, the celestial wanderer broke in half: each fragment +went its own way, side by side, to return within sight from the Earth in +1852. It was their last appearance. That year the twin comets could +still be seen, though pale and insignificant. Soon they vanished into +the depths of night, and never appeared again. They were looked for in +vain, and were despaired of, when on November 27, 1872, instead of the +shattered comet,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> came a magnificent rain of shooting stars. They fell +through the Heavens, numerous as the flakes of a shower of snow.</p> + +<p>The same phenomenon recurred on November 27, 1885, and confirmed the +hypothesis of the demolition and disaggregation of Biela's Comet into +shooting stars.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>There is an immense variety in the brilliancy of the shooting stars, +from the weak telescopic sparks that vanish like a flash of lightning, +to the incandescent <i>bolides</i> or <i>fire-balls</i> that explode in the +atmosphere.</p> + +<p>Fig. 56 shows an example of these, and it represents a fire-ball +observed at the Observatory of Juvisy on the night of August 10, 1899. +It arrived from Cassiopeia, and burst in Cepheus.</p> + +<p>This phenomenon may occur by day as well as by night. It is often +accompanied by one or several explosions, the report of which is +sometimes perceptible to a considerable distance, and by a shower of +meteorites. The globe of fire bursts, and splits up into luminous +fragments, scattered in all directions. The different parts of the +fire-ball fall to the surface of the Earth, under the name of aerolites, +or rather of uranoliths, since they arrive from the depths of space, and +not from our atmosphere.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p><p>From the most ancient times we hear of showers of uranoliths to which +popular superstitions were attached; and the Greeks even gave the name +of <i>Sideros</i> to iron, the first iron used having been sidereal.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig56.jpg" width="450" height="582" alt="Fig. 56.—Fire-Ball seen from the Observatory at Juvisy, August 10, 1899." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 56.</span>—Fire-Ball seen from the Observatory at Juvisy, August 10, 1899.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"><br /><br /> +<img src="images/fig57.jpg" width="450" height="544" alt="Fig. 57.—Explosion of a Fire-Ball above Madrid, February 10, 1896." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 57.</span>—Explosion of a Fire-Ball above Madrid, February 10, 1896.</span> +</div> + +<p>No year passes without the announcement of several showers of +uranoliths, and the phenomenon sometimes causes great alarm to those who +witness it. One of the most remarkable explosions is that which occurred +above Madrid, February 10, 1896, a fragment from which,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> sent me by M. +Arcimis, Director of the Meteorological Institute, fell immediately in +front of the National Museum (Fig. 57). The phenomenon occurred at 9.30 +<span class="ampm">A.M.</span>, in brilliant sunshine. The flash of the explosion was so dazzling +that it even illuminated the interior of the houses; an alarming clap of +thunder was heard seventy seconds after, and it was believed that an +explosion of dynamite had occurred. The fire-ball burst at a height of +fourteen miles, and was seen as far as 435 miles from Madrid!</p> + +<p>In one of Raphael's finest pictures (<i>The Madonna of Foligno</i>) a +fire-ball may be seen beneath a rainbow (Fig. 58), the painter wishing +to preserve the remembrance of it, as it fell near Milan, on September +4, 1511. This picture dates from 1512.</p> + +<p>The dimensions of these meteorites vary considerably; they are of all +sizes, from the impalpable dust that floats in the air, to the enormous +blocks exposed in the Museum of Natural History in Paris. Many of them +weigh several million pounds. That represented below fell in Mexico +during the shower of meteors of November 27, 1885. It weighed about four +pounds.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig58.jpg" width="450" height="680" alt="Fig. 58.—Raphael's Fire-Ball (The Madonna of Foligno)." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 58.</span>—Raphael's Fire-Ball (<i>The Madonna of Foligno</i>).</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p><p>These bolides and uranoliths come to us from the depths of space; but +they do not appear to have the same origin as the shooting stars. They +may arise from worlds destroyed by explosion or shock, or even from +planetary volcanoes. The lightest of them may have been expelled from +the volcanoes of the Moon. Some of the most massive, in which iron +predominates, may even have issued from the bowels of the Earth, +projected into space by some volcanic explosion, at an epoch when our +globe was perpetually convulsed by cataclysms of extraordinary violence. +They return to us to-day after being removed from the Earth to distances +proportional to the initial speed imparted to them. This origin seems +the more admissible as the stones that fall from the skies exhibit a +mineral composition identical with that of the terrestrial materials.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig59.jpg" width="450" height="413" alt="Fig. 59.—A Uranolith." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 59.</span>—A Uranolith.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p><p>In any case, these uranoliths bring us back at least by their fall to +our Earth, and from henceforward we will remain upon it, to study its +position in space, and to take account of the place it fills in the +Universe, and of the astronomical laws that govern our destiny.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>THE EARTH</h3> + + +<p class="chap"><span class="smcap">Our</span> grand celestial journey lands us upon our own little planet, on this +globe that gravitates between Mars and Venus (between War and Love), +circulating like her brothers of the solar system, around the colossal +Sun.</p> + +<p>The Earth! The name evokes in us the image of Life, and calls up the +theater of our activities, our ambitions, our joys and sorrows. Does it +not, in fact, to ignorant eyes, represent the whole of the universe?</p> + +<p>And yet, what is the Earth?</p> + +<p>The Earth is a star in the Heavens. We learned this much in our first +lesson. It is a globe of opaque material, similar to the planets +Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, etc., as previously described. Isolated +on all sides in space, it revolves round the Sun, along a vast orbit +that it accomplishes in a year. And while it thus glides along the lines +of solar attraction, the terrestrial ball rotates rapidly upon itself in +twenty-four hours.</p> + +<p>These statements may appear dubious at first sight, and contradictory to +the evidence of our senses.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span></p><p>Now that the surface of the Earth has been explored in all directions, +there is no longer room to doubt that it is a globe, a sort of ball that +we adhere to. A journey round the world is common enough to-day, and +always yields the most complete evidence of the spherical nature of the +Earth. On the other hand, the curvature of the seas is a no less certain +proof. When a ship reaches the dark-blue line that appears to separate +the sky from the ocean, it seems to be hanging on the horizon. Little by +little, however, as it recedes, it drops below the horizon line; the +tops of the masts being the last to disappear. The observer on board +ship witnesses the same phenomenon. The low shores are first to +disappear, while the high coasts and mountains are much longer visible.</p> + +<p>The aspect of the Heavens gives another proof of the Earth's rotundity. +As one travels North or South, new stars rise higher and higher above +the horizon in the one direction or the other, and those which shine in +the latitude one is leaving, gradually disappear. If the surface of the +Earth were flat, the ships on the sea would be visible as long as our +sight could pierce the distance, and all the stars of the Heavens would +be equally visible from the different quarters of the world.</p> + +<p>Lastly, during the eclipses of the Moon, the shadow projected by the +Earth upon our satellite is always round.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> This is another proof of the +spherical nature of the terrestrial globe.</p> + +<p>We described the Earth as an orb in the Heavens, similar to all the +other planets of the great solar family. We see these sister planets of +our world circulating under the starry vault, like luminous points whose +brilliancy is sometimes dazzling. For us they are marvelous celestial +birds hovering in the ether, upheld by invisible wings. The Earth is +just the same. It is supported by nothing. Like the soap-bubble that +assumes a lovely iridescence in the rays of the Sun, or, better, like +the balloon rapidly cleaving the air, it is isolated from every kind of +support.</p> + +<p>Some minds have difficulty in conceiving this isolation, because they +form a false notion of weight.</p> + +<p>The astronomers of antiquity, who divined it, knew not how to prevent +the Earth from falling. They asked anxiously what the strong bands +capable of holding up this block of no inconsiderable weight could be. +At first they thought it floated on the waters like an island. Then they +postulated solid pillars, or even supposed it might turn on pivots +placed at the poles. But on what would all these imaginary supports have +rested? All these fanciful foundations of the Earth had to be given up, +and it was recognized as a globe, isolated in every part. This illusion +of the ancients, which still obtains<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> for a great many citizens of our +globule, arises, as we said, from a false conception of weight.</p> + +<p>Weight and attraction are one and the same force.</p> + +<p>A body can only fall when it is attracted, drawn by a more important +body. Now, in whatever direction we may wander upon the globe, our feet +are always downward. <i>Down</i> is therefore the <i>center</i> of the Earth.</p> + +<p>The terrestrial globe may be regarded as an immense ball of magnet, and +its attraction holds us at its surface. We weigh toward the center. We +may travel over this surface in all directions; our feet will always be +below, whatever the direction of our steps. For us, "below" is the +inside of our planet, and "above" is the immensity of the Heavens that +extend above our heads, right round the globe.</p> + +<p>This once understood, where could the Earth fall to? The question is an +absurdity. "Below" being toward the center, it would have to fall out of +itself.</p> + +<p>Let us then picture the Earth as a vast sphere, detached from all that +exists around it, in the infinity of the Heavens. A point diametrically +opposed to another is called its <i>antipodes</i>. New Zealand is +approximately the antipodes to France. Well, for the inhabitants of New +Zealand and of France the top is reciprocally opposed, and the bottom, +or the feet, are diametrically in opposition. And yet, for one as for +the other, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> bottom is the soil they are held to, and the top is +space above their heads.</p> + +<p>The Earth turns on itself in twenty-four hours. Whatever is above us, +<i>e.g.</i>, at midday, we call high; twelve hours later, at midnight, we +give the same qualification to the part of space that was under our feet +at noon. What is in the sky, and over our heads, at a given hour, is +under our feet, and yet always in the sky, twelve hours later. Our +position, in relation to the space that surrounds us, changes from hour +to hour, and "top" and "bottom" vary also, relatively to our position.</p> + +<p>Our planet is thus a ball, slightly flattened at the poles (by about +<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">292</span>). Its diameter, at the equator, is 12,742 kilometers (7,926 +miles); from one pole to the other is a little less, owing to the +flattening of the polar caps. The difference is some 43 kilometers +(about 27 miles).</p> + +<p>Its circumference is 40,000 kilometers (24,900 miles). This ball is +surrounded by an aerial envelope, the atmosphere, the height of which +can not be less than 300 kilometers (186 miles), according to the +observations made on certain shooting stars.</p> + +<p>We all know that this layer of air, at the bottom of which we live, is a +beautiful azure blue that seems to separate us from the sidereal abyss, +spreading over our heads in a kind of vault that is often filled with +clouds,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> and giving the illusion of resting far off on the circle of the +horizon. But this is only an illusion. In reality, there is neither +vault nor horizon; space is open in all directions. If the atmosphere +did not exist, or if it were completely transparent, we should see the +stars by day as by night, for they are continually round us, at noon as +at midnight, and we can see them in the full daylight, with the help of +astronomical instruments. In fact, certain stars (the radiant Venus and +the dazzling Jupiter) pierce the veil of the atmosphere, and are visible +with the unaided eye in full daylight.</p> + +<p>The terrestrial surface is 510,000,000 square kilometers (200,000,000 +square miles). The waters of the ocean cover three-quarters of this +surface, <i>i.e.</i>, 383,200,000 square kilometers (150,000,000 square +miles), and the continents only occupy 136,600,000 square kilometers +(55,000 square miles). France represents about the thousandth part of +the total superficies of the globe.</p> + +<p>Despite the asperities of mountain ranges, and the abysses hollowed out +by the waters, the terrestrial globe is fairly regular, and in relation +to its volume its surface is smoother than that of an orange. The +highest summits of the Himalaya, the profoundest depths of the somber +ocean, do not attain to the millionth part of its diameter.</p> + +<p>In weight, the Earth is five and a half times heavier<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> than would be a +globe of water of the same dimensions. That is to say:</p> + +<p class="center"> +6,957,930,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms<br /> +(6,833,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons). +</p> + +<p>The atmospheric atmosphere with which it is surrounded represents.</p> + +<p class="center"> +6,263,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms<br /> +(6,151,000,000,000,000 tons). +</p> + +<p>Each of us carries an average weight of some 17,000 kilograms (16 tons) +upon his shoulders. Perhaps some one will ask how it is that we are not +crushed by this weight, which is out of all proportion with our +strength, but to which, nevertheless, we appear insensible. It is +because the aerial fluid enclosed within our bodies exerts a pressure +equal and opposite to the external atmospheric pressure, and these +pressures are at equilibrium.</p> + +<p>The Earth is characterized by no essential or particular differences +relatively to the other worlds of our system. Like Venus of the limpid +rays, like the dazzling Jupiter, like all the planets, she courses +through space, carrying into Infinitude our hopes and destinies. Bigger +than Mercury, Venus, and Mars, she presents a very modest figure in +comparison with the enormous Jupiter, the strange system of Saturn, of +Uranus, and even of Neptune. For us her greatest interest is that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> she +serves as our residence, and if she were not our habitation we should +scarcely notice her. Dark in herself, she burns at a distance like a +star, returning to space the light she receives from the Sun. At the +distance of our satellite, she shines like an enormous moon, fourteen +times larger and more luminous than our gentle Phœbe. Observed from +Mercury or Venus, she embellishes the midnight sky with her sparkling +purity as Jupiter does for us. Seen from Mars, she is a brilliant +morning and evening star, presenting phases similar to those which Mars +and Venus show from here. From Jupiter, the terrestrial globe is little +more than an insignificant point, nearly always swallowed up in the +solar rays. As to the Saturnians, Uranians, and Neptunians, if such +people exist, they probably ignore our existence altogether. And in all +likelihood it is the same for the rest of the universe.</p> + +<p>We must cherish no illusions as to the importance of our natal world. It +is true that the Earth is not wanting in charm, with its verdant plains +enameled in the delicious tones of a robust and varied vegetation, its +plants and flowers, its spring-time and its birds, its limpid rivers +winding through the meadows, its mountains covered with forests, its +vast and profound seas animated with an infinite variety of living +creatures. The spectacle of Nature is magnificent, superb, admirable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +and marvelous, and we imagine that this Earth fills the universe, and +suffices for it. The Sun, the Moon, the stars, the boundless Heavens, +seem to have been created for us, to charm our eyes and thoughts, to +illumine our days, and shed a gentle radiance upon our nights. This is +an agreeable illusion of our senses. If our Humanity were extinguished, +the other worlds of the Heavens, Venus, Mars, etc., would none the less +continue to gravitate in the Heavens along with our defunct planet, and +the close of human life (for which everything seems to us to have been +created) would not even be perceived by those other worlds, that +nevertheless are our neighbors. There would be no revolution, no +cataclysm. The stars would go on shining in the firmament, just as they +do to-day, shedding their divine light over the immensity of the +Heavens. Nothing would be changed in the general aspect of the Universe. +The Earth is only a modest atom, lost in the innumerable army of the +worlds and suns that people the universe.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Every morning the Sun rises in the East, setting fire with his ardent +rays to the sky, which is dazzling with his splendor. He ascends through +space, reaches a culminating point at noon, and then descends toward the +West, to sink at night into the purple of the sunset.</p> + +<p>And then the stars, grand lighthouses of the Heavens,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> in their turn +incandesce. They too rise in the East, ascend the vault of Heaven, and +then descend to the West, and vanish. All the orbs, Sun, Moon, planets, +stars, appear to revolve round us in twenty-four hours.</p> + +<p>This journey of the orbs around us is only an illusion of the senses.</p> + +<p>Whether the Earth be at rest, and the sky animated with a rotary +movement round her, or whether, on the contrary, the stars are fixed, +and the Earth in motion, in either case, for us appearances are the +same. If the Earth turns, carrying all that pertains to it in its +motion—the seas, the atmosphere, the clouds, and ourselves,—we are +unable to perceive it, because all the objects that surround us keep +their respective positions among themselves. Hence we must resort to +logic, and reason out the two hypotheses.</p> + +<p>For the accomplishment of this rapid journey of the Sun and stars around +the Earth, it would be necessary that all the orbs of the sky should be +in some way attached to a vault, or to circles, as was formerly +supposed. This conception is childish. The peoples of antiquity had no +notion of the size of the universe, and their error is almost excusable. +The distance separating Heaven from the Infernal Regions has been +measured, according to Hesiod, by Vulcan's anvil, which fell from the +skies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> to the Earth in nine days and nine nights, and it would have +taken as long again to continue its journey from the surface of the +Earth to the bowels of Hades.</p> + +<p>To-day we have a more exact notion of the grandeur of the Universe. We +know that millions and trillions of miles separate the stars from one +another. And by representing these distances, we can form some idea of +the difficulty there would be in admitting the rotation of the universe +round the Earth.</p> + +<p>The distance from here to the Sun is 149,000,000 kilometers (93,000,000 +miles). In order to turn in twenty-four hours round the Earth, that orb +would have to fly through Space at a velocity of more than 10,000 +kilometers (6,200 miles) a second.</p> + +<p>Yes! the Sun, splendid orb, source of our existence and of that of all +the planets, a colossal globe, over a million times more voluminous than +the Earth, and 324 thousand times heavier, would have to accomplish this +immense revolution in order to turn round the minute point that is our +lilliputian world!</p> + +<p>This in itself would suffice to convince us of the want of logic in such +an argument. But the Sun is not alone in the Heavens. We should have to +suppose that all the planets and all the stars were engaged in the same +fantastic motions.</p> + +<p>Jupiter is about five times as far off as the Sun; his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> velocity would +have to be 53,000 kilometers (32,860 miles) per second.</p> + +<p>Neptune, thirty times farther off, would have to execute 320,000 +kilometers (198,000 miles) per second.</p> + +<p>The nearest star, α of the Centaur, situated at a distance 275,000 +times that of the Sun, would have to run, to fly through space, at a +rate of 2,941,000,000 kilometers (1,823,420,000 miles) per second.</p> + +<p>All the other stars are incomparably farther off, at infinity.</p> + +<p>And this fantastic rotation would all be accomplished round a minute +point!</p> + +<p>To put the problem in this way is to solve it. Unless we deny the +astronomic measures, and the most convincing geometric operations, the +Earth's diurnal motion of rotation is a certainty.</p> + +<p>To suppose that the stars revolve round the Earth is to suppose, as one +author humorously suggests, that in order to roast a pheasant the +chimney, the kitchen, the house, and all the countryside must needs turn +round it.</p> + +<p>If the Earth turns in twenty-four hours upon itself, a point upon the +equator would simply travel at a rate of 465 meters (1,525 feet) per +second. This speed, while considerable in comparison with the movements +observed upon the surface of our planet, is as nothing compared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> with +the fantastic rapidity at which the Sun and stars would have to move, in +order to rotate round our globe.</p> + +<p>Thus we have to choose between these two hypotheses: either to make the +entire Heavens turn round us in twenty-four hours, or to suppose our +globe to be animated by a motion of rotation upon itself. For us, the +impression is the same, and as we are insensible to the motion of the +Earth, its immobility would seem almost natural to us. So that, in last +resort, here as in many other instances, the decision must be made by +simple common sense. Science long ago made its choice. Moreover, all the +progress of Astronomy has confirmed the rotary movement of the Earth in +twenty-four hours, and its movement of revolution round the Sun in a +year; while at the same time a great number of other motions have been +discovered for our wandering planet.</p> + +<p>The learned philosophers of antiquity divined the double movement of our +planet. The disciples of Pythagoras taught it more than two thousand +years ago, and the ancient authors quote among others Nicetas of +Syracuse, and Aristarchus of Samos, as being among the first to promote +the doctrine of the Earth's movement. But at that remote period no one +had any idea of the real distances of the stars, and the argument did +not seem to be based on any adequate evidence. Ptolemy, after a long +discussion of the diurnal motion of our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> planet, refutes it, giving as +his principal reason that if the Earth turned, the objects that were not +fixed to its surface would appear to move in a contrary direction, and +that a body shot into the air would fall back to the West of its +starting-point, the Earth having turned meantime from West to East. This +objection has no weight, because the Earth controls not only all the +objects fixed to the soil, but also the atmosphere, and the clouds that +surround it like a light veil, and all that exists upon its surface. The +atmosphere, the clouds, the waters of the ocean, things and beings, all +are adherent to it and make one body with it, participating in its +movement, as sometimes happens to ourselves in the compartment of a +train, or the car of an aerostat. When, for instance, we drop an object +out of such a car, this object, animated with the acquired velocity, +does not fall to a point below the aerostat, but follows the balloon, as +though it were gliding along a thread. The author has made this +experiment more than once in aerial journeys.</p> + +<p>Thus, the hypothesis of the Earth's motion has become a certainty. But +in addition to reasoning, direct proof is not wanting.</p> + +<p>1. The spheroidal shape of the Earth, slightly flattened at the poles +and swollen at the equator, has been produced by the rotary motion, by +the centrifugal force that it engenders.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p><p>2. In virtue of this centrifugal force, which is at its maximum at the +equator, objects lose a little of their weight in proportion as they are +farther removed from the polar regions where centrifugal force is almost +<i>nil</i>.</p> + +<p>3. In virtue of this same centrifugal force, the length of the pendulum +in seconds is shorter at the equator than in Paris, and the difference +is one of 3 millimeters.</p> + +<p>4. A weight abandoned to itself and falling from a certain height, +should follow the vertical if the Earth were motionless. Experiment, +frequently repeated, shows a slight deviation to the East, of the +plumb-line that marks the vertical. We more especially observed this at +the Pantheon during the recent experiments.</p> + +<p>5. The magnificent experiment of Foucault at the Pantheon, just renewed +under the auspices of the Astronomical Society of France, demonstrates +the rotary motion of the Earth to all beholders. A sufficiently heavy +ball (28 kilograms, about 60 pounds) is suspended from the dome of the +edifice by an excessively fine steel thread. When the pendulum is in +motion, a point attached to the bottom of the ball marks its passage +upon two little heaps of sand arranged some yards away from the center. +At each oscillation this point cuts the sand, and the furrow gets +gradually longer to the right hand of an observer placed at the center +of the pendulum. The plane of the oscillations remains<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> fixed, but the +Earth revolves beneath, from West to East. The fundamental principle of +this experiment is that the plane in which any pendulum is made to +oscillate remains invariable even when the point of suspension is +turned. This demonstration enables us in some measure to see the Earth +turning under our feet.</p> + +<p>The annual displacements of the stars are again confirmatory of the +Earth's motion round the Sun. During the course of the year, the stars +that are least remote from our solar province appear to describe minute +ellipses, in perspective, in the Heavens. These small apparent +variations in the position of the nearest stars reproduce the annual +rotation of the Earth round the Sun, in perspective.</p> + +<p>We could adduce further observations in favor of this double movement, +but the proofs just given are sufficiently convincing to leave no doubt +in the mind of the reader.</p> + +<p>Nor are these two the only motions by which our globe is rocked in +space. To its diurnal rotation and its annual rotation we may add +another series of <i>ten more motions</i>: some very slow, fulfilling +themselves in thousands of years, others, more rapid, being constantly +renewed. It is, however, impossible in these restricted pages to enter +into the detail reserved for more complete works. We must not forget +that our present aim is to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> sum up the essentials of astronomical +knowledge as simply as possible, and to offer our readers only the "best +of the picking."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>The two principal motions of which we have just spoken give us the +measure of time, the day of twenty-four hours, and the year of 365<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">4</span> +days.</p> + +<p>The Earth turning upon itself in twenty-four hours from West to East, +presents all its parts in succession to the Sun fixed in space. +Illuminated countries have the day, those opposite, in the shadow of the +Earth, are plunged into night. The countries carried by the Earth toward +the Sun have morning, those borne toward his shadow, evening. Those +which receive the rays of the day-star directly have noon; those which +are just opposite have midnight.</p> + +<p>The rotation of our planet in this way gives us the measure of time; it +has been divided arbitrarily into twenty-four periods called hours; each +hour into sixty minutes; each minute into sixty seconds.</p> + +<p>In consequence, each country turns in twenty-four hours round the axis +of the Earth. The difference in hours between the different regions of +the globe is therefore regulated by the difference of geographical +position. The countries situated to the West are behind us; the Sun only +gets there after it has shone upon our meridian.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> When it is midday in +Paris, it is only 11.51 <span class="ampm">A.M.</span> in London; 11.36 <span class="ampm">A.M.</span> in Madrid; 11.14 <span class="ampm">A.M.</span> +at Lisbon; 11.12 <span class="ampm">A.M.</span> at Mogador; 7.06 <span class="ampm">A.M.</span> at Quebec; 6.55 <span class="ampm">A.M.</span> at New +York; 5.14 <span class="ampm">A.M.</span> in Mexico; and so on. The countries situated to the East +are, on the contrary, ahead of us. When it is noon in Paris, it is +already 56 minutes after midday at Vienna; 1.25 <span class="ampm">P.M.</span> at Athens; 2.21 +<span class="ampm">P.M.</span> at Moscow; 3.16 <span class="ampm">P.M.</span> at Teheran; 4.42 <span class="ampm">P.M.</span> at Bombay; and so on. We +are here speaking of real times, and not of the conventional times.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig60.jpg" width="450" height="488" alt="Fig. 60.—Motion of the Earth round the Sun." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 60.</span>—Motion of the Earth round the Sun.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p><p>If we could make the tour of the world in twenty-four hours, starting +at midday from some place to go round the globe, and traveling westward +with the Sun, we should have him always over our heads. In traveling +round the world from West to East, one goes in front of the Sun, and +gains by one day; in taking the opposite direction, from East to West, +one loses a day.</p> + +<p>In reality, the exact duration of the Earth's diurnal rotation is +twenty-three hours, fifty-six minutes, four seconds. That is the +sidereal day. But, while turning upon itself, the Earth circulates upon +its orbit, and at the end of a diurnal rotation it is still obliged to +turn during three minutes, fifty-six seconds in order to present exactly +the same meridian to the fixed Sun which, in consequence of the rotary +period of our planet, is a little behind. The solar day is thus one of +twenty-four hours. There are 366 rotations in the year.</p> + +<p>And now let us come back to the consequences of the Earth's motion. In +the first place our planet does not turn vertically nor on its side, but +is tipped or inclined a certain quantity: 23° 27′.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span></p><p>Now, throughout its annual journey round the Sun, the inclination +remains the same. That is what produces the seasons and climates. The +countries which have a larger circle to travel over in the hemisphere of +the solar illumination have the longer days, those which have a smaller +circle, shorter days. At the equator there is constantly, and all +through the year, a twelve-hour day, and a night of twelve hours.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/fig61.jpg" width="400" height="246" alt="Fig. 61.—Inclination of the Earth." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 61.</span>—Inclination of the Earth.</span> +</div> + +<p>In summer, the pole dips toward the Sun, and the rays of the orb of day +cover the corresponding hemisphere with their light. Six months later +this same hemisphere is in winter, and the opposite hemisphere is in its +turn presented to the Sun. June 21 is the summer solstice for the +northern hemisphere, and is at the same time winter for the southern +pole. Six months later, on December 21, we have winter, while the +southern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> hemisphere is completely exposed to the Sun. Between these two +epochs, when the radiant orb shines exactly upon the equator, that is on +March 21, we have the spring equinox, that delicious flowering season +when all nature is enchanting and enchanted; on September 21 we have the +autumn equinox, melancholy, but not devoid of charm.</p> + +<p>The terrestrial sphere has been divided into different zones, with which +the different climates are in relation:</p> + +<p>1. The tropical zone, which extends 23° 27′ from one part to the other +of the equator. This is the hottest region. It is limited by the circle +of the tropics.</p> + +<p>2. The temperate zones, which extend from 23° 27′ to 66° 23′ of +latitude, and where the Sun sets every day.</p> + +<p>3. The glacial zones, drawn round the poles, at 66° 33′ latitude, where +the Sun remains constantly above or below the horizon for several days, +or even several months. These glacial zones are limited by the polar +circles.</p> + +<p>We must add that the <i>axis</i> of the Earth is a straight line that is +supposed to pass through the center of the globe and come out at two +diametrically opposite points called the <i>poles</i>. The diurnal rotation +of the Earth is effected round this axis.</p> + +<p>The name <i>equator</i> is given to a great circle situated between the two +poles, at equal distance, which divides<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> the globe into two hemispheres. +The equator is divided into 360 parts or degrees, by other circles that +go from one pole to the other. These are the <i>longitudes</i> or meridians +(see Fig. 62). The distance between the equator and the pole is divided +into larger or smaller circles, which have received the name of +<i>latitudes</i>, 90 degrees are reckoned on the one side and the other of +the equator, in the direction of the North and South poles, +respectively. The longitudes are reckoned from some point either to East +or West: the latitudes are reckoned North and South, from the equator. +In going from East to West, or inversely, the longitude changes, but in +passing from North to South of any spot, it is the latitude that alters.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 350px;"> +<img src="images/fig62.jpg" width="350" height="361" alt="Fig. 62.—The divisions of the globe. Longitudes and latitudes." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 62.</span>—The divisions of the globe. Longitudes and latitudes.</span> +</div> + +<p>The circles of latitude are smaller in proportion as one approaches the +poles. The circumference of the world is 40,076,600 meters at the +equator. At the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> latitude of Paris (48° 50′) it is only 26,431,900 +meters. A point situated at the equator has more ground to travel over +in order to accomplish its rotation in twenty-four hours than a point +nearer the pole.</p> + +<p>We have already stated that this velocity of rotation is 465 meters per +second at the equator. At the latitude of Paris it is not more than 305 +meters. At the poles it is <i>nil</i>.</p> + +<p>The longitudes, or meridians, are great circles of equal length, +dividing the Earth into quarters, like the parts of an orange or a +melon. These circumvent the globe, and measure some 40,000,000 +(40,008,032) meters. We may remember in passing that the length of the +meter has been determined as, by definition, the ten-millionth part of +the quarter of a celestial meridian.</p> + +<p>Thus, while rotating upon itself, the Earth spins round the Sun, along a +vast orbit traced at 149,000,000 kilometers (93,000,000 miles) from the +central focus, a sensibly elliptical orbit, as we have already pointed +out. It is a little nearer the Sun on January 1st than on July 1st, at +its perihelion (<i>peri</i>, near, <i>helios</i>, Sun), than at its aphelion +(<i>apo</i>, far, <i>helios</i>, Sun). The difference = 6,000,000 kilometers +(3,720,000 miles), and its velocity is a little greater at perihelion +than at aphelion.</p> + +<p>This second motion produces the <i>year</i>. It is accomplished in three +hundred and sixty-five days, six hours,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> nine minutes, nine seconds. +Such is the complete revolution of our planet round the orb of day. It +has received the name of sidereal year. But this is not how we calculate +the year in practical life. The civil year, known also as the tropical +year, is not equivalent to the Earth's revolution, because a very slow +gyratory motion, called "the precession of the equinoxes," the cycle of +which occupies 25,765 years, drags the spring equinox back some twenty +minutes in each year.</p> + +<p>The civil year is, accordingly, three hundred and sixty-five days, five +hours, forty-eight minutes, forty-six seconds.</p> + +<p>In order to simplify the calendar, this accumulating fraction of five +hours, forty-eight minutes, forty-six seconds (about a quarter day) is +added every four years to a bissextile year (leap-year), and thus we +have uneven years of three hundred and sixty-five, and three hundred and +sixty-six days. Every year of which the figure is divisible by four is a +leap-year. By adding a quarter day to each year, there is a surplus of +eleven minutes, fourteen seconds. These are subtracted every hundred +years by not taking as bissextile those secular years of which the +radical is not divisible by four. The year 1600 was leap-year: 1700, +1800, and 1900 were not; 2000 will be. The agreement between the +calendar and nature has thus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> been fairly perfect, since the +establishment of the Gregorian Calendar in 1582.</p> + +<p>Since the terrestrial orbit measures not less than 930,000,000 +kilometers (576,600,000 miles), which must be traversed in a year, the +Earth flies through Space at 2,544,000 kilometers (1,577,280 miles) a +day, or 106,000 kilometers (65,720 miles) an hour, or 29,500 meters (18 +miles) per second on an average, a little faster at perihelion, a little +slower at aphelion. This giddy course, a thousand times more rapid than +the speed of an express-train, is effected without commotion, shock, or +noise. Reasoning alone enables us to divine the prodigious movement that +carries us along in the vast fields of the Infinite, in mid-heaven.</p> + +<p>Returning to the calendar, it must be remarked in conclusion, that the +human race has not exhibited great sense in fixing the New Year on +January 1. No more disagreeable season could have been selected. And +further, as the ancient Roman names of the months have been preserved, +which in the time of Romulus began with March, the "seventh" month, +"September," is our ninth month; October (the eighth) is the tenth; +November (the ninth) has become the eleventh; and December (the tenth) +has taken the place of the twelfth. Verily, we are not hard to please!</p> + +<p>These months, again, are unequal, as every one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> knows. Witness the +simple expedient of remembering the long and short months, by closing +the left hand and counting the knobs and hollows of the fist, the former +corresponding to the long months, the latter to the short: first knob = +January; first hollow, February; second knob, March; and so on.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig63.jpg" width="450" height="403" alt="Fig. 63.—To find the long and short months." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 63.</span>—To find the long and short months.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p><p>Should not the real renewal of the year coincide with the awakening of +Nature, with the spring on the terrestrial hemisphere occupied by the +greater portion of Humanity, with the date of March 21st? Should not the +months be equalized, and their names modified? Why should we not follow +the beautiful evolution dictated by the Sun and by the movement of our +planet? But our poor Earth may roll on a long time yet before its +inhabitants will become reasonable.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>THE MOON</h3> + + +<p class="chap"><span class="smcap">It</span> is the delightful hour when all Nature pauses in the tranquil calm of +the silent night.</p> + +<p>The Sun has cast his farewell gleams upon the weary Earth. All sound is +hushed. And soon the stars will shine out one by one in the bosom of the +somber firmament. Opposite to the sunset, in the east, the Full Moon +rises slowly, as it were calling our thoughts toward the mysteries of +eternity, while her limpid night spreads over space like a dew from +Heaven.</p> + +<p>In the odorous woods, the trees are silhouetted strangely upon the sky, +seeming to stretch their knotted arms toward this celestial beauty. On +the river, smooth as a mirror, wherein the pale Phœbe reflects her +splendor, the maidens go to seek the floating image of their future +spouse. And in response to their prayers, she rends the veil of cloud +that hides her from their eyes, and pours the reflection of her gentle +beams upon the sleeping waters.</p> + +<p>From all time the Moon has had the privilege of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> charming the gaze, and +attracting the particular attention of mortals. What thoughts have not +been wafted to her pale, yet luminous disk? Orb of mystery and of +solitude, brooding over our silent nights, this celestial luminary is at +once sad and splendid in her glacial purity, and her limpid rays provoke +a reverie full of charm and melancholy. Mute witness of terrestrial +destinies, her nocturnal flame watches over our planet, following it in +its course as a faithful satellite.</p> + +<p>The human eye first uplifted to the Heavens was struck, above all, with +the brilliancy of this solitary globe, straying among the stars. The +Moon first suggested an easy division of time into months and weeks, and +the first astronomical observations were limited to the study of her +phases.</p> + +<p>Daughter of the Earth, the Moon was born at the limits of the +terrestrial nebula, when our world was still no more than a vast gaseous +sphere, and was detached from her at some critical period of colossal +solar tide. Separating with regret from her cradle, but attached to the +Earth by indissoluble ties of attraction, she rotates round us in a +month, from west to east, and this movement keeps her back a little each +day in relation to the stars. If we watch, evening by evening, beginning +from the new moon, we shall observe that she is each night a little +farther to the left, or east, than on the preceding<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> evening. This +revolution of the Moon around our planet produces the phases, and gives +the measure of our months.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig64.jpg" width="450" height="637" alt="Fig. 64.—The Full Moon slowly rises." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 64.</span>—The Full Moon slowly rises.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p><p>During her monthly journey she always presents the same face to us. One +might think that the fear of losing us had immobilized her globe, and +prevented her from turning. And so we only know of her the vague sketch +of a human face that has been observed through all the ages.</p> + +<p>It seems, in fact, as though she were looking down upon us from the +Heavens, the more so as the principal spots of her disk vaguely recall +the aspect of a face. If we try to draw it without the aid of +instruments we observe dark regions and clear regions that each +interprets in his own fashion. To the author, for instance, the full +Moon has the appearance represented in the following figure. The spots +resemble two eyes and the sketch of a nose; resulting in a vague human +figure, as indicated on the lower disk. Others see a man carrying a +bundle of wood, a hare, a lion, a dog, a kangaroo, a sickle, two heads +embracing, etc.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> But generally speaking, there is a tendency to see a +human figure in it.</p> + +<p>If this appearance is helped a little by drawing, it gives the profile +of a man's head fairly well sketched, and furnished with an abundant +crop of hair (Fig. 66).<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> Others go much more into detail, and draw a +woman's head that is certainly too definite, like this of M. Jean Sardou +(Fig. 67). Others, again, like M. Zamboni, see behind the man's profile +the likeness of a young girl being embraced by him (Fig. 68). There is +certainly some imagination about these. And yet, on the first suitable +occasion, look at the Moon through an opera-glass, a few days after the +first quarter, and you will not fail to see the masculine profile just +described, and even to imagine the "kiss in the Moon."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig65.jpg" width="450" height="646" alt="Fig. 65.—The Moon viewed with the unaided eye." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 65.</span>—The Moon viewed with the unaided eye.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"><br /><br /> +<img src="images/fig66.jpg" width="450" height="457" alt="Fig. 66.—The Man's head in the Moon." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 66.</span>—The Man's head in the Moon.</span> +</div> + +<p>These vague aspects disappear as soon as the Moon is examined with even +the least powerful instruments:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> the spots are better defined, and the +illusions of indistinct vision vanish. Compare this direct photograph of +the Moon, taken by the author some years ago (Fig. 69): here is neither +a human figure, man, dog, hare, nor faggot; simply deep geographical +configurations, and in the lower region, a luminous point whence certain +light bands spread out, some being prolonged to a considerable distance. +And yet, from a little way off, does it not form the man's face above +indicated?</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig67.jpg" width="450" height="359" alt="Fig. 67.—Woman's head in the Moon." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 67.</span>—Woman's head in the Moon.</span> +</div> + +<p>From the earliest astronomical observations made with the aid of +instruments by Galileo, in 1609, people tried to find out what the dark +spots could represent,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> and they were called seas, because water absorbs +light, and reflects it less than <i>terra firma</i>. The Moon of itself +possesses no intrinsic light, any more than our planet, and only shines +by the light of the Sun that illuminates it. As it rotates round the +Earth, and constantly changes its position with respect to the Sun, we +see more or less of its illuminated hemisphere, and the result is the +phases that every one knows so well.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig68.jpg" width="450" height="645" alt="Fig. 68.—The kiss in the Moon." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 68.</span>—The kiss in the Moon.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"><br /><br /> +<img src="images/fig69.jpg" width="450" height="453" alt="Fig. 69.—Photograph of the Moon." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 69.</span>—Photograph of the Moon.</span> +</div> + +<p>At the commencement of each lunation, the Moon is between the Sun and +the Earth, and its non-illuminated hemisphere is turned toward us. This +is the New<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> Moon, invisible to us; but two days later, the slim crescent +of Diana sheds a gentle radiance upon the Earth. Gradually the crescent +enlarges. When the Moon arrives at right angles with ourselves and with +the Sun, half the illuminated hemisphere is presented to us. This is the +first quarter. At the time of Full Moon, it is opposite the Sun, and we +see the whole of the hemisphere illuminated. Then comes the decline: the +brilliant disk is slightly corroded at first; it diminishes from day to +day, and about a week before the New Moon our fair friend only shows her +profile before she once more passes in front of the Sun: this is the +last quarter.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig70.jpg" width="450" height="272" alt="Fig. 70.—The Moon's Phases." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 70.</span>—The Moon's Phases.</span> +</div> + +<p>When the Moon is crescent, in the first evenings of the lunation, and +after the last quarter, the rest of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> disk is visible, illuminated +feebly by a pale luminosity. This is known as the ashy light. It is due +to the shine of the Earth, reflecting the light received from the Sun +into space. Accordingly the ashy light is the reflection of our own sent +back to us by the Moon. It is the reflection of a reflection.</p> + +<p>This rotation of the Moon round the Earth is accomplished in +twenty-seven days, seven hours, forty-three minutes, eleven seconds; but +as the Earth is simultaneously revolving round the Sun, when the Moon +returns to the same point (the Earth having become displaced relatively +to the Sun), the Moon has to travel two days longer to recover its +position between the Sun and the Earth, so that the lunar month is +longer than the sidereal revolution of the Moon, and takes twenty-nine +days, twelve hours, forty-four minutes, three seconds. This is the +duration of the sequence of phases.</p> + +<p>This revolution is accomplished at a distance of 384,000 kilometers +(238,000 miles). The velocity of the Moon in its orbit is more than 1 +kilometer (0.6214 mile) per second. But our planet sweeps it through +space at a velocity almost thirty times greater.</p> + +<p>The diameter of the Moon represents <span class="above">273</span>⁄<span class="below">1,000</span> that of the Earth, <i>i.e.</i>, +3,480 kilometers (2,157 miles).</p> + +<p>Its surface = 38,000,000 square kilometers (15,000,000 square miles), a +little more than the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>thirteenth part of the terrestrial surface, which += 510,000,000 (200,000,000 square miles).</p> + +<p>In volume, the Moon is fifty times less than the Earth. Its mass or +weight is only <span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">81</span> that of the terrestrial globe. Its density = 0.615, +relatively to that of the Earth, <i>i.e.</i>, a little more than three times +that of water. Weight at its surface is very little: 0.174. A kilogram +transported thither would only weigh 174 grams.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>At the meager distance of 384,000 kilometers (238,000 miles) that +separates us from it (about thirty times the diameter of the Earth), the +Moon is a suburb of our terrestrial habitation. What does this small +distance amount to? It is a mere step in the universe.</p> + +<p>A telegraphic message would get there in one and a half second; a +projectile fired from a gun would arrive in eight days, five hours; an +express-train would be due in eight months, twenty-two days. It is only +the <span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">388</span> part of the distance that separates us from the Sun, and only +the <span class="above">100</span>⁄<span class="below">1,000,000</span> part of the distance of the stars nearest to us. Many +men have tramped the distance that separates us from the Moon. A bridge +of thirty terrestrial globes would suffice to unite the two worlds.</p> + +<p>Owing to this great proximity, the Moon is the best known of all the +celestial spheres. Its geographical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> (or more correctly, +selenographical, <i>Selene</i>, moon) map was drawn out more than two +centuries ago, at first in a vague sketch, and afterward with more +details, until to-day it is as precise and accurate as any of our +terrestrial maps of geography.</p> + +<p>Before the invention of the telescope, from antiquity to the seventeenth +century, people lost themselves in conjectures as to the nature of this +strange lunar figure. It was held to be a mysterious world, the more +extraordinary in that it always presented the same face to us. Some +compared it to an immense mirror reflecting the image of the Earth. +Others pictured it as a silver star, an enchanted abode where all was +wealth and happiness. For many a long day it was the fashion to think, +quite irrationally, that the inhabitants of the Moon were fifteen times +bigger than ourselves.</p> + +<p>The invention of telescopes, however, brought a little order and a grain +of truth into these fantastic assumptions. The first observations of +Galileo revolutionized science, and his discoveries filled the +best-ordered minds with enthusiasm. Thenceforward, the Moon became our +property, a terrestrial suburb, where the whole world would gladly have +installed itself, had the means of getting there been as swift as the +wings of the imagination. It became easy enough to invent a thousand +enchanting descriptions of the charms of our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> fair sister, and no one +scrupled to do so. Soon, it was observed that the Moon closely resembled +the Earth in its geological features; its surface bristles with sharp +mountain peaks that light up in so many luminous points beneath the rays +of the Sun. Alongside, dark and shaded parts indicate the plains; +moreover, there are large gray patches that were supposed to be seas +because they reflect the solar light less perfectly than the adjacent +countries. At that epoch hardly anything was known of the physical +constitution of the Moon, and it was figured as enveloped with an +atmospheric layer, analogous to that at the bottom of which we carry on +our respiration.</p> + +<p>To-day we know that these "seas" are destitute of water, and that if the +lunar globe possesses an atmosphere, it must be excessively light.</p> + +<p>The Moon became the favorite object of astronomers, and the numerous +observations made of it authorized the delineation of very interesting +selenographic charts. In order to find one's way among the seas, plains, +and mountains that make up the lunar territory, it was necessary to name +them. The seas were the first to be baptized, in accordance with their +reputed astrological influences. Accordingly, we find on the Moon, the +Sea of Fecundity, the Lake of Death, the Sea of Humors, the Ocean of +Tempests, the Sea of Tranquillity,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> the Marsh of Mists, the Lake of +Dreams, the Sea of Putrefaction, the Peninsula of Reverie, the Sea of +Rains, etc.</p> + +<p>With regard to the luminous parts and the mountains, it was at first +proposed to call them after the most illustrious astronomers, but the +fear of giving offense acted as a check on Hevelius and Riccioli, +authors of the first lunar maps (1647, 1651), and they judged it more +prudent to transfer the names of the terrestrial mountains to the Moon. +The Alps, the Apennines, the Pyrenees, the Carpathians, are all to be +found up there; then, as the vocabulary of the mountains was not +adequate, the scientists reasserted their rights, and we meet in the +Moon, Aristotle, Plato, Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, +as well as other more modern and even contemporaneous celebrities.</p> + +<p>We have not space to reproduce the general chart of the Moon (that +published by the author measures not less than a meter, with the +nomenclature); but the figure subjoined gives a summary sufficient for +the limits of this little book. Here are the names of the principal +lunar mountains, with the numbers corresponding to them upon the map.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> +<img src="images/fig71.jpg" width="550" height="552" alt="Fig. 71.—Map of the Moon." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 71.</span>—Map of the Moon.<br /> +(From Fowler's "Telescopic Astronomy.")</span> +</div> + +<div class='center'><br /> +<table class="dist" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Named Features of the Moon, Numbered"> +<tr><td class='td1'>1</td><td class='td2'>Furnerius</td><td class='td1'>14</td><td class='td2'>Albategnius</td><td class='td1'>27</td><td class='td2'>Arzachel</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>2</td><td class='td2'>Petavius</td><td class='td1'>15</td><td class='td2'>Hipparchus</td><td class='td1'>28</td><td class='td2'>Walter</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>3</td><td class='td2'>Langrenus</td><td class='td1'>16</td><td class='td2'>Manilius</td><td class='td1'>29</td><td class='td2'>Clavius</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>4</td><td class='td2'>Macrobius</td><td class='td1'>17</td><td class='td2'>Eudoxus</td><td class='td1'>30</td><td class='td2'>Tycho</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>5</td><td class='td2'>Cleomedes</td><td class='td1'>18</td><td class='td2'>Aristotle</td><td class='td1'>31</td><td class='td2'>Bullialdus</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>6</td><td class='td2'>Endymion</td><td class='td1'>19</td><td class='td2'>Cassini</td><td class='td1'>32</td><td class='td2'>Schiller</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>7</td><td class='td2'>Altas</td><td class='td1'>20</td><td class='td2'>Aristillus</td><td class='td1'>33</td><td class='td2'>Schickard</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>8</td><td class='td2'>Hercules</td><td class='td1'>21</td><td class='td2'>Plato</td><td class='td1'>34</td><td class='td2'>Gassendi</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>9</td><td class='td2'>Romer</td><td class='td1'>22</td><td class='td2'>Archimedes</td><td class='td1'>35</td><td class='td2'>Kepler</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>10</td><td class='td2'>Posidonius</td><td class='td1'>23</td><td class='td2'>Eratosthenes</td><td class='td1'>36</td><td class='td2'>Grimaldi</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>11</td><td class='td2'>Fracastorius</td><td class='td1'>24</td><td class='td2'>Copernicus</td><td class='td1'>37</td><td class='td2'>Aristarchus</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>12</td><td class='td2'>Theophilus</td><td class='td1'>25</td><td class='td2'>Ptolemy</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>13</td><td class='td2'>Piccolomini</td><td class='td1'>26</td><td class='td2'>Alphonsus</td><td> </td></tr> +</table></div> +<hr class="short" /> + +<div class='center'> +<table class="dist" border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Named Features of the Moon, Lettered"> +<tr><td class='td1'>A</td><td class='td2'>Mare Crisum</td><td class='td1'>F</td><td class='td2'>Mare Imbrium</td><td class='td1'>V</td><td class='td2'>Altai Mountains</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>B</td><td class='td2'>Mare Fercunditatis</td><td class='td1'>G</td><td class='td2'>Sinus Iridum</td><td class='td1'>W</td><td class='td2'>Mare Vaporum</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>C</td><td class='td2'>Mare Nectaris</td><td class='td1'>H</td><td class='td2'>Oceanus Procellarum</td><td class='td1'>X</td><td class='td2'>Apennine Mountains</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>D</td><td class='td2'>Mare Tranquilitatis</td><td class='td1'>I</td><td class='td2'>Mare Humorum</td><td class='td1'>Y</td><td class='td2'>Caucasus Mountains</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td1'>E</td><td class='td2'>Mare Serenitatis</td><td class='td1'>K</td><td class='td2'>Mare Nubium</td><td class='td1'>Z</td><td class='td2'>Alps</td></tr> +</table><br /><br /></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span></p><p>The constantly growing progress of optics leads to perpetual new +discoveries in science, and at the present time we can say that we know +the geography of the Moon as well as, and even better than, that of our +own planet. The heights of all the mountains of the Moon are measured to +within a few feet. (One cannot say as much for the mountains of the +Earth.) The highest are over 7,000 meters (nearly 25,000 feet). +Relatively to its proportions, the satellite is much more mountainous +than the planet, and the plutonian giants are much more numerous there +than here. If we have peaks, like the Gaorisankar, the highest of the +Himalayas and of the whole Earth, whose elevation of 8,840 meters +(29,000 feet) is equivalent to <span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">1,140</span> the diameter of our globe, there +are peaks on the Moon of 7,700 meters (25,264 feet), <i>e.g.</i>, those of +Doerfel and Leibniz, the height of which is equivalent to <span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">470</span> the +lunar diameter.</p> + +<p>Tycho's Mountain is one of the finest upon our satellite. It is visible +with the naked eye (and perfectly with opera-glasses) as a white point +shining like a kind of star upon the lower portion of the disk. At the +time of full moon it is dazzling, and projects long rays from afar upon +the lunar globe. So, too, Mount Copernicus, whose brilliant whiteness +sparkles in space. But the strangest thing about these lunar mountains +is that they are all hollow, and can be measured as well in depth as in +height. A type of mountain as strange to us as are the seas without +water! In effect, these mountains<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> of the moon are ancient volcanic +craters, with no summits, nor covers.</p> + +<p>At the top of the highest peaks, there is a large circular depression, +prolonged into the heart of the mountain, sometimes far below the level +of the surrounding plains, and as these craters often measure several +hundred kilometers, one is obliged, if one does not want to go all round +them in crossing the mountain, to descend almost perpendicularly into +the depths and cross there, to reascend the opposite side, and return to +the plain. These alpine excursions incontestably deserve the name of +perilous ascents!</p> + +<p>No country on the Earth can give us any notion of the state of the lunar +soil: never was ground so tormented; never globe so profoundly shattered +to its very bowels. The mountains are accumulations of enormous rocks +tumbled one upon the other, and round the awful labyrinth of craters one +sees nothing but dismantled ramparts, or columns of pointed rocks like +cathedral spires issuing from the chaos.</p> + +<p>As we said, there is no atmosphere, or at least so little at the bottom +of the valleys that it is imperceptible. No clouds, no fog, no rain nor +snow. The sky is an eternally black space, vaultless, jeweled with stars +by day as by night.</p> + +<p>Let us suppose that we arrive among these savage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> steppes at daybreak: +the lunar day is fifteen times longer than our own, because the Sun +takes a month to illuminate the entire circuit of the Moon; there are no +less than 354 hours from the rising to the setting of the Sun. If we +arrive before the sunrise, there is no aurora to herald it, for in the +absence of atmosphere there can be no sort of twilight. Of a sudden on +the dark horizon come flashes of the solar light, striking the summits +of the mountains, while the plains and valleys are still in darkness. +The light spreads slowly, for while on the Earth in central latitudes +the Sun takes only two minutes and a quarter to rise, on the Moon it +takes nearly an hour, and in consequence the light it sends out is very +weak for some minutes, and increases excessively slowly. It is a kind of +aurora, but lasts a very short time, for when at the end of half an +hour, the solar disk has half risen, the light appears as intense to the +eye as when it is entirely above the horizon; the radiant orb is seen +with its protuberances and its burning atmosphere. It rises slowly, like +a luminous god, in the depths of the black sky, a profound and formless +sky in which the stars shine all day, since they are not hidden by any +atmospheric veil such as conceals them from us during the daylight.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig72.jpg" width="450" height="555" alt="Fig. 72.—The Lunar Apennines." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 72.</span>—The Lunar Apennines.</span> +</div> + +<p>The absence of sensible atmosphere must produce an effect on the +temperature of the Moon analogous to that perceived on the high +mountains of our globe, where the rarefaction of the air does not permit +the solar heat to concentrate itself upon the surface of the soil, as it +does below the atmosphere, which acts as a forcing-house: the Sun's heat +is not kept in by anything, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> incessantly radiates out toward space. +In all probability the cold is extremely and constantly rigorous, not +only during the nights, which are fifteen times longer than our own, but +even during the long days of sunshine.</p> + +<p>We give two different drawings to represent these curious aspects of +lunar topography. The first (Fig. 72) is taken in the neighborhood of +the Apennines, and shows a long chain of mountains beneath which are +three deep rings, Archimedes, Aristillus, and Autolycus: the second +(Fig. 73) depicts the lunar ring of Flammarion,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> whose outline is +constructed of dismantled ramparts, and whose depths are sprinkled with +little craters. The first of these two drawings was made in England by +Nasmyth, the second in Germany by Krieger: they both give an exact idea +of what one sees in the telescope with different modes of solar +illumination.</p> + +<p>In the Moon's always black and starry sky a majestic star that is not +visible from the Earth, and exhibits this peculiarity that it is +stationary in the Heavens, while all the others pass behind it, may +constantly be admired, by day as well as by night; and it is also of +considerable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> apparent magnitude. This orb, some four times as large as +the Moon in diameter, and thirteen to fourteen times more extensive in +surface, is our Earth, which presents to the Moon a sequence of phases +similar to those which our satellite presents to us, but in the inverse +direction. At the moment of New Moon, the Sun fully illuminates the +terrestrial hemisphere turned toward our satellite, and we get "Full +Earth"; at the time of Full Moon, on the contrary, the non-illuminated +hemisphere of the Earth is turned toward the satellite, and we get "New +Earth": when the Moon shows us first quarter, the Earth is in last +quarter, and so on. The drawing subjoined gives an idea of these +aspects.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig73.jpg" width="450" height="467" alt="Fig. 73.—Flammarion's Lunar Ring." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 73.</span>—Flammarion's Lunar Ring.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p><p>What a curious sight our globe must be during this long night of +fourteen times twenty-four hours! Independent of its phases, which bring +it from first quarter to full earth for the middle of the night, and +from full earth to last quarter for sunrise, how interested we should be +to see it thus stationary in the sky, and turning on itself in +twenty-four hours.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig74.jpg" width="450" height="314" alt="Fig. 74.—Lunar landscape with the Earth in the sky." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 74.</span>—Lunar landscape with the Earth in the sky.</span> +</div> + +<p>Yes, thanks to us, the inhabitants of the lunar hemisphere turned toward +us are gratified by the sight of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> splendid nocturnal torch, doubtless +less white than our own despite the clouds with which the terrestrial +globe is studded, and shaded in a tender tone of bluish emerald-green. +The royal orb of their long nights, the Earth, gives them moonlight of +unparalleled beauty, and we may say without false modesty that our +presence in the lunar sky must produce marvelous and absolutely +fairy-like effects.</p> + +<p>Maybe, they envy us our globe, a dazzling dwelling-place whose splendor +radiates through space; they see its greenish clarity varying with the +extent of cloud that veils its seas and continents, and they observe its +motion of rotation, by which all the countries of our planet are +revealed in succession to its admirers.</p> + +<p>We are talking of these pageants seen from the Moon, and of the +inhabitants of our satellite as if they really existed. The sterile and +desolate aspect of the lunar world, however, rather brings us to the +conclusion that such inhabitants are non-existent, although we have no +authorization for affirming this. That they have existed seems to me +beyond doubt. The lunar volcanoes had a considerable activity, in an +atmosphere that allowed the white volcanic ashes to be carried a long +way by the winds, figuring round the craters the stellar rays that are +still so striking. These cinders were spread over the soil, preserving +all its asperities of outline,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> a little heaped up on the side to which +they were impelled. The magnificent photographs recently made at the +Paris Observatory by MM. Loewy and Puiseux are splendid evidence of +these projections. In this era of planetary activity there were liquids +and gases on the surface of the lunar globe, which appear subsequently +to have been entirely absorbed. Now the teaching of our own planet is +that Nature nowhere remains infertile, and that the production of Life +is a law so general and so imperious that life develops at its own +expense, sooner than abstain from developing. Accordingly, it is +difficult to suppose that the lunar elements can have remained inactive, +when only next door they exhibited such fecundity upon our globe. Yes, +the Moon has been inhabited by beings doubtless very different from +ourselves, and perhaps may still be, although this globe has run through +the phases of its astral life more rapidly than our own, and the +daughter is relatively older than the mother.</p> + +<p>The duration of the life of the worlds appears to have been in +proportion with their masses. The Moon cooled and mineralized more +quickly than the Earth. Jupiter is still fluid.</p> + +<p>The progress of optics brings us already very close to this neighboring +province. 'Tis a pity we can not get a little nearer!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p><p>A telescopic magnification of 2,000 puts the Moon at <span class="above">384,000</span>⁄<span class="below">2,000</span> or 192 +kilometers (some 120 miles) from our eye. Practically we can obtain no +more, either from the most powerful instruments, or from photographic +enlargements. Sometimes, exceptionally, enlargements of 3,000 can be +used. This = <span class="above">384,000</span>⁄<span class="below">3,000</span> or 128 kilometers (some 80 miles). Undoubtedly, +this is an admirable result, which does the greatest honor to human +intelligence. But it is still too far to enable us to determine anything +in regard to lunar life.</p> + +<p>Any one who likes to be impressed by grand and magnificent sights may +turn even a modest field-glass upon our luminous satellite, at about +first quarter, when the relief of its surface, illuminated obliquely by +the Sun, is at its greatest value. If you examine our neighbor world at +this period, for choice at the hour of sunset, you will be astonished at +its brilliancy and beauty. Its outlines, its laces, and embroideries, +give the image of a jewel of shining silver, translucent, fluid, +palpitating in the ether. Nothing could be more beautiful, nothing +purer, and more celestial, than this lunar globe floating in the silence +of space, and sending back to us as in some fairy dream the solar +illumination that floods it. But yesterday I received the same +impression, watching a great ring half standing out, and following the +progress of the Sun as it mounted the lunar horizon to touch these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +silvered peaks. And I reflected that it is indeed inconceivable that +<span class="above">999,999</span>⁄<span class="below">1,000,000</span> of the inhabitants of our planet should pass their lives +without ever having attended to this pageant, nor to any of those others +which the divine Urania scatters so profusely beneath the wondering gaze +of the observers of the Heavens.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE ECLIPSES</h3> + + +<p class="chap"><span class="smcap">Among</span> all the celestial phenomena at which it may be our lot to assist +during our contemplation of the universe, one of the most magnificent +and imposing is undoubtedly that which we are now going to consider.</p> + +<p>The hirsute comets, and shooting stars with their graceful flight, +captivate us with a mysterious and sometimes fantastic attraction. We +gladly allow our thoughts, mute questioners of the mysteries of the +firmament, to rest upon the brilliant, golden trail they leave behind +them. These unknown travelers bring a message from eternity; they tell +us the tale of their distant journeys. Children of space, their ethereal +beauty speaks of the immensity of the universe.</p> + +<p>The eclipses, on the other hand, are phenomena that touch us more +nearly, and take place in our vicinity.</p> + +<p>In treating of them, we remain between the Earth and the Moon, in our +little province, and witness the picturesque effects of the combined +movements of our satellite around us.</p> + +<p>Have you ever seen a total eclipse of the Sun?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p><p>The sky is absolutely clear: no fraction of cloud shadows the solar +rays. The azure vault of the firmament crowns the Earth with a dome of +dazzling light. The fires of the orb of day shed their beneficent +influence generally upon the world.</p> + +<p>Yet, see! The radiance diminishes. The luminous disk of the Sun is +gradually corroded. Another disk, as black as ink, creeps in front of +it, and little by little invades it entirely. The atmosphere takes on a +wan, sepulchral hue; astonished nature is hushed in profound silence; an +immense veil of sadness spreads over the world. Night comes on suddenly, +and the stars shine out in the Heavens. It seems as though by some +mysterious cataclysm the Sun had disappeared forever. But this +tribulation is soon over. The divine orb is not extinct. A flaming jet +emerges from the shadow, announcing his return, and when he reappears we +see that he has lost nothing in splendor or beauty. He is still the +radiant Apollo, King of Day, watching over the life of the planetary +worlds.</p> + +<p>This sudden night, darkening the Heavens in the midst of a fine day, can +not fail to produce a vivid impression upon the spectators of the superb +phenomenon.</p> + +<p>The eclipse lasts only for a few moments, but long enough to make a deep +impression upon our minds, and indeed to inspire anxious spirits with +terror and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>agitation—even at this epoch, when we know that there is +nothing supernatural or formidable about it.</p> + +<p>In former days, Humanity would have trembled, in uneasy consternation. +Was it a judgment from Heaven? Must it not be the work of some invisible +hand throwing the somber veil of night over the celestial torch?</p> + +<p>Had not the Earth strayed off her appointed path, and were we not all to +be deprived eternally of the light of our good Sun? Was some monstrous +dragon perhaps preparing to devour the orb of day?</p> + +<p>The fable of the dragon devouring the Sun or Moon during the eclipses is +universal in Asia as in Africa, and still finds acceptance under more +than one latitude. But our readers already know that we may identify the +terrible celestial dragon with our gentle friend the Moon, who would not +be greatly flattered by the comparison.</p> + +<p>We saw in the preceding lesson that the Moon revolves round us, +describing an almost circular orbit that she travels over in about a +month. In consequence of this motion, the nocturnal orb is sometimes +between the Sun and the Earth, sometimes behind us, sometimes at a right +angle in relation to the Sun and the Earth. Now, the eclipses of the Sun +occur invariably at the time of New Moon, when our satellite passes +between the Sun and ourselves, and the eclipses of the Moon, at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +moment of Full Moon, when the latter is opposite to the Sun, and behind +us.</p> + +<p>This fact soon enabled the astronomers of antiquity to discover the +causes to which eclipses are due.</p> + +<p>The Moon, passing at the beginning of its revolution between the Sun and +the Earth, may conceal a greater or lesser portion of the orb of day. In +this case there is an eclipse of the Sun. On the other hand, when it is +on the other side of the Earth in relation to the Sun, at the moment of +Full Moon, our planet may intercept the solar rays, and prevent them +from reaching our satellite. The Moon is plunged into <i>the shadow of the +Earth</i>, and is then eclipsed. Such is the very simple explanation of the +phenomenon. But why is there not an eclipse of the Sun at each New Moon, +and an eclipse of the Moon at each Full Moon?</p> + +<p>If the Moon revolved round us in the same plane as the Earth round the +Sun, it would eclipse the Sun at each New Moon, and would be itself +eclipsed in our shadow at each Full Moon. But the plane of the lunar +orbit dips a little upon the plane of the terrestrial orbit, and the +eclipses can only be produced when the New Moon or the Full Moon occur +at the line of intersection of these two planes, <i>i.e.</i>, when the Sun, +the Moon, and the Earth are upon the same straight line. In the majority +of cases, instead of interposing itself directly in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> front of the +sovereign of our system, our satellite passes a little above or a little +below him, just as its passage behind us is nearly always effected a +little above or below the cone of shadow that accompanies our planet, +opposite the Sun.</p> + +<p>When the Moon intervenes directly in front of the Sun, she arrests the +light of the radiant orb, and conceals a greater or less portion of the +solar disk. The eclipse is partial if the Moon covers only a portion of +the Sun; total if she covers it entirely; annular, if the solar disk is +visible all round the lunar disk, as appears when the Moon, in her +elliptical orbit, is beyond medium distance, toward the apogee.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, when the Moon arrives immediately within the cone of +shadow that the Earth projects behind it, it is her turn to be eclipsed. +She no longer receives the rays of the Sun, and this deprivation is the +more marked in that she owes all her brilliancy to the light of the orb +of day. The Moon's obscurity is complete if she is entirely plunged into +the cone of shadow. In this case, the eclipse is total. But if a portion +of her disk emerges from the cone, that part remains illuminated while +the light of the other dies out. In that case there is a partial +eclipse, and the rounded form of the Earth's shadow can be seen +projected upon our satellite, a celestial witness to the spherical +nature of our globe.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p><p>Under certain conditions, then, the Moon can deprive us of the luminous +rays of the Sun, by concealing the orb of day, and in other cases is +herself effaced in crossing our shadow. Despite the fables, fears, and +anxieties it has engendered, this phenomenon is perfectly natural: the +Moon is only playing hide-and-seek with us—a very harmless amusement, +as regards the safety of our planet.</p> + +<p>But as we said just now, these phenomena formerly had the power of +terrifying ignorant mortals, either when the orb of light and life +seemed on the verge of extinction, or when the beautiful Phœbus was +covered with a veil of crape and woe, or took on a deep coppery hue.</p> + +<p>It would take a volume to describe all the notable events which have +been influenced by eclipses, sometimes for good, more often with +disastrous consequences. The recital of these tragic stories would not +be devoid of interest; it would illustrate the possibilities of +ignorance and superstition, and the power man gains from intellectual +culture and scientific study.</p> + +<p>Herodotus records that the Scythians, having some grievance against +Cyaxarus, King of the Medes, revenged themselves by serving up the limbs +of one of his children, whom they had murdered, at a banquet as rare +game. The scoundrels who committed this <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>atrocious crime took refuge at +the Court of the King of Lydia, who was ill judged enough to protect +them. War was accordingly declared between the Medes and Lydians, but a +total eclipse of the Sun occurring just when the battle was imminent, +had the happy effect of disarming the combatants, who prudently retired +each to their own country. This eclipse, which seems to have occurred on +May 28, 584 <span class="ampm">B.C.</span>, had been predicted by Thales. The French painter +Rochegrosse has painted a striking picture of the scene (Fig. 75).</p> + +<p>In the year 413 <span class="ampm">B.C.</span> the Athenian General Nicias prepared to return to +Greece after an expedition to Sicily. But, terrified by an eclipse of +the Moon, and fearing the malign influence of the phenomenon, he put off +his departure, and lost the chance of retreat. This superstition cost +him his life. The Greek army was destroyed, and this event marks the +commencement of the decadence of Athens.</p> + +<p>In 331 <span class="ampm">B.C.</span> an eclipse of the Moon disorganized the troops of Alexander, +near Arbela, and the great Macedonian Captain had need of all his +address to reassure his panic-stricken soldiers.</p> + +<p>Agathocles, King of Syracuse, blocked by the Carthaginians in the port +of this city, had the good fortune to escape, but was disturbed on the +second day of his flight by the arrival of a total eclipse of the Sun +which alarmed his companions. "What are you afraid of?" said he, +spreading his cloak in front of the Sun. "Are you alarmed at a shadow?" +(This eclipse seems to be that of August 15, 309, rather than that of +March 2, 310.)</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig75.jpg" width="450" height="630" alt="Fig. 75.—Battle between the Medes and Lydians arrested +by an Eclipse of the Sun." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 75.</span>—Battle between the Medes and Lydians arrested +by an Eclipse of the Sun.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p><p>On June 29, 1033, an epoch at which the approaching end of the world +struck terror into all hearts, an annular eclipse of the Sun occurring +about midday frustrated the designs of a band of conspirators who +intended to strangle the Pope at the altar. This Pope was Benedict IX, a +youth of less than twenty, whose conduct is said to have been anything +but exemplary. The assassins, terrified at the darkening of the Sun, +dared not touch the Pontiff, and he reigned till 1044.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p> + +<p>On March 1, 1504, a lunar eclipse saved the life of Christopher +Columbus. He was threatened with death by starvation in Jamaica, where +the contumacious savages refused to give him provisions. Forewarned of +the arrival of this eclipse by the astronomical almanacs, he threatened +to deprive the Caribs of the light of the Moon—and kept his word. The +eclipse had hardly begun when the terrified Indians flung themselves at +his feet, and brought him all that he required.</p> + +<p>In all times and among all people we find traces of popular +superstitions connected with eclipses. Here, the abnormal absence of the +Moon's light is regarded as a sign of divine anger: the humble penitents +betake<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> themselves to prayer to ward off the divine anger. There, the +cruelty of the dread dragon is to be averted: he must be chased away by +cries and threats, and the sky is bombarded with shots to deliver the +victim from his monstrous oppressor.</p> + +<p>In France the announcement of a solar eclipse for August 21, 1560, so +greatly disturbed our ancestors' peace of mind as to make them idiotic. +Preparations were made for assisting at an alarming phenomenon that +threatened Humanity with deadly consequences! The unhappy eclipse had +been preceded by a multitude of ill omens! Some expected a great +revolution in the provinces and in Rome, others predicted a new +universal deluge, or, on the other hand, the conflagration of the world; +the most optimistic thought the air would be contaminated. To preserve +themselves from so many dangers, and in accordance with the physicians' +orders, numbers of frightened people shut themselves up in tightly +closed and perfumed cellars, where they awaited the decrees of Fate. The +approach of the phenomenon increased the panic, and it is said that one +village <i>curé</i>, being unable to hear the confessions of all his flock, +who wanted to discharge their souls of sin before taking flight for a +better world, was fain to tell them "there was no hurry, because the +eclipse had been put off a fortnight on account of the number of +penitents"!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig76.jpg" width="450" height="519" alt="Fig. 76.—Eclipse of the Moon at Laos (February 27, +1877)." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 76.</span>—Eclipse of the Moon at Laos (February 27, +1877).</span> +</div> + +<p>These fears and terrors are still extant among ignorant peoples. In the +night of February 27, 1877, an eclipse of the Moon produced an +indescribable panic among the inhabitants of Laos (Indo-China). In order +to frighten off the Black Dragon, the natives fired shots at the +half-devoured orb, accompanying their volley with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> the most appalling +yells. Dr. Harmand has memorialized the scene in the lively sketch given +on p. 269.</p> + +<p>During the solar eclipse of March 15, 1877, an analogous scene occurred +among the Turks, who for the moment forgot their preparations for war +with Russia, in order to shoot at the Sun, and deliver him from the +toils of the Dragon.</p> + +<p>The lunar eclipse of December 16, 1880, was not unnoticed at Tackhent +(Russian Turkestan), where it was received with a terrific din of +saucepans, samovars and various implements struck together again and +again by willing hands that sought to deliver the Moon from the demon +Tchaitan who was devouring her.</p> + +<p>In China, eclipses are the object of imposing ceremonies, whose object +is to reestablish the regularity of the celestial motions. Since the +Emperor is regarded as the Son of Heaven, his government must in some +sort be a reflection of the immutable order of the sidereal harmonies. +As eclipses were regarded by astrologers as disturbances of the divine +order, their appearance indicates some irregularity in the government of +the Celestial Empire. Accordingly, they are received with all kinds of +expiatory ceremonies prescribed thousands of years ago, and still in +force to-day.</p> + +<p>In the twentieth century, as in the nineteenth, the eighteenth, or in +ancient epochs, the same awe and terror<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> operates upon the ignorant +populations who abound upon the surface of our planet.</p> + +<p>To return to astronomical realities.</p> + +<p>We said above that these phenomena were produced when the Full Moon and +the New Moon reached the line of intersection, known as the line of +nodes, when the plane of the lunar orbit cuts the plane of the ecliptic. +As this line turns and comes back in the same direction relatively to +the Sun at the end of eighteen years, eleven days, we have only to +register the eclipses observed during this period in order to know all +that will occur in the future, and to find such as happened in the past. +This period was known to the Greeks under the name of the Metonic Cycle, +and the Chaldeans employed it three thousand years ago under the name of +Saros.</p> + +<p>On examining this cycle, composed of 223 lunations, we see that there +can not be more than seven eclipses in one year, nor less than two. When +there are only two, they are eclipses of the Sun.</p> + +<p>The totality of a solar eclipse can not last more than seven minutes, +fifty-eight seconds at the equator, and six minutes, ten seconds in the +latitude of Paris. The Moon, on the contrary, may be entirely eclipsed +for nearly two hours.</p> + +<p>Eclipses of the Sun are very rare for a definite spot.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> Thus not one +occurred for Paris during the whole of the nineteenth century, the last +which happened exactly above the capital of France having been on May +22, 1724. I have calculated all those for the twentieth century, and +find that two will take place close to Paris, on April 17, 1912, at +eighteen minutes past noon (total for Choisy-le-Roi, Longjumeau, and +Dourdan, but very brief: seven seconds), and August 11, 1999, at 10.28 +<span class="ampm">A.M.</span> (total for Beauvais, Compiègne, Amiens, St. Quentin, fairly long: +two minutes, seventeen seconds). Paris itself will not be favored before +August 12, 2026. In order to witness the phenomenon, one must go and +look for it. This the author did on May 28, 1900, in Spain.</p> + +<p>The progress of the lunar shadow upon the surface of the Earth is traced +beforehand on maps that serve to show the favored countries for which +our satellite will dispense her ephemeral night. The above figure shows +the trajectory of the total phase of the 1900 eclipse in Portugal, +Spain, Algeria, and Tunis.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"><a href="images/fig77a.jpg"> +<img src="images/fig77.jpg" width="550" height="377" alt="Fig. 77.—The path of the Eclipse of May 28, 1900." title="" /></a> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 77.</span>—The path of the Eclipse of May 28, 1900.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p><p>The immutable splendor of the celestial motions had never struck the +author so impressively as during the observation of this grandiose +phenomenon. With the absolute precision of astronomical calculations, +our satellite, gravitating round the Earth, arrived upon the theoretical +line drawn from the orb of day to our planet, and interposed itself +gradually, slowly, and exactly, in front of it. The eclipse was total, +and occurred at the moment predicted by calculation. Then the obscure +globe of the Moon pursued its regular course, discovered the radiant orb +behind, and gradually and slowly completed its transit in front of him. +Here, to all observers, was a double philosophical lesson, a twofold +impression: that of the greatness, the omnipotence of the inexorable +forces that govern the universe, and that of the inexorable valor of +man, of this thinking atom straying upon another atom, who by the +travail of his feeble intelligence has arrived at the knowledge of the +laws by which he, like the rest of the world, is borne away through +space, through time, and through eternity.</p> + +<p>The line of centrality passed through Elche, a picturesque city of +30,000 inhabitants, not far from Alicante, and we had chosen this for +our station on account of the probability of fine weather.</p> + +<p>From the terrace of the country house of the hospitable Mayor, a farm +transformed into an observatory by our learned friend, Count de la Baume +Pluvinel, there were no obstacles between ourselves and any part of the +sky or landscape. The whole horizon lay before us. In front was a town +of Arab aspect framed in a lovely oasis of palm-trees; a little farther +off, the blue sea beyond the shores of Alicante and Murcia: on the +other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> side a belt of low mountains, and near us fields and gardens. A +Company of the Civic Guard kept order, and prevented the entrance of too +many curious visitors, of whom over ten thousand had arrived.</p> + +<p>At the moment when the first contact of the lunar disk with the solar +disk was observed in the telescope, we fired a gun, in order to announce +the precise commencement of the occultation to the 40,000 persons who +were awaiting the phenomenon, and to discover what difference would +exist between this telescopic observation and those made with the +unaided eyes (protected simply by a bit of smoked glass) of so many +improvised spectators. This had already been done by Arago at Perpignan +in 1842. The verification was almost immediate for the majority of eyes, +and may be estimated at eight or ten seconds. So that the commencement +of the eclipse was confirmed almost as promptly for the eye as with the +astronomical instruments.</p> + +<p>The sky was splendidly clear; no cloud, no mist, deep blue; blazing Sun. +The first period of the eclipse showed nothing particular. It is only +from the moment when more than half the solar disk is covered by the +lunar disk that the phenomenon is imposing in its grandeur. At this +phase, I called the attention of the people standing in the court to the +visibility of the stars, and indicating the place of Venus in the sky +asked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> if any with long sight could perceive her. Eight at once +responded in the affirmative. It should be said that the planet was at +that time at its period of maximum brilliancy, when for observers +blessed with good sight, it is always visible to the unaided eye.</p> + +<p>When some three-quarters of the Sun were eclipsed, the pigeons which had +flown back to the farm huddled into a corner, and made no further +movement. They told me that evening that the fowls had done the same a +little later, returning to the hen-house as though it had been night, +and that the small children (who were very numerous at Elche, where the +population is certainly not diminishing) left off their games, and came +back to their mothers' skirts. The birds flew anxiously to their nests. +The ants in one garden were excessively agitated, no doubt disconcerted +in their strategics. The bats came out.</p> + +<p>A few days before the eclipse I had prepared the inhabitants of this +part of Spain for the observation of the phenomenon by the following +description, which sums up the previous accounts of the astronomers:</p> + +<p>"The spectacle of a total eclipse of the Sun is one of the most +magnificent and imposing that it is possible to see in nature. At the +exact moment indicated by calculation, the Moon arrives in front of the +Sun, eats into it gradually, and at last entirely covers it. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> light +of the day lessens and is transformed. A sense of oppression is felt by +all nature, the birds are hushed, the dog takes refuge with his master, +the chickens hide beneath their mother's wing, the wind drops, the +temperature falls, an appalling stillness is everywhere perceptible, as +though the universe were on the verge of some imminent catastrophe. +Men's faces assume a cadaverous hue similar to that given at night by +the flame of spirits of wine and salt, a livid funereal light, the +sinister illumination of the world's last hour.</p> + +<p>"At the moment when the last line of the solar crescent disappears, we +see, instead of the Sun, a black disk surrounded with a splendid +luminous aureole shooting immense jets into space, with roseate flames +burning at the base.</p> + +<p>"A sudden night has fallen on us, a weird, wan night in which the +brightest of the stars are visible in the Heavens. The spectacle is +splendid, grandiose, solemn, and sublime."</p> + +<p>This impression was actually felt by us all, as may be seen from the +following notes, written in my schedule of observation during the event, +or immediately after:</p> + +<p>"3.50 <span class="ampm">P.M.</span> Light very weak, sky leaden gray, mountains standing out with +remarkable clearness from the horizon, and seeming to approach us.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span></p><p>"3.55 <span class="ampm">P.M.</span> Fall of temperature very apparent. Cold wind blowing through +the atmosphere.</p> + +<p>"3.56 <span class="ampm">P.M.</span> Profound silence through nature, which seems to participate +in the celestial phenomenon. Silence in all the groups.</p> + +<p>"3.57 <span class="ampm">P.M.</span> Light considerably diminished, becoming wan, strange, and +sinister. Landscape leaden gray, sea looks black. This diminution of +light is not that of every day after the sunset. There is, as it were, a +tint of sadness spread over the whole of nature. One becomes accustomed +to it, and yet while we know that the occultation of the Sun by the Moon +is a natural phenomenon, we can not escape a certain sense of +uneasiness. The approach of some extraordinary spectacle is imminent."</p> + +<p>At this point we examined the effects of the solar light upon the seven +colors of the spectrum. In order to determine as accurately as possible +the tonality of the light of the eclipse, I had prepared seven great +sheets, each painted boldly in the colors of the spectrum, violet, +indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red; and a similar series in pieces +of silk. These colors were laid at our feet upon the terrace where my +wife, as well as Countess de la Baume, were watching with me. We then +saw the first four disappear successively and entirely and turn black in +a few seconds, in the following order: violet, indigo, blue, green. The +three other colors were <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>considerably attenuated by the darkness, but +remained visible.</p> + +<p>It should be noted that in the normal order of things—that is, every +evening—the contrary appears; violet remains visible after the red.</p> + +<p>This experiment shows that the last light emitted by the eclipsed Sun +belongs to the least refrangible rays, to the greatest wave-lengths, to +the slowest vibrations, to the yellow and red rays. Such therefore is +the predominating color of the solar atmosphere.</p> + +<p>This experiment completed, we turn back to the Sun. Magical and splendid +spectacle! Totality has commenced, the Sun has disappeared, the black +disk of the Moon covers it entirely, leaving all round it a magnificent +corona of dazzling light. One would suppose it to be an annular eclipse, +with the difference that this can be observed with the naked eye, +without fatigue to the retina, and drawn quietly.</p> + +<p>This luminous coronal atmosphere entirely surrounds the solar disk, at a +pretty equal depth, equivalent to about the third of half the solar +diameter. It may be regarded as the Sun's atmosphere.</p> + +<p>Beyond this corona is an aureole, of vaster glory but less luminous, +which sends out long plumes, principally in the direction of the +equatorial zone of the Sun, and of the belt of activity of the spots and +prominences.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p><p>At the summit of the disk it is conical in shape. Below it is double, +and its right-hand portion ends in a point, not far from Mercury, which +shines like a dazzling star of first magnitude, and seems placed there +expressly to give us the extent and direction of the solar aureole.</p> + +<p>I draw these various aspects (which, moreover, change with the movement +of the Moon), and what strikes me most is the distinction in light +between this aureole and the coronal atmosphere; the latter appears to +be a brilliant silvery white, the former is grayer and certainly less +dense.</p> + +<p>My impression is that there are <i>two solar envelopes of entirely +different nature</i>, the corona belonging to the globe of the Sun, and +forming its atmosphere properly so-called, very luminous; the aureole +formed of particles that circulate independently round it, probably +arising from eruptions, their form as a whole being possibly due to +electric or magnetic forces, counterbalanced by resistances of various +natures. In our own atmosphere the volcanic eruptions are distinct from +the aerial envelope.</p> + +<p>The general configuration of this external halo, spreading more +particularly in the equatorial zone, is sufficiently like that of the +eclipse of 1889, published in my <i>Popular Astronomy</i>, which also +corresponded with a minimum of solar energy. The year 1900 is in fact +close upon the minimum of the eleven-year period. This equatorial form +is, moreover, what all the astronomers were expecting.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig78.jpg" width="450" height="671" alt="Fig. 78.—Total eclipse of the Sun, May 28, 1900, as +observed from Elche (Spain)." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 78.</span>—Total eclipse of the Sun, May 28, 1900, as +observed from Elche (Spain).</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p><p>There can no longer be the slightest doubt that the solar envelope +varies with the activity of the Sun....</p> + +<p>"But the total eclipse lasted a much shorter time than I have taken to +write these lines. The seventy-nine seconds of totality are over. A +dazzling light bursts from the Sun, and tells that the Moon pursuing its +orbit has left it. The splendid sight is over. It has gone like a +shadow.</p> + +<p>"Already over! It is almost a disillusion. Nothing beautiful lasts in +this world. Too sad! If only the celestial spectacle could have lasted +two, three, or four minutes! It was too short....</p> + +<p>"Alas! we are forced to take things as they are.</p> + +<p>"The surprise, the oppression, the terror of some, the universal silence +are over. The Sun reappears in his splendor, and the life of nature +resumes its momentarily suspended course.</p> + +<p>"While I was making my drawing, M. l'Abbé Moreux, my colleague from the +Astronomical Society of France, who accompanied me to Spain for this +observation, was taking one of his own, without any reciprocal +communication. These two sketches are alike, and confirmatory.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span></p><p>"The differential thermometers that I exposed to the Sun, hanging +freely, and protected from reflection from the ground, were read every +five minutes. The black thermometer went down from 33.1° to 20.7°, that +is 12.4°; the white from 29° to 20.2°—that is, 8.8°. The temperature in +the shade only varied three degrees.</p> + +<p>"The light received during totality was due: first, to the luminous +envelope of the Sun; second, to that of the terrestrial atmosphere, +illuminated at forty kilometers (twenty-five miles) on the one side and +the other of the line of centrality. It appeared to be inferior to that +of the Full Moon, on account of the almost sudden transition. But, in +reality, it was more intense, for only first-magnitude stars were +visible in the sky, whereas on a night of full moon, stars of second, +and even of third magnitude are visible. We recognized, among others, +Venus, Mercury, Sirius, Procyon, Capella, Rigel, Betelgeuse."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>From these notes, taken on the spot, it is evident that the +contemplation of a total eclipse of the Sun is one of the most marvelous +spectacles that can be admired upon our planet.</p> + +<p>Some persons assured me that they saw the shadow of the Moon flying +rapidly over the landscape. My attention was otherwise occupied, and I +was unable to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> verify this interesting observation. The shadow of the +Moon in effect took only eleven minutes (3.47 <span class="ampm">P.M.</span> to 3.58 <span class="ampm">P.M.</span>) to +traverse the Iberian Peninsula from Porto to Alicante, <i>i.e.</i>, a +distance of 766 kilometers (475 miles). It must therefore have passed +over the ground at a velocity of sixty-nine kilometers per minute, or +1,150 meters per second, a speed higher than that of a bullet. It can +easily be watched from afar, on the mountains.</p> + +<p>Some weeks previous to this fine eclipse, when I informed the Spaniards +of the belt along which it could be observed, I had invited them to note +all the interesting phenomena they might witness, including the effects +produced by the eclipse upon animals. Birds returned hurriedly to their +nests, swallows lost themselves, sheep huddled into compact packs, +partridges were hypnotized, frogs croaked as if it were night, fowls +took refuge in the hen-house, and cocks crowed, bats came out, and were +surprised by the sun, chicks gathered under their mothers' wing, +cage-birds ceased their songs, some dogs howled, others crept shivering +to their masters' feet, ants returned to the antheap, grasshoppers +chirped as at sunset, pigeons sank to the ground, a swarm of bees went +silently back to their hive, and so on.</p> + +<p>These creatures behaved as though the night had come, but there were +also signs of fear, surprise, even of terror, differing only "in degree" +from those <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>manifested during the grandiose phenomenon of a total +eclipse by human beings unenlightened by a scientific education.</p> + +<p>At Madrid the eclipse was only partial. The young King of Spain, Alfonso +XIII, took care to photograph it, and I offer the photograph to my +readers (Fig. 79), as this amiable sovereign did me the honor to give it +me a few days after the eclipse.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 350px;"> +<img src="images/fig79.jpg" width="350" height="345" alt="Fig. 79.—The Eclipse of May 28, 1900, as photographed by +King Alfonso XIII, at Madrid." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 79.</span>—The Eclipse of May 28, 1900, as photographed by +King Alfonso XIII, at Madrid.</span> +</div> + +<p>The technical results of these observations of solar eclipses relate +more especially to the elucidation of the grand problem of the physical +constitution of the Sun. We alluded to them in the chapter devoted to +this orb. The last great total eclipses have been of immense value to +science.</p> + +<p>The eclipses of the Moon are less important, less interesting, than the +eclipses of the Sun. Yet their aspect must not be neglected on this +account, and it may be said to vary for each eclipse.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p><p>Generally speaking, our satellite does not disappear entirely in the +Earth's cone of shadow; the solar rays are refracted round our globe by +our atmosphere, and curving inward, illumine the lunar globe with a rosy +tint that reminds one of the sunset. Sometimes, indeed, this refraction +does not occur, owing doubtless to lack of transparency in the +atmosphere, and the Moon becomes invisible. This happened recently, on +April 11, 1903.</p> + +<p>For any spot, eclipses of the Moon are incomparably more frequent than +eclipses of the Sun, because the cone of lunar shadow that produces the +solar eclipses is not very broad at its contact with the surface of the +globe (10, 20, 30, 50, 100 kilometers, according to the distance of the +Moon), whereas all the countries of the Earth for which the Moon is +above the horizon at the hour of the lunar eclipse are able to see it. +It is at all times a remarkable spectacle that uplifts our thoughts to +the Heavens, and I strongly advise my readers on no account to forego +it.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>ON METHODS</h3> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">How Celestial Distances are Determined, and how the Sun is Weighed</span></p> + + +<p class="chap"><span class="smcap">I will</span> not do my readers the injustice to suppose that they will be +alarmed at the title of this Lesson, and that they do not employ some +"method" in their own lives. I even assume that if they have been good +enough to take me on faith when I have spoken of the distances of the +Sun and Moon, and Stars, or of the weight of bodies at the surface of +Mars, they retain some curiosity as to how the astronomers solve these +problems. Hence it will be as interesting as it is useful to complete +the preceding statements by a brief summary of the methods employed for +acquiring these bold conclusions.</p> + +<p>The Sun seems to touch the Earth when it disappears in the purple mists +of twilight: an immense abyss separates us from it. The stars go hand in +hand down the constellated sky; and yet one can not think of their +inconceivable distance without a shiver.</p> + +<p>Our neighbor, Moon, floats in space, a stone's throw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> from us: but +without calculation we should never know the distance, which remains an +impassable desert to us.</p> + +<p>The best educated persons sometimes find it difficult to admit that +these distances of Sun and Moon are better determined and more precise +than those of certain points on our minute planet. Hence, it is of +particular moment for us to give an exact account of the means employed +in determining them.</p> + +<p>The calculation of these distances is made by "<i>triangulation</i>." This +process is the same that surveyors use in the measurement of terrestrial +distances. There is nothing very alarming about it. If the word repels +us a little at first, it is from its appearance only.</p> + +<p>When the distance of an object is unknown, the only means of expressing +its apparent size is by measurement of the angle which it subtends +before our eyes.</p> + +<p>We all know that an object appears smaller, in proposition with its +distance from us. This diminution is not a matter of chance. It is +geometric, and proportional to the distance. Every object removed to a +distance of 57 times its diameter measures an angle of 1 degree, +whatever its real dimensions. Thus a sphere 1 meter in diameter measures +exactly 1 degree, if we see it at a distance of 57 meters. A statue +measuring 1.80 meters (about 5 ft. 8 in.) will be equal to an angle of 1 +degree, if distant 57 times its height, that is to say, at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> 102.60 +meters. A sheet of paper, size 1 decimeter, seen at 5.70 meters, +represents the same magnitude.</p> + +<p>In length, a degree is the 57th part of the radius of a circle, <i>i.e.</i>, +from the circumference to the center.</p> + +<p>The measurement of an angle is expressed in parts of the circumference. +Now, what is an angle of a degree? It is the 360th part of any +circumference. On a table 3.60 meters round, an angle of one degree is a +centimeter, seen from the center of the table. Trace on a sheet of paper +a circle 0.360 meters round—an angle of 1 degree is a millimeter.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 350px;"> +<img src="images/fig80.jpg" width="350" height="193" alt="Fig. 80.—Measurement of Angles." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 80.</span>—Measurement of Angles.</span> +</div> + +<p>If the circumference of a circus measuring 180 meters be divided into +360 places, each measuring 0.50 meters in width, then when the circus is +full a person placed at the center will see each spectator occupying an +angle of 1 degree. The angle does not alter with the distance, and +whether it be measured at 1 meter, 10 meters, 100 kilometers, or in the +infinite spaces of Heaven, it is always the same angle. Whether a degree +be represented by a meter or a kilometer, it always remains a degree. As +angles measuring less than a degree often have to be calculated, this +angle has been subdivided into 60 parts, to which the name of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> <i>minutes</i> +has been given, and each minute into 60 parts or <i>seconds</i>. Written +short, the degree is indicated by a little zero (°) placed above the +figure; the minute by an apostrophe (′), and the second by two (″). +These minutes and seconds of <i>arc</i> have no relation with the same terms +as employed for the division of the duration of time. These latter ought +never to be written with the signs of abbreviation just indicated, +though journalists nowadays set a somewhat pedantic example, by writing, +<i>e.g.</i>, for an automobile race, 4h. 18′ 30″, instead of 4h. 18m. 30s.</p> + +<p>This makes clear the distinction between the relative measure of an +angle and the absolute measures, such, for instance, as the meter. Thus, +a degree may be measured on this page, while a second (the 3,600th part +of a degree) measured in the sky may correspond to millions of +kilometers.</p> + +<p>Now the measure of the Moon's diameter gives us an angle of a little +more than half a degree. If it were exactly half a degree, we should +know by that that it was 114 times the breadth of its disk away from us. +But it is a little less, since we have more than half a degree (31′), +and the geometric ratio tells us that the distance of our satellite is +110 times its diameter.</p> + +<p>Hence we have very simply obtained a first idea of the distance of the +Moon by the measure of its diameter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> Nothing could be simpler than this +method. The first step is made. Let us continue.</p> + +<p>This approximation tells us nothing as yet of the real distance of the +orb of night. In order to know this distance in miles, we need to know +the width in miles of the lunar disk.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig81.jpg" width="450" height="453" alt="Fig. 81.—Division of the Circumference into 360 degrees." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 81.</span>—Division of the Circumference into 360 degrees.</span> +</div> + +<p>This problem has been solved, as follows:</p> + +<p>Two observers go as far as possible from each other, and observe the +Moon simultaneously, from two stations situated on the same meridian, +but having a wide <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>difference of latitude. The distance that separates +the two points of observation forms the base of a triangle, of which the +two long sides come together on the Moon.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig82.jpg" width="450" height="252" alt="Fig. 82.—Measurement of the distance of the Moon." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 82.</span>—Measurement of the distance of the Moon.</span> +</div> + +<p>It is by this proceeding that the distance of our satellite was finally +established, in 1751 and 1752, by two French astronomers, Lalande and +Lacaille; the former observing at Berlin, the latter at the Cape of Good +Hope. The result of their combined observations showed that the angle +formed at the center of the lunar disk by the half-diameter of the Earth +is 57 minutes of arc (a little less than a degree). This is known as the +<i>parallax</i> of the Moon.</p> + +<p>Here is a more or less alarming word; yet it is one that we can not +dispense with in discussing the distance of the stars. This astronomical +term will soon become familiar in the course of the present lesson, +where it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> will frequently recur, and always in connection with the +measurement of celestial distances. "Do not let us fear," wrote Lalande +in his <i>Astronomie des Dames</i>, "do not let us fear to use the term +parallax, despite its scientific aspect; it is convenient, and this term +explains a very simple and very familiar effect."</p> + +<p>"If one is at the play," he continues, "behind a woman whose hat is too +large, and prevents one from seeing the stage [written a hundred years +ago!], one leans to the left or right, one rises or stoops: all this is +a parallax, a diversity of aspect, in virtue of which the hat appears to +correspond with another part of the theater from that in which are the +actors." "It is thus," he adds, "that there may be an eclipse of the Sun +in Africa and none for us, and that we see the Sun perfectly, because we +are high enough to prevent the Moon's hiding it from us."</p> + +<p>See how simple it is. This parallax of 57 minutes proves that the Earth +is removed from the Moon at a distance of about 60 times its +half-diameter (precisely, 60.27). From this to the distance of the Moon +in kilometers is only a step, because it suffices to multiply the +half-diameter of the Earth, which is 6,371 kilometers (3,950 miles) by +this number. The distance of our satellite, accordingly, is 6,371 +kilometers, multiplied by 60.27—that is, 384,000 kilometers (238,000 +miles). The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> parallax of the Moon not only tells us definitely the +distance of our planet, but also permits us to calculate its real volume +by the measure of its apparent volume. As the diameter of the Moon seen +from the Earth subtends an angle of 31′, while that of the Earth seen +from the Moon is 114′, the real diameter of the orb of night must be to +that of the terrestrial globe in the relation of 273 to 1,000. That is a +little more than a quarter, or 3,480 kilometers (2,157 miles), the +diameter of our planet being 12,742 kilometers (7,900 miles).</p> + +<p>This distance, calculated thus by geometry, is positively determined +with greater precision than that employed in the ordinary measurements +of terrestrial distances, such as the length of a road, or of a railway. +This statement may seem to be a romance to many, but it is undeniable +that the distance separating the Earth from the Moon is measured with +greater care than, for instance, the length of the road from Paris to +Marseilles, or the weight of a pound of sugar at the grocer's. (And we +may add without comment, that the astronomers are incomparably more +conscientious in their measurements than the most scrupulous +shop-keepers.)</p> + +<p>Had we conveyed ourselves to the Moon in order to determine its distance +and its diameter directly, we should have arrived at no greater +precision, and we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> should, moreover, have had to plan out a journey +which in itself is the most insurmountable of all the problems.</p> + +<p>The Moon is at the frontier of our little terrestrial province: one +might say that it traces the limits of our domain in space. And yet, a +distance of 384,000 kilometers (238,000 miles) separates the planet from +the satellite. This space is insignificant in the immeasurable distances +of Heaven: for the Saturnians (if such exist!) the Earth and the Moon +are confounded in one tiny star; but for the inhabitants of our globe, +the distance is beyond all to which we are accustomed. Let us try, +however, to span it in thought.</p> + +<p>A cannon-ball at constant speed of 500 meters (547 yards) per second +would travel 8 days, 5 hours to reach the Moon. A train started at a +speed of one kilometer per minute, would arrive at the end of an +uninterrupted journey in 384,000 minutes, or 6,400 hours, or 266 days, +16 hours. And in less than the time it takes to write the name of the +Queen of Night, a telegraphic message would convey our news to the Moon +in one and a quarter seconds.</p> + +<p>Long-distance travelers who have been round the world some dozen times +have journeyed a greater distance.</p> + +<p>The other stars (beginning with the Sun) are incomparably farther from +us. Yet it has been found<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> possible to determine their distances, and +the same method has been employed.</p> + +<p>But it will at once be seen that different measures are required in +calculating the distance of the Sun, 388 times farther from us than the +Moon, for from here to the orb of day is 12,000 times the breadth of our +planet. Here we must not think of erecting a triangle with the diameter +of the Earth for its base: the two ideal lines drawn from the +extremities of this diameter would come together between the Earth and +the Sun; there would be no triangle, and the measurement would be +absurd.</p> + +<p>In order to measure the distance which separates the Earth from the Sun, +we have recourse to the fine planet Venus, whose orbit is situated +inside the terrestrial orbit. Owing to the combination of the Earth's +motion with that of the Star of the Morning and Evening, the capricious +Venus passes in front of the Sun at the curious intervals of 8 years, +113<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> years less 8 years, 8 years, 113<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> years plus 8 years.</p> + +<p>Thus there was a transit in June, 1761, then another 8 years after, in +June, 1769. The next occurred 113<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> years less 8 years, <i>i.e.</i>, +105<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> years after the preceding, in December, 1874; the next in +December, 1882. The next will be in June, 2004, and June, 2012. At these +eagerly anticipated epochs, astronomers watch the transit<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> of Venus +across the Sun at two terrestrial stations as far as possible removed +from each other, marking the two points at which the planet, seen from +their respective stations, appears to be projected at the same moment on +the solar disk. This measure gives the width of an angle formed by two +lines, which starting from two diametrically opposite points of the +Earth, cross upon Venus, and form an identical angle upon the Sun. Venus +is thus at the apex of two equal triangles, the bases of which rest, +respectively, upon the Earth and on the Sun. The measurement of this +angle gives what is called the parallax of the Sun—that is, the angular +dimension at which the Earth would be seen at the distance of the Sun.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 450px;"> +<img src="images/fig83.jpg" width="450" height="125" alt="Fig. 83.—Measurement of the distance of the Sun." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 83.</span>—Measurement of the distance of the Sun.</span> +</div> + +<p>Thus, it has been found that the half-diameter of the Earth viewed from +the Sun measures 8.82″. Now, we know that an object presenting an angle +of one degree is at a distance of 57 times its length.</p> + +<p>The same object, if it subtends an angle of a minute, or the sixtieth +part of a degree, indicates by the measurement<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> of its angle that it is +60 times more distant, <i>i.e.</i>, 3,438 times.</p> + +<p>Finally, an object that measures one second, or the sixtieth part of a +minute, is at a distance of 206,265 times its length.</p> + +<p>Hence we find that the Earth is at a distance from the Sun of +<span class="above">206265</span>⁄<span class="below">8.82</span>—that is, 23,386 times its half-diameter, that is, +149,000,000 kilometers (93,000,000 miles). This measurement again is as +precise and certain as that of the Moon.</p> + +<p>I hope my readers will easily grasp this simple method of triangulation, +the result of which indicates to us with absolute certainty the distance +of the two great celestial torches to which we owe the radiant light of +day and the gentle illumination of our nights.</p> + +<p>The distance of the Sun has, moreover, been confirmed by other means, +whose results agree perfectly with the preceding. The two principal are +based on the velocity of light. The propagation of light is not +instantaneous, and notwithstanding the extreme rapidity of its +movements, a certain time is required for its transmission from one +point to another. On the Earth, this velocity has been measured as +300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second. To come from Jupiter to +the Earth, it requires thirty to forty minutes, according to the +distance of the planet. Now, in examining the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> eclipses of Jupiter's +satellites, it has been discovered that there is a difference of 16 +minutes, 34 seconds in the moment of their occurrence, according as +Jupiter is on one side or on the other of the Sun, relatively to the +Earth, at the minimum and maximum distance. If the light takes 16 +minutes, 34 seconds to traverse the terrestrial orbit, it must take less +than that time, or 8 minutes, 17 seconds, to come to us from the Sun, +which is situated at the center. Knowing the velocity of light, the +distance of the Sun is easily found by multiplying 300,000 by 8 minutes, +17 seconds, or 497 seconds, which gives about 149,000,000 kilometers +(93,000,000 miles).</p> + +<p>Another method founded upon the velocity of light again gives a +confirmatory result. A familiar example will explain it: Let us imagine +ourselves exposed to a vertical rain; the degree of inclination of our +umbrella will depend on the relation between our speed and that of the +drops of rain. The more quickly we run, the more we need to dip our +umbrella in order not to meet the drops of water. Now the same thing +occurs for light. The stars, disseminated in space, shed floods of light +upon the Heavens. If the Earth were motionless, the luminous rays would +reach us directly. But our planet is spinning, racing, with the utmost +speed, and in our astronomical observations we are forced to follow its +movements, and to incline our telescopes in the direction<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> of its +advance. This phenomenon, known under the name of <i>aberration</i> of light, +is the result of the combined effects of the velocity of light and of +the Earth's motion. It shows that the speed of our globe is equivalent +to <span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">10,000</span> that of light, <i>i.e.</i>, = about 30 kilometers (19 miles) per +second. Our planet accordingly accomplishes her revolution round the Sun +along an orbit which she traverses at a speed of 30 kilometers (better +29<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span>) per second, or 1,770 kilometers per minute, or 106,000 +kilometers per hour, or 2,592,000 kilometers per day, or 946,080,000 +kilometers (586,569,600 miles) in the year. This is the length of the +elliptical path described by the Earth in her annual translation.</p> + +<p>The length of orbit being thus discovered, one can calculate its +diameter, the half of which is exactly the distance of the Sun.</p> + +<p>We may cite one last method, whose data, based upon attraction, are +provided by the motions of our satellite. The Moon is a little disturbed +in the regularity of her course round the Earth by the influence of the +powerful Sun. As the attraction varies inversely with the square of the +distance, the distance may be determined by analyzing the effect it has +upon the Moon.</p> + +<p>Other means, on which we will not enlarge in this summary of the methods +employed for determinations, confirm the precisions of these +measurements with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>certainty. Our readers must forgive us for dwelling +at some length upon the distance of the orb of day, since this +measurement is of the highest importance; it serves as the base for the +valuation of all stellar distances, and may be considered as the meter +of the universe.</p> + +<p>This radiant Sun to which we owe so much is therefore enthroned in space +at a distance of 149,000,000 kilometers (93,000,000 miles) from here. +Its vast brazier must indeed be powerful for its influence to be exerted +upon us to such a manifest extent, it being the very condition of our +existence, and reaching out as far as Neptune, thirty times more remote +than ourselves from the solar focus.</p> + +<p>It is on account of its great distance that the Sun appears to us no +larger than the Moon, which is only 384,000 kilometers (238,000 miles) +from here, and is itself illuminated by the brilliancy of this splendid +orb.</p> + +<p>No terrestrial distance admits of our conceiving of this distance. Yet, +if we associate the idea of space with the idea of time, as we have +already done for the Moon, we may attempt to picture this abyss. The +train cited just now would, if started at a speed of a kilometer a +minute, arrive at the Sun after an uninterrupted course of 283 years, +and taking as long to return to the Earth the total would be 566 years. +Fourteen generations of stokers would be employed on this celestial +excursion<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> before the bold travelers could bring back news of the +expedition to us.</p> + +<p>Sound is transmitted through the air at a velocity of 340 meters (1,115 +feet) per second. If our atmosphere reached to the Sun, the noise of an +explosion sufficiently formidable to be heard here would only reach us +at the end of 13 years, 9 months. But the more rapid carriers, such as +the telegraph, would leap across to the orb of day in 8 minutes, 17 +seconds.</p> + +<p>Our imagination is confounded before this gulf of 93,000,000 miles, +across which we see our dazzling Sun, whose burning rays fly rapidly +through space in order to reach us.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>And now let us see how the distances of the planets were determined.</p> + +<p>We will leave aside the method of which we have been speaking; that now +to be employed is quite different, but equally precise in its results.</p> + +<p>It is obvious that the revolution of a planet round the Sun will be +longer in proportion as the distance is greater, and the orbit that has +to be traveled vaster. This is simple. But the most curious thing is +that there is a geometric proportion in the relations between the +duration of the revolutions of the planets and their distances. This +proportion was discovered by Kepler,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> after thirty years of research, +and embodied in the following formula:</p> + +<p>"The squares of the times of revolution of the planets round the Sun +(the periodic times) are proportional to the cubes of their mean +distances from the Sun."</p> + +<p>This is enough to alarm the boldest reader. And yet, if we unravel this +somewhat incomprehensible phrase, we are struck with its simplicity.</p> + +<p>What is a square? We all know this much; it is taught to children of ten +years old. But lest it has slipped your memory: a square is simply a +number multiplied by itself.</p> + +<p>Thus: 2 × 2 = 4; 4 is the square of 2.</p> + +<p>Four times 4 is 16; 16 is the square of 4.</p> + +<p>And so on, indefinitely.</p> + +<p>Now, what is a cube? It is no more difficult. It is a number multiplied +twice by itself.</p> + +<p>For instance: 2 multiplied by 2 and again by 2 equals 8. So 8 is the +cube of 2. 3 × 3 × 3 = 27; 27 is the cube of 3, and so on.</p> + +<p>Now let us take an example that will show the simplicity and precision +of the formula enunciated above. Let us choose a planet, no matter +which. Say, Jupiter, the giant of the worlds. He is the Lord of our +planetary group. This colossal star is five times (precisely, 5.2) as +far from us as the Sun.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span></p><p>Multiply this number twice by itself 5.2 × 5.2 × 5.2 = 140.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the revolution of Jupiter takes almost twelve years +(11.85). This number multiplied by itself also equals 140. The square of +the number 11.85 is equal to the cube of the number 5.2. This very +simple law regulates all the heavenly bodies.</p> + +<p>Thus, to find the distance of a planet, it is sufficient to observe the +time of its revolution, then to discover the square of the given number +by multiplying it into itself. The result of the operation gives +simultaneously the cube of the number that represents the distance.</p> + +<p>To express this distance in kilometers (or miles), it is sufficient to +multiply it by 149,000,000 (in miles 93,000,000), the key to the system +of the world.</p> + +<p>Nothing, then, could be less complicated than the definition of these +methods. A few moments of attention reveal to us in their majestic +simplicity the immutable laws that preside over the immense harmony of +the Heavens.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>But we must not confine ourselves to our own solar province. We have yet +to speak of the stars that reign in infinite space far beyond our +radiant Sun.</p> + +<p>Strange and audacious as it may appear, the human mind is able to cross +these heights, to rise on the wings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> of genius to these distant suns, +and to plumb the depths of the abyss that separates us from these +celestial kingdoms.</p> + +<p>Here, we return to our first method, that of triangulation. And the +distance that separates us from the Sun must serve in calculating the +distances of the stars.</p> + +<p>The Earth, spinning round the Sun at a distance of 149,000,000 +kilometers (93,000,000 miles), describes a circumference, or rather an +ellipse, of 936,000,000 kilometers (580,320,000 miles), which it travels +over in a year. The distance of any point of the terrestrial orbit from +the diametrically opposite point which it passes six months later is +298,000,000 kilometers (184,760,000 miles), <i>i.e.</i>, the diameter of this +orbit. This immense distance (in comparison with those with which we are +familiar) serves as the base of a triangle of which the apex is a star.</p> + +<p>The difficulty in exact measurements of the distance of a star consists +in observing the little luminous point persistently for a whole year, to +see if this star is stationary, or if it describes a minute ellipse +reproducing in perspective the annual revolution of the Earth.</p> + +<p>If it remains fixed, it is lost in such depths of space that it is +impossible to gage the distance, and our 298,000,000 kilometers have no +meaning in view of such an abyss. If, on the contrary, it is displaced, +it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> will in the year describe a minute ellipse, which is only the +reflection, the perspective in miniature, of the revolution of our +planet round the Sun.</p> + +<p>The annual parallax of a star is the angle under which one would see the +radius, or half-diameter, of the terrestrial orbit from it. This radius +of 149,000,000 kilometers (93,000,000 miles) is indeed, as previously +observed, the unit, the meter of celestial measures. The angle is of +course smaller in proportion as the star is more distant, and the +apparent motion of the star diminishes in the same proportion. But the +stars are all so distant that their annual displacement of perspective +is almost imperceptible, and very exact instruments are required for its +detection.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 250px;"> +<img src="images/fig84.jpg" width="250" height="797" alt="Fig. 84.—Small apparent ellipses described by the stars +as a result of the annual displacement of the Earth." title="" /> +<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Fig. 84.</span>—Small apparent ellipses described by the stars +as a result of the annual displacement of the Earth.</span> +</div> + + +<p>The researches of the astronomers have proved that there is not one star +for which the parallax is equal to that of another. The minuteness of +this angle, and the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>extraordinary difficulties experienced in measuring +the distance of the stars, will be appreciated from the fact that the +value of a second is so small that the displacement of any star +corresponding with it could be covered by a spider's thread.</p> + +<p>A second of arc corresponds to the size of an object at a distance of +206,265 times its diameter; to a millimeter seen at 206 meters' +distance; to a hair, <span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">10</span> of a millimeter in thickness, at 20 meters' +distance (more invisible to the naked eye). And yet this value is in +excess of those actually obtained. In fact:—the apparent displacement +of the nearest star is calculated at <span class="above">75</span>⁄<span class="below">100</span> of a second (0.75″), <i>i.e.</i>, +from this star, α of Centaur, the half-diameter of the terrestrial +orbit is reduced to this infinitesimal dimension. Now in order that the +length of any straight line seen from the front be reduced until it +appear to subtend no more than an angle of 0.75″, it must be removed to +a distance 275,000 times its length. As the radius of the terrestrial +orbit is 149,000,000 kilometers (93,000,000 miles), the distance which +separates α of Centaur from our world must therefore = +41,000,000,000,000 kilometers (25,000,000,000,000 miles). And that is +the nearest star. We saw in <a href="#CHAPTER_II">Chapter II</a> that it shines in the southern +hemisphere. The next, and one that can be seen in our latitudes, is 61 +of Cygnus, which floats in the Heavens 68,000,000,000,000 kilometers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> +(42,000,000,000,000 miles) from here. This little star, of fifth +magnitude, was the first of which the distance was determined (by +Bessel, 1837–1840).</p> + +<p>All the rest are much more remote, and the procession is extended to +infinity.</p> + +<p>We can not conceive directly of such distances, and in order to imagine +them we must again measure space by time.</p> + +<p>In order to cover the distance that separates us from our neighbor, +α of Centaur, <i>light</i>, the most rapid of all couriers, takes 4 +years, 128 days. If we would follow it, we must not jump from start to +finish, for that would not give us the faintest idea of the distance: we +must take the trouble to think out the direct advance of the ray of +light, and associate ourselves with its progress. We must see it +traverse 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) during the first second of +the journey; then 300,000 more in the second, which makes 600,000 +kilometers; then once more 300,000 kilometers during the third, and so +on without stopping for four years and four months. If we take this +trouble we may realize the value of the figure; otherwise, as this +number surpasses all that we are in the habit of realizing, it will have +no significance for us, and will be a dead letter.</p> + +<p>If some appalling explosion occurred in this star, and the sound in its +flight of 340 meters (1,115 feet) per<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> second were able to cross the +void that separates us from it, the noise of this explosion would only +reach us in 3,000,000 years.</p> + +<p>A train started at a speed of 106 kilometers (65 miles) per hour would +have to run for 46,000,000 years, in order to reach this star, our +neighbor in the celestial kingdom.</p> + +<p>The distance of some thirty of the stars has been determined, but the +results are dubious.</p> + +<p>The dazzling Sirius reigns 92,000,000,000,000 kilometers +(57,000,000,000,000 miles), the pale Vega at 204,000,000,000,000. Each +of these magnificent stars must be a huge sun to burn at such a distance +with such luminosity. Some are millions of times larger than the Earth. +Most of them are more voluminous than our Sun. On all sides they +scintillate at inaccessible distances, and their light strays a long +while in space before it encounters the Earth. The luminous ray that we +receive to-day from some pale star hardly perceptible to our eyes—so +enormous is its distance—may perhaps bring us the last emanation of a +sun that expired thousands of years ago.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>If these methods have been clear to my readers, they may also be +interested perhaps in knowing the means employed in weighing the worlds. +The process<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> is as simple and as clear as those of which we have been +speaking.</p> + +<p><i>Weighing the stars!</i> Such a pretension seems Utopian, and one asks +oneself curiously what sort of balance the astronomers must have adopted +in order to calculate the weight of Sun, Moon, planets or stars.</p> + +<p>Here, figures replace weights. Ladies proverbially dislike figures: yet +it would be easier for some society dame to weigh the Sun at the point +of her pen, by writing down a few columns of figures with a little care, +than to weigh a 12 kilogram case of fruit, or a dress-basket of 35 +kilos, by direct methods.</p> + +<p>Weighing the Sun is an amusement like any other, and a change of +occupation.</p> + +<p>If the Moon were not attracted by the Earth, she would glide through the +Heavens along an indefinite straight line, escaping at the tangent. But +in virtue of the attraction that governs the movements of all the +Heavenly bodies, our satellite at a distance of 60 times the terrestrial +half-diameter revolves round us in 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes, 11<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">2</span> +seconds, continually leaving the straight line to approach the Earth, +and describing an almost circular orbit in space. If at any moment we +trace an arc of the lunar orbit, and if a tangent is taken to this arc, +the deviation from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> straight line caused by the attraction of our +planet is found to be 1<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">3</span> millimeter per second.</p> + +<p>This is the quantity by which the Moon drops toward us in each second, +during which she accomplishes 1,017 meters of her orbit.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, no body can fall unless it be attracted, drawn by +another body of a more powerful mass.</p> + +<p>Beings, animals, objects, adhere to the soil, and weigh upon the Earth, +because they are constantly attracted to it by an irresistible force.</p> + +<p>Weight and universal attraction are one and the same force.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, it can be determined that if an object is left to +itself upon the surface of the Earth, it drops 4.90 meters during the +first second of its fall.</p> + +<p>We also know that attraction diminishes with the square of the distance, +and that if we could raise a stone to the height of the Moon, and then +abandon it to the attraction of our planet, it would in the first second +fall 4.90 meters divided by the square of 60, or 3,600—that is, of +1<span class="above">1</span>⁄<span class="below">3</span> millimeters, exactly the quantity by which the Moon deviates from +the straight line she would pursue if the Earth were not influencing +her.</p> + +<p>The reasoning just stated for the Moon is equally applicable to the Sun.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span></p><p>The distance of the Sun is 23,386 times the radius of the Earth. In +order to know how much the intensity of terrestrial weight would be +diminished at such a distance, we should look, in the first place, for +the square of the number representing the distance—that is, 23,386 +multiplied by itself, = 546,905,000. If we divide 4.90 meters, which +represents the attractive force of our planet, by this number, we get +<span class="above">9</span>⁄<span class="below">1,000,000</span> of a millimeter, and we see that at the distance of the Sun, +the Earth's attraction would really be almost <i>nil</i>.</p> + +<p>Now let us do for our planet what we did for its satellite. Let us trace +the annual orbit of the terrestrial globe round the central orb, and we +shall find that the Earth falls in each second 2.9 millimeters toward +the Sun.</p> + +<p>This proportion gives the attractive force of the Sun in relation to +that of the Earth, and proves that the Sun is 324,000 times more +powerful than our world, for 2.9 millimeters divided by 0.000,009 equals +324,000, if worked out into the ultimate fractions neglected here for +the sake of simplicity.</p> + +<p>A great number of stars have been weighed by the same method.</p> + +<p>Their mass is estimated by the movement of a satellite round them, and +it is by this method that we are able to affirm that Jupiter is 310 +times heavier than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> the Earth, Saturn 92 times, Neptune 16 times, Uranus +14 times, while Mars is much less heavy, its weight being only +two-thirds that of our own.</p> + +<p>The planets which have no satellites have been weighed by the +perturbations which they cause in other stars, or in the imprudent +comets that sometimes tarry in their vicinity. Mercury weighs very much +less than the Earth (only <span class="above">6</span>⁄<span class="below">100</span>) and Venus about <span class="above">8</span>⁄<span class="below">10</span>. So the beautiful +star of the evening and morning is not so light as her name might imply, +and there is no great difference between her weight and our own.</p> + +<p>As the Moon has no secondary body submitted to her influence, her weight +has been calculated by reckoning the amount of water she attracts at +each tide in the ocean, or by observing the effects of her attraction on +the terrestrial globe. When the Moon is before us, in the last quarter, +she makes us travel faster, whereas in the first quarter, when she is +behind, she delays us.</p> + +<p>All the calculations agree in showing us that the orb of night is 81 +times less heavy than our planet. There is nearly as much difference in +weight between the Earth and the Moon as between an orange and a grape.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Not content with weighing the planets of our system, astronomers have +investigated the weight of the stars. How have they been enabled to +ascertain the quantity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> of matter which constitutes these distant +Suns—incandescent globes of fire scattered in the depths of space?</p> + +<p>They have resorted to the same method, and it is by the study of the +attractive influence of a sun upon some other contiguous neighboring +star, that the weight of a few of these has been calculated.</p> + +<p>Of course this method can only be applied to those double stars of which +the distance is known.</p> + +<p>It has been discovered that some of the tiny stars that we can hardly +see twinkling in the depths of the azure sky are enormous suns, larger +and heavier than our own, and millions of times more voluminous than the +Earth.</p> + +<p>Our planet is only a grain of dust floating in the immensity of Heaven. +Yet this atom of infinity is the cradle of an immense creation +incessantly renewed, and perpetually transformed by the accumulated +centuries.</p> + +<p>And what diversity exists in this army of worlds and suns, whose regular +harmonious march obeys a mute order....</p> + +<p>But we have as yet said nothing about weight on the surface of the +worlds, and I see signs of impatience in my readers, for after so much +simple if unpoetical demonstration, they will certainly ask me for the +explanation that will prove to them that a kilogram transported to +Jupiter or Mars would weigh more or less than here.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p><p>Give me your attention five minutes longer, and I will restore your +faith in the astronomers.</p> + +<p>It must not be supposed that objects at the surface of a world like +Jupiter, 310 times heavier than our own, weigh 310 times more. That +would be a serious error. In that case we should have to assume that a +kilogram transported to the surface of the Sun would there weigh 324,000 +times more, or 324,000 kilograms. That would be correct if these orbs +were of the same dimensions as the Earth. But to speak, for instance, +only of the divine Sun, we know that he is 108 times larger than our +little planet.</p> + +<p>Now, weight at the surface of a celestial body depends not only on its +mass, but also on its diameter.</p> + +<p>In order to know the weight of any body upon the surface of the Sun, we +must argue as follows:</p> + +<p>Since a body placed upon the surface of the Sun is 108 times farther +from its center than it is upon a globe of the dimensions of the Earth, +and since, on the other hand, attraction diminishes with the square of +the distance, the intensity of the weight would there be 108 multiplied +by 108, or 11,700 times weaker. Now divide the number representing the +mass, <i>i.e.</i>, 324,000, by this number 11,700, and it results that bodies +at the surface of the Sun are 28 times heavier than here. A woman whose +weight was 60 kilos would weigh 1,680 kilograms<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> there if organized in +the same way as on the Earth, and would find walking very difficult, for +at each step she would lift up a shoe that weighed at least ten +kilograms.</p> + +<p>This reasoning as just stated for the Sun may be applied to the other +stars. We know that on the surface of Jupiter the intensity of weight is +twice and a third times as great as here, while on Mars it only equals +<span class="above">37</span>⁄<span class="below">100</span>.</p> + +<p>On the surface of Mercury, weight is nearly twice as small again as +here. On Neptune it is approximately equal to our own.</p> + +<p>With deference to the Selenites, everything is at its lightest on the +Moon: a man weighing 70 kilograms on the Earth would not weigh more than +12 kilos there.</p> + +<p>So all tastes can be provided for: the only thing to be regretted is +that one can not choose one's planet with the same facility as one's +residence upon the Earth.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>LIFE, UNIVERSAL AND ETERNAL</h3> + + +<p class="chap"><span class="smcap">And</span> now, while thanking my readers for having followed me so far in this +descriptive account of the marvels of the Cosmos, I must inquire what +philosophical impression has been produced on their minds by these +celestial excursions to the other worlds? Are you left indifferent to +the pageant of the Heavens? When your imagination was borne away to +these distant stars, suns of the infinite, these innumerable stellar +systems disseminated through a boundless eternity, did you ask what +existed there, what purpose was served by those dazzling spheres, what +effects resulted from these forces, radiations, energies? Did you +reflect that the elements which upon our little Earth determined a vital +activity so prodigious and so varied must needs have spread the waves of +an incomparably vaster and more diversified existence throughout the +immensities of the Universe? Have you felt that all can not be dead and +deserted, as we are tempted by the illusions of our terrestrial senses +and of our isolation to believe in the silence of the night: that on the +contrary, the real aim of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> Astronomy, instead of ending with statements +of the positions and movements of the stars, is to enable us to +penetrate to them, to make us divine, and know, and appreciate their +physical constitution, their degree of life and intellectuality in the +universal order?</p> + +<p>On the Earth, it is Life and Thought that flourish; and it is Life and +Thought that we seek again in these starry constellations strewn to +Infinitude amid the immeasurable fields of Heaven.</p> + +<p>The humble little planet that we inhabit presents itself to us as a +brimming cup, overflowing at every outlet. Life is everywhere. From the +bottom of the seas, from the valleys to the mountains, from the +vegetation that carpets the soil, from the mold in the fields and woods, +from the air we breathe, arises an immense, prodigious, and perpetual +murmur. Listen! it is the great voice of Nature, the sum of all the +unknown and mysterious voices that are forever calling to us, from the +ocean waves, from the forest winds, from the 300,000 kinds of insects +that are redundant everywhere, and make a lively community on the +surface of our globe. A drop of water contains thousands of curious and +agile creatures. A grain of dust from the streets of Paris is the home +of 130,000 bacteria. If we turn over the soil of a garden, field, or +meadow, we find the earthworms working to produce assimilable slime. If +we lift a stone in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> path, we discover a crawling population. If we +gather a flower, detach a leaf, we everywhere find little insects living +a parasitic existence. Swarms of midges fly in the sun, the trees of the +wood are peopled with nests, the birds sing, and chase each other at +play, the lizards dart away at our approach, we trample down the +antheaps and the molehills. Life enwraps us in an inexorable +encroachment of which we are at once the heroes and the victims, +perpetuating itself to its own detriment, as imposed upon it by an +eternal reproduction. And this from all time, for the very stones of +which we build our houses are full of fossils so prodigiously multiplied +that one gram of such stone will often contain millions of shells, +marvels of geometrical perfection. The infinitely little is equal to the +infinitely great.</p> + +<p>Life appears to us as a fatal law, an imperious force which all obey, as +the result and the aim of the association of atoms. This is illustrated +for us upon the Earth, our only field of direct observation. We must be +blind not to see this spectacle, deaf not to hear its reaching. On what +pretext could one suppose that our little globe which, as we have seen, +has received no privileges from Nature, is the exception; and that the +entire Universe, save for one insignificant isle, is devoted to vacancy, +solitude, and death?</p> + +<p>We have a tendency to imagine that Life can not exist<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> under conditions +other than terrestrial, and that the other worlds can only be inhabited +on the condition of being similar to our own. But terrestrial nature +itself demonstrates to us the error of this way of thinking. We die in +the water: fishes die out of the water. Again, short-sighted naturalists +affirm categorically that Life is impossible at the bottom of the sea: +1, because it is in complete darkness; 2, because the terrible pressure +would burst any organism; 3, because all motion would be impossible +there, and so on. Some inquisitive person sends down a dredge, and +brings up lovely creatures, so delicate in structure that the daintiest +touch must proceed with circumspection. There is no light in these +depths: they make it with their own phosphorescence. Other inquirers +visit subterranean caverns, and discover animals and plants whose organs +have been transformed by adaptation to their gloomy environment.</p> + +<p>What right have we to say to the vital energy that radiates round every +Sun of the Universe: "Thus far shalt thou come, and no further"? In the +name of Science? An absolute mistake. The Known is an infinitesimal +island in the midst of the vast ocean of the Unknown. The deep seas +which seemed to be a barrier are, as we have seen, peopled with special +life. Some one objects: But after all, there is air there, there is +oxygen: oxygen is indispensable: a world without oxygen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> would be a +world of death, an eternally sterile desert. Why? Because we have not +yet come across beings that can breathe without air, and live without +oxygen? Another mistake. Even if we did not know of any, it would not +prove that they do not exist. But as it happens, we do know of such: the +<i>anærobia</i>. These beings live without air, without oxygen. Better still: +oxygen kills them!</p> + +<p>All the evidence goes to show that in interpreting as we ought the +spectacle of terrestrial life, and the positive facts acquired by +Science, we should enlarge the circle of our conceptions and our +judgments, and not limit extra-terrestrial existence to the servile +image of what is in existence here below. Terrestrial organic forms are +due to local causes upon our planet. The chemical constitution of water +and of the atmosphere, temperature, light, density, weight, are so many +elements that have gone to form our bodies. Our flesh is composed of +carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen combined in the state of water, +and of some other elements, among which we may instance sodium chloride +(salt). The flesh of animals is not chemically different from our own. +All this comes from the water and the air, and returns to them again. +The same elements, in very minute quantities, make up all living bodies. +The ox that browses on the grass is formed of the same flesh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> as the man +who eats the beef. All organized terrestrial matter is only carbon +combined in variable proportions with hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, etc.</p> + +<p>But we have no right to forbid Nature to act differently in worlds from +which carbon is absent. A world, for example, in which silica replaces +carbon, silicic acid carbonic acid, might be inhabited by organisms +absolutely different from those which exist on the Earth, different not +only in form, but also in substance. We already know stars and suns for +which spectral analysis reveals a predominance of silica, <i>e.g.</i>, Rigel +and Deneb. In a world where chlorine predominated, we might expect to +find hydrochloric acid, and all the fecund family of chlorides, playing +an important part in the phenomena of life. Might not bromine be +associated in other formations? Why, indeed, should we draw the line at +terrestrial chemistry? What is to prove that these elements are really +simple? May not hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur all be +compounds? Their equivalents are multiples of the first: 1, 6, 8, 14, +16. And is even hydrogen the most simple of the elements? Is not its +molecule composed of atoms, and may there not exist a single species of +primitive atom, whose geometric arrangement and various associations +might constitute the molecules of the so-called simple elements?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p><p>In our own solar system we discover the essential differences between +certain planets. In the spectrum of Jupiter, for instance, we are aware +of the action of an unknown substance that manifests itself by a marked +absorption of certain red rays. This gas, which does not exist upon the +Earth, is seen still more obviously in the atmospheres of Saturn and +Uranus. Indeed, upon this last planet the atmosphere appears, apart from +its water vapor, to have no sort of analogy with our own. And in the +solar spectrum itself, many of the lines have not yet been identified +with terrestrial substances.</p> + +<p>The interrelation of the planets is of course incontrovertible, since +they are all children of the same parent. But they differ among +themselves, not merely in respect of situation, position, volume, mass, +density, temperature, atmosphere, but again in physical and chemical +constitution. And the point we would now accent is that this diversity +should not be regarded as an obstacle to the manifestations of life, +but, on the contrary, as a new field open to the infinite fecundity of +the universal mother.</p> + +<p>When our thoughts take wing, not only to our neighbors, Moon, Venus, +Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn, but still more toward the myriads of unknown +worlds that gravitate round the suns disseminated in space, we have no +plausible reason for imagining that the inhabitants<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span> of these other +worlds of Heaven resemble us in any way, whether in form, or even in +organic substance.</p> + +<p>The substance of the terrestrial human body is due to the elements of +our planet, and notably to carbon. The terrestrial human form derives +from the ancestral animal forms to which it has gradually raised itself +by the continuous progress of the transformation of species. To us it +seems obvious that we are man or woman, because we have a head, a heart, +lungs, two legs, two arms, and so on. Nothing is less a matter of +course. That we are constituted as we are, is simply the result of our +pro-simian ancestors having also had a head, a heart, lungs, legs, and +arms—less elegant than your own, it is true, Madam, but still of the +same anatomy. And more and more, by the progress of paleontology, we are +delving down to the origin of beings. As certain as it is that the bird +derives from the reptile by a process of organic evolution, so certain +is it that terrestrial Humanity represents the topmost branches of the +huge genealogical tree, whereof all the limbs are brothers, and the +roots of which are plunged into the very rudiments of the most +elementary and primitive organisms.</p> + +<p>The multitude of worlds is surely peopled by every imaginable and +unimaginable form. Terrestrial man is endowed with five senses, or +perhaps it is better to say six. Why should Nature stop at this point? +Why, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span> instance, may she not have given to certain beings an +electrical sense, a magnetic sense, a sense of orientation, an organ +able to perceive the ethereal vibrations of the infra-red or +ultra-violet, or permitted them to hear at a distance, or to see through +walls? We eat and digest like coarse animals, we are slaves to our +digestive tube: may there not be worlds in which a nutritive atmosphere +enables its fortunate inhabitants to dispense with this absurd process? +The least sparrow, even the dusky bat, has an advantage over us in that +it can fly through the air. Think how inferior are our conditions, since +the man of greatest genius, the most exquisite woman, are nailed to the +soil like any vulgar caterpillar before its metamorphosis! Would it be a +disadvantage to inhabit a world in which we might fly whither we would; +a world of scented luxury, full of animated flowers; a world where the +winds would be incapable of exciting a tempest, where several suns of +different colors—the diamond glowing with the ruby, or the emerald with +the sapphire—would burn night and day (azure nights and scarlet days) +in the glory of an eternal spring; with multi-colored moons sleeping in +the mirror of the waters, phosphorescent mountains, aerial +inhabitants,—men, women, or perhaps of other sexes,—perfect in their +forms, gifted with multiple sensibilities, luminous at will, +incombustible as asbestos, perhaps immortal,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> unless they commit suicide +out of curiosity? Lilliputian atoms as we are, let us once for all be +convinced that our imagination is but sterility, in the midst of an +infinitude hardly glimpsed by the telescope.</p> + +<p>One important point seems always to be ignored expressly by those who +blindly deny the doctrine of the plurality of worlds. It is that this +doctrine does not apply more particularly to the present epoch than to +any other. <i>Our</i> time is of no importance, no absolute value. Eternity +is the field of the Eternal Sower. There is no reason why the other +worlds should be inhabited <i>now</i> more than at any other epoch.</p> + +<p>What, indeed, is the Present Moment? It is an open trap through which +the Future falls incessantly into the gulf of the Past.</p> + +<p>The immensity of Heaven bears in its bosom cradles as well as tombs, +worlds to come and perished worlds. It abounds in extinct suns, and +cemeteries. In all probability Jupiter is not yet inhabited. What does +this prove? The Earth was not inhabited during its primordial period: +what did that prove to the inhabitants of Mars or of the Moon, who were +perhaps observing it at that epoch, a few million years ago?</p> + +<p>To pretend that our globe must be the only inhabited world because the +others do not resemble it, is to reason, not like a philosopher, but, as +we remarked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> before, like a fish. Every rational fish ought to assume +that it is impossible to live out of water, since its outlook and its +philosophy do not extend beyond its daily life. There is no answer to +this order of reasoning, except to advise a little wider perception, and +extension of the too narrow horizon of habitual ideas.</p> + +<p>For us the resources of Nature may be considered infinite, and +"positive" science, founded upon our senses only, is altogether +inadequate, although it is the only possible basis of our reasoning. We +must learn to see with the eyes of our spirit.</p> + +<p>As to the planetary systems other than our own, we are no longer reduced +to hypotheses. We already know with certainty that our Sun is no +exception, as was suggested, and is still maintained, by some theorists. +The discovery in itself is curious enough.</p> + +<p>It is surely an exceptional situation that, given a sidereal system +composed of a central sun, and of one or more stars gravitating round +him, the plane of such a system should fall just within our line of +vision, and that it should revolve in such a way that the globes of +which it is composed pass exactly between this sun and ourselves in +turning round him, eclipsing him more or less during this transit. As, +on the other hand, the eclipses would be our only means of determining +the existence of these unknown planets (save indeed from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> perturbation, +as in the case of Sirius and Procyon), it might have seemed quixotic to +hope for like conditions in order to discover solar systems other than +our own. But these exceptional circumstances have reproduced themselves +at different parts of the Heavens.</p> + +<p>Thus, for instance, we have seen that the variable star Algol owes its +variations in brilliancy, which reduce it from second to fourth +magnitude every sixty-nine hours, to the interposition of a body between +itself and the Earth, and celestial mechanics has already been able to +determine accurately the orbit of this body, its dimensions and its +mass, and even the flattening of the sun Algol. Here, then, is a system +in which we know the sun and an enormous planet, whose revolution is +effected in sixty-nine hours with extreme rapidity, as measured by the +spectroscope.</p> + +<p>The star δ of Cepheus is in the same case: it is an orb eclipsed +in a period of 129 hours, and its eclipsing planet also revolves in the +plane of our vision. The variable star in Ophiuchus has an analogous +system, and observation has already revealed a great number of others.</p> + +<p>Since, then, a certain number of solar systems differing from our own +have been revealed, as it were in section, to terrestrial observation, +this affords us sufficient evidence of the existence of an innumerable +quantity of solar systems scattered through the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>immensities of space, +and we are no longer reduced to conjecture.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, analysis of the motions of several stars, such as +Sirius, Procyon, Altaïr, proves that these distant orbs have +companions,—planets not yet discovered by the telescope, and that +perhaps never will be discovered, because they are obscure, and lost in +the radiation of the star.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>Some <i>savants</i> have asserted that Life can not germinate if the +conditions of the environment differ too much from terrestrial +conditions.</p> + +<p>This hypothesis is purely gratuitous, and we will now discuss it.</p> + +<p>In order to examine what is happening on the Earth, let us mount the +ladder of time for a moment, to follow the evolutions of Nature.</p> + +<p>There was an epoch when the Earth did not exist. Our planet, the future +world of our habitation, slept in the bosom of the solar nebula.</p> + +<p>At last it came to birth, this cherished Earth, a gaseous, luminous +ball, poor reflection of the King of Orbs, its parent. Millions of years +rolled by before the condensation and cooling of this new globe were +sufficiently transformed to permit life to manifest itself in its most +rudimentary aspects.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span></p><p>The first organic forms of the protoplasm, the first aggregations of +cells, the protozoons, the zoophytes or plant-animals, the gelatinous +mussels of the still warm seas, were succeeded by the fishes, then by +the reptiles, the birds, the mammals, and lastly man, who at present +occupies the top of the genealogical tree, and crowns the animal +kingdom.</p> + +<p>Humanity is comparatively young upon the Earth. We may attribute some +thousands of centuries of existence to it ... and some five years of +reason!</p> + +<p>The terrestrial organisms, from the lowest up to man, are the resultant +of the forces in action at the surface of our planet. The earliest seem +to have been produced by the combinations of carbon with hydrogen and +nitrogen; they were, so to speak, without animation, save for some very +rudimentary sensibility; the sponges, corals, polyps, and medusæ, give +us a notion of these primitive beings. They were formed in the tepid +waters of the primary epoch. As long as there were no continents, no +islands emerging from the level of the universal ocean, there were no +beings breathing in the air. The first aquatic creatures were succeeded +by the amphibia, the reptiles. Later on were developed the mammals and +the birds.</p> + +<p>What, again, do we not owe to the plant-world of the primary epoch, of +the secondary epoch, of the tertiary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> epoch, which slowly prepared the +good nutritious soil of to-day, in which the roses flourish, and the +peach and strawberry ripen?</p> + +<p>Before it gave birth to a Helen or a Cleopatra, life manifested itself +under the roughest forms, and in the most varied conditions. A +long-period comet passing in sight of the Earth from time to time would +have seen modifications of existence in each of its transits, in +accordance with a slow evolution, corresponding to the variation of the +conditions of existence, and progressing incessantly, for if Life is the +goal of nature, Progress is the supreme law.</p> + +<p>The history of our planet is the history of life, with all its +metamorphoses. It is the same for all the worlds, with some exceptions +of orbs arrested in their development.</p> + +<p>The constitution of living beings is in absolute relation with the +substances of which they are composed, the environment in which they +move, temperature, light, weight, density, the length of day and night, +the seasons, etc.—in a word, with all the cosmographic elements of a +world.</p> + +<p>If, for example, we compare between themselves two worlds such as the +Earth and Neptune, utterly different from the point of view of distance +from the Sun, we could not for an instant suppose that organic +structures could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> have followed a parallel development on these planets. +The average temperature must be much lower on Neptune than on the Earth, +and the same holds for intensity of light. The years and seasons there +are 165 times longer than with us, the density of matter is three times +as weak, and weight is, on the contrary, a little greater. Under +conditions so different from our own, the activities of Nature would +have to translate themselves under other forms. And doubtless the +elementary bodies would not be found there in the same proportions. +Consequently we have to conclude that organs and senses would not be the +same there as here. The optic nerve, for instance, which has formed and +developed here from the rudimentary organ of the trilobite to the +marvels of the human eye, must be incomparably more sensitive upon +Neptune than in our dazzling solar luminosity, in order to perceive +radiations that we do not perceive here. In all probability, it is +replaced there by some other organ. The lungs, functioning there in +another atmosphere, are different from our own. So, too, for the stomach +and digestive organs. Corporeal forms, animal and human, can not +resemble those which exist upon the Earth.</p> + +<p>Certain <i>savants</i> contend that if the conditions differed too much from +terrestrial conditions, life could not be produced there at all. Yet we +have no right to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> limit the powers of Nature to the narrow bounds of our +sphere of observation, and to pretend that our planet and our Humanity +are the type of all the worlds. That is a hypothesis as ridiculous as it +is childish.</p> + +<p>Do not let us be "personal," like children, and old people who never see +beyond their room. Let us learn to live in the Infinite and the Eternal.</p> + +<p>From this larger point of view, the doctrine of the plurality of worlds +is the complement and the natural crown of Astronomy. What interests us +most in the study of the Universe is surely to know what goes on there.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>These considerations show that, in all the ages, what really constitutes +a planet is not its skeleton but the life that vibrates upon its +surface.</p> + +<p>And again, if we analyze things, we see that for the Procession of +Nature, life is all, and matter nothing.</p> + +<p>What has become of our ancestors, the millions of human beings who +preceded us upon this globe? Where are their bodies? What is left of +them? Search everywhere. Nothing is left but the molecules of air, +water, dust, atoms of hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, etc., which +are incorporated in turn in the organism of every living being.</p> + +<p>The whole Earth is a vast cemetery, and its finest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> cities are rooted in +the catacombs. But now, in crossing Paris, I passed for at least the +thousandth time near the Church of St. Germain-l'Auxerrois, and was +obliged to turn out of the direct way, on account of excavations. I +looked down, and saw that immediately below the pavement, they had just +uncovered some stone coffins still containing the skeletons that had +reposed there for ten centuries. From time immemorial the passers-by had +trampled them unwittingly under foot. And I reflected that it is much +the same in every quarter of Paris. Only yesterday, some Roman tombs and +a coin with the effigy of Nero were found in a garden near the +Observatory.</p> + +<p>And from the most general standpoint of Life, the whole world is in the +same case, and even more so, seeing that all that exists, all that +lives, is formed of elements that have already been incorporated in +other beings, no longer living. The roses that adorn the bosom of the +fair ... but I will not enlarge upon this topic.</p> + +<p>And you, so strong and virile, of what elements is your splendid body +formed? Where have the elements you absorb to-day in respiration and +assimilation been drawn from, what lugubrious adventures have they been +subject to? Think away from it: do not insist on this point: on no +account consider it....</p> + +<p>And yet, let us dwell on it, since this reality is the most evident +demonstration of the ideal; since what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> exists is you, is all of us, is +<i>Life</i>; and matter is only its substance, like the materials of a house, +and even less so, since its particles only pass rapidly through the +framework of our bodies. A heap of stones does not make a house. +Quintillions of tons of materials would not represent the Earth or any +other world.</p> + +<p>Yes, what really exists, what constitutes a complete orb, is the city of +Life. Let us recognize that the flower of life flourishes on the surface +of our planet, embellishing it with its perfume; that it is just this +life that we see and admire,—of which we form part,—and which is the +<i>raison d'être</i> of things; that matter floats, and crosses, and crosses +back again, in the web of living beings,—and the reality, the goal, is +not matter—it is the life matter is employed upon.</p> + +<p>Yes, matter passes, and being also, after sharing in the concerted +symphony of life.</p> + +<p>And indeed everything passes rapidly!</p> + +<p>What irrepressible grief, what deep melancholy, what ineffaceable +regrets we feel, when as age comes on we look back, when we see our +friends fallen upon the road one after the other, above all when we +visit the beloved scenes of our childhood, those homes of other years, +that witnessed our first start in terrestrial existence, our first +games, our first affections—those affections of childhood that seemed +eternal—when we wander over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> those fields and valleys and hills, when +we see again the landscape whose aspect has hardly changed, and whose +image is so intimately linked with our first impressions. There near +this fireside the grandfather danced us on his knee, and told us +blood-curdling stories; here the kind grandmother came to see if we were +comfortably tucked in, and not likely to fall out of the big bed; in +this little wood, along these alleys that seemed endless, we spread our +nets for birds; in this stream we fished for crayfish; there on the path +we played at soldiers with our elders, who were always captains; on +these slopes we found rare stones and fossils, and mysterious +petrifactions; on this hill we admired the fine sunsets, the appearance +of the stars, the form of the constellations. There we began to live, to +think, to love, to form attachments, to dream, to question every +problem, to breathe intellectually and physically. And now, where is +this beloved grandfather? the good grandmother? where are all whom we +knew in infancy? where are our dreams of childhood? Winged thoughts +still seem to flutter in the air, and that is all. People, caresses, +voices, all have gone and vanished. The cemetery has closed over them +all. There is a silent void. Were all those fine and sunny hours an +illusion? Was it only to weep one day over this negation that our +childish hearts were so tenderly attached to these fleeting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> shadows? Is +there nothing, down the long length of human history, but eternal +delusion?</p> + +<p>It is here, above all, that we find ourselves in presence of the +greatest problems. Life is the goal, it is Life that produces the +conditions of Thought. Without Thought, where would be the Universe?</p> + +<p>We feel that without life and thought, the Universe would be an empty +theater, and Astronomy itself, sublime science, a vain research. We feel +that this is the truth, veiled as yet to actual science, and that human +races kindred with our own exist there in the immensities of space. Yes, +we <i>feel</i> that this is truth.</p> + +<p>But we would fain go a little further in our knowledge of the universe, +and penetrate in some measure the secret of our destinies. We would know +if these distant and unknown Humanities are not attached to us by +mysterious cords, if our life, which will assuredly be extinguished at +some definite moment here below, will not be prolonged into the regions +of Eternity.</p> + +<p>A moment ago we said that nothing is left of the body. Millions of +organisms have lived, there are no remains of them. Air, water, smoke, +dust. <i>Memento, homo, quia pulvis es et in pulverem revertebis.</i> +Remember oh man! that dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return, +says the priest to the faithful, when he scatters the ashes on the day +after the carnival.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span></p><p>The body disappears entirely. It goes where the corpse of Cæsar went an +hour after the extinction of his pyre. Nor will there be more remains of +any of us. And the whole of Humanity, and the Earth itself, will also +disappear one day. Let no one talk of the Progress of Humanity as an +end! That would be too gross a decoy.</p> + +<p>If the soul were also to disappear in smoke, what would be left of the +vital and intellectual organization of the world? Nothing.</p> + +<p>On this hypothesis, <i>all</i> would be reduced to <i>nothing</i>.</p> + +<p>Our reason is not immense, our terrestrial faculties are sufficiently +limited, but this reason and these faculties suffice none the less to +make us feel the improbability, the absurdity, of this hypothesis, and +we reject it as incompatible with the sublime grandeur of the spectacle +of the universe.</p> + +<p>Undoubtedly, Creation does not seem to concern itself with us. It +proceeds on its inexorable course without consulting our sensations. +With the poet we regret the implacable serenity of Nature, opposing the +irony of its smiling splendor to our mourning, our revolts, and our +despair.</p> + +<p class="noin"> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Que peu de temps suffit pour changer toutes choses!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Nature au front serein, comme vous oubliez!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Et comme vous brisez dans vos métamorphoses</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Les fils mystérieux où nos cœurs sont liés.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 5em;">D'autres vont maintenant passer où nous passâmes;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Nous y sommes venus, d'autres vont y venir,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Et le songe qu'avaient ébauché nos deux âmes,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Ils le continueront sans pouvoir le finir.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Car personne ici-bas ne termine et n'acheve;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Les pires des humains sont comme les meilleurs;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Nous nous éveillons tous au même endroit du rêve:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Tout commence en ce monde et tout finit ailleurs.</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Répondez, vallon pur, répondez, solitude!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">O Nature, abritée en ce désert si beau,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Quand nous serons couchés tous deux, dans l'attitude</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Que donne aux morts pensifs la forme du tombeau,</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Est-ce que vous serez à ce point insensible,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">De nous savoir perdus, morts avec nos amours,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Et de continuer votre fête paisible</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;">Et de toujours sourire et de chanter toujours?<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a></span><br /> +</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Note.—Free Translation.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>How brief a time suffices for all things to change! Serene-fronted +Nature, too soon you will forget!... in your metamorphoses +ruthlessly snapping the cords that bind our hearts together!</p> + +<p>Others will pass where we pass; we have arrived, and others will +arrive after us: the thought sketched out by our souls will be +pursued by theirs ... and they will not find the solution of it.</p> + +<p>For no one here begins or finishes: the worst are as the best of +humans; we all awake at the same moment of the dream: we all begin +in this world, and end otherwhere.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span>Reply, sweet valley, reply, solitude; O Nature, sheltering in this +splendid desert, when we are both asleep, and cast by the tomb into +the attitude of pensive death.</p> + +<p>Will you to the last verge be so insensible, that, knowing us lost, +and dead with our loves, you will pursue your cheerful feast, and +smile, and sing always?</p></div> + +<p>Yes, mortals may say that when they are sleeping in the grave, spring +and summer will still smile and sing; husband and wife may ask +themselves if they will meet again some day, in another sphere; but do +we not <i>feel</i> that our destinies can not be terminated here, and that +short of absolute and final nonentity for everything, they must be +renewed beyond, in that starry Heaven to which every dream has flown +instinctively since the first origins of Humanity?</p> + +<p>As our planet is only a province of the Infinite Heavens, so our actual +existence is only a stage in Eternal Life. Astronomy, by giving us +wings, conducts us to the sanctuary of truth. The specter of death has +departed from our Heaven. The beams of every star shed a ray of hope +into our hearts. On each sphere Nature chants the pæan of Life Eternal.</p> + +<p class="center"> +THE END +</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2> + +<div class="index"> +<p class="noin"> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>A</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Aberration, <a href="#Page_300">300</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Adams, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Agnesi, Marie, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Alcar, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Aldebaran, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Alexandria, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Algol, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ancients, views of, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Andrew Ellicot, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Andromeda, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Angles, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Antares, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Antipodes, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Arago, <a href="#Page_275">275</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Arcturus, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Asteroids, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Astronomie des Dames, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Attraction, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Aureole, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Autumn Constellations, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Axis, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>B</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Babylonian Tables, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bartholomew Diaz, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bear, Little, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Great, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Betelgeuse, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Biela's Comet, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bode's law, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bolides, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>C</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cancer, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Capella, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cassiopeia, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Castor, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Catalogue of Lalande, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Catharine of Alexandria, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Centaur, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ceres, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Chaldean pastors, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Chaldeans, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Chariot of David, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Charioteer, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Chart of Mars, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Châtelet, Marquise du, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Chiron, The Centaur, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Chromosphere, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Clairaut, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Clerke, Agnes, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cnidus, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Coggia's Comet, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Comet of Biela, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">of 1811, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">of 1858, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Comets, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Constellations, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">figures of, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Autumn, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Constellations, Spring, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Summer, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Winter, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Copernicus, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Corona Borealis, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Corona of the Sun, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Cygnus, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>D</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">de Blocqueville, Madame, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">de Breteuil, Gabrielle-Émilie, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">de Charrière, Madame, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Deneb, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">des Brosses, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Diaz, Bartholomew, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dipper, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Donati, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Double star, stellar dial of, <a href="#Page_86">86</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Double stars, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Dragon, <a href="#Page_36">36</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">du Châtelet, Marquise, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>E</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Eagle, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Earth, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">ancient notions of, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">distance from the sun, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">how sustained, <a href="#Page_21">21</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">inclination, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">in space, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">motion of, round the Sun, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">movement of, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">rotundity of, <a href="#Page_206">206</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">viewed from Mars, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">viewed from Mercury, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">viewed from Venus, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">weight, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Eclipse of Sun, May, 1900, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Eclipses, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ellicot, Andrew, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Entretiens sur la Pluralité des mondes, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Equator, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Eudoxus, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Evening Star, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>F</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Faculæ, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fire-balls, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Flammarion's Lunar Ring, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fleming, Mrs., <a href="#Page_7">7</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Fontenelle, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Foucault, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>G</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Galileo, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Galle, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Globe, divisions of, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Great Bear, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Great Dog, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Grecian Calendar, <a href="#Page_229">229</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Greek alphabet, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>H</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hall, Mr., <a href="#Page_143">143</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Halley, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Halley's Comet, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Heavens, map of, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hercules, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Herdsman, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Herschel, Caroline, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hevelius, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hipparchus, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Houses of the Sun, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Huggins, Lady, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Huyghens, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hyades, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Hypatia, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>J</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Janssen, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Jupiter, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">satellites, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">telescopic aspect of, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>K</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Klumpke, Miss, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Kovalevsky, Sophie, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>L</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lacaille, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lalande, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Latitudes, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Leonids, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lepaute, Madame Hortense, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Le Verrier, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Little Bear, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Little Dog, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lockyer, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Longitudes, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lucifer, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lunar Apennines, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">landscape, <a href="#Page_254">254</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">topography, <a href="#Page_252">252</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Lyre, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>M</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mars, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">chart of, <a href="#Page_140">140</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Measurement, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Medes and Lydians, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mercury, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Meteorites, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Meteors, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Metonic Cycle, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Milky Way, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mira Ceti, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mitchell, Maria, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Mizar, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Moon, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">diameter of, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">distance of, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">geological features of, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">map of, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">mountains of, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">phases of, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">photograph of, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">revolution of, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">rotation of, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">size of, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">temperature of, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">total eclipse of, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>N</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nebula, in Andromeda, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></span><br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 2em;">in Orion, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">in the Greyhounds, <a href="#Page_82">82</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Neptune, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">revolution of, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Newton, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Nucleus, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><big>O</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Orion, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>P</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Parallax, <a href="#Page_292">292</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">annual, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pearl, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pegasus, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Penumbra, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Periodic Comet, orbit of, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Perseids, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Perseus, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Phenician navigators, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Phœbus, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Photosphere, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Piazzi, <a href="#Page_147">147</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Planets, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">distances, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_302">302</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">orbits of, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">orbits of, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pleiades, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">occultation of, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pleione, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Polaris, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pole-star, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Poles, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pollux, <a href="#Page_44">44</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Pope Calixtus, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Prodigies in the heavens, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Ptolemy, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>R</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Radiant, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Riccioli, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Rigel, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Roberts, Mrs. Isaac, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>S</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Saidak, <a href="#Page_34">34</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Saros, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Satellites, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Saturn, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">revolution of, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">satellites, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">volume, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Saturn's rings, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Scarpellini, Madame, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Scheiner, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Schiaparelli, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Secchi, Father, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Seven Oxen, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sextuple star, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shepherd's Star, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Shooting stars, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sirius, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Solar storms</i>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">flames, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">system, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Somerville, Mrs., <a href="#Page_6">6</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Spring constellations, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Stars, distances, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">double, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">first magnitude, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">number of, <a href="#Page_60">60</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">quadruple, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">second magnitude, <a href="#Page_58">58</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">shooting, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">temporary, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Stars, triple, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">variable, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">weight of, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Star cluster in Hercules, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">in the Centaur, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">St. Catherine, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Summer constellations, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sun, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">houses of the, <a href="#Page_43">43</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">measurement of distance, <a href="#Page_297">297</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">photograph of, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">rotation, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">temperature of, <a href="#Page_105">105</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">total eclipse of, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">weight, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sun and Earth, comparative sizes of, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Sun-spots, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">telescopic aspect of, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>T</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Temporary stars, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Three Kings, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Total eclipse of the moon, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">of sun, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Triangulation, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Triple Star, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>U</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Umbra, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Universe, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Urania, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Uranoliths, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Uranus, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>V</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Variable stars, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Vega, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Venus, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">phases of, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Vesper, <a href="#Page_122">122</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Victor Hugo, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>W</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Weighing worlds, <a href="#Page_309">309</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Winter constellations, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><big>Z</big></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Zodiac, constellations of, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Zones, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></span><br /> +<br /><br /></p></div> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> The French edition of this book is entitled Astronomy for +Women.—<span class="smcap">Translator.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> 1 kilometer = 0.6214 mile; 100 kilometers may be taken as +62 miles. 1 kilogram is about 2.2 lb.; 5 kilograms = 11 +lb.—<span class="smcap">Translator.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> It is useful to know the letters of the Greek Alphabet. +They are easily learned, as follows: +</p><p> +</p><p><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">α Alpha</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">β Beta</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">γ Gamma</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">δ Delta</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">ε Epsilon</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">ζ Zeta</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">η Eta</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">θ Theta</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">ι Iota</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">κ Kappa</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">λ Lambda</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">μ Mu</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">ν Nu</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">ξ Xi</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">ο Omicron</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">π Pi</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">ρ Rho</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">σ or ς Sigma</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">τ Tau</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">υ Upsilon</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">φ Phi</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">χ Chi</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">ψ Psi</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">ω Omega</span><br /> +</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> All the stars visible at any hour during the year can +easily be found with the help of the author's Planisphere mobile.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Let it be remarked in passing that the stars might be much +farther off than they are, and invisible to our eyes; the Heavens would +then assume the aspect of an absolutely empty space, the moon and +planets alone remaining.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> 14″ = 14 seconds of arc. One second of the circle is an +exceedingly minute quantity. It is 1 millimeter seen at a distance of +206 meters. One millimeter seen at a distance of 20 m. 62 = 10 secs. +These values are invisible to the unaided eye.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> These fine double stars can be observed with the help of +the smallest telescope.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> For the explanation of the angular distances of degrees, +minutes, and seconds, <a href="#CHAPTER_XI">see Chapter XI</a>, on Methods of Measurement.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> The author has endeavored on the plates to represent the +aspect of the Earth in the starry sky of Mercury, Venus, and Mars; but +in all representations of this kind the stars are necessarily made too +large. By calculation the diameters of the Earth and Moon as seen from +the planets, and their distances, are as follows:</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table class="dist" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td class='td2'> </td><td class='td4'>Diameter of<br />the Earth.</td><td class='td4'>Diameter of<br />the Moon.</td><td class='td4'>Distance<br />Earth-Moon.</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>Of Mercury (opposition)</td><td class='td3'>20″</td><td class='td3'>8″</td><td class='td3'>871″</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>Of Venus (opposition)</td><td class='td3'>64″</td><td class='td3'>17″</td><td class='td3'>1,928″</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>Of Mars (quadrature)</td><td class='td3'>15″</td><td class='td3'>4″</td><td class='td3'>464″</td></tr> +<tr><td class='td2'>Of Jupiter (quadrature)</td><td class='td3'>3.5″</td><td class='td3'>0.1″</td><td class='td3'>105″</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>These aspects will be appreciated if we remember that the distance of +the components of ε Lyre = 207″, that of Atlas in Pleione = +301″, and that of the stars Mizar and Alcor = 708″.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> A few evenings ago, after observing Venus in the calm and +silent Heavens at the close of day, my eyes fell upon a drawing sent me +by my friend Gustave Dore, which is included in the illustrations of his +wonderful edition of Dante's Divina Commedia. This drawing seems to be +in place here, and I offer my readers a poor reproduction of it, taken +from the fine engraving in the book. Dante and Virgil, in the peaceful +evening, are contemplating <i>lo bel pianeta ch'ad amar conforta</i> (the +beautiful planet that incites to love).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Strictly speaking, 1 kilometer = 0.6214 mile. Here, as +throughout, the equivalents are only given in round +numbers.—<span class="smcap">Translator.</span></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Translator: Compare the well-known English rhyme: +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Thirty days hath September,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">April, June, and November.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">While all the rest have thirty-one,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Excepting February alone,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">In which but twenty-eight appear</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">And twenty-nine when comes Leap Year.</span><br /> +</p> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> Fifty-eight different pictures of the aspect of the Moon +to the unaided eye will be found in the Monthly Bulletins of the +Astronomical Society of France, for the year 1900, in pursuance of an +investigation made by the author among the different members of the +Society.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> My readers are charged not to speak of this property +(which is fairly extensive), lest the Budget Commission, at the end of +its resources, should be tempted to put on an unexpected tax. This ring, +which the astronomers presented to me in the year 1887, is almost in the +center of the lunar disk, to the north of Ptolemy and Herschel.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> "La fin du Monde." Flammarion, p. 186.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Victor Hugo. <i>Tristesse d'Olympia.</i></p></div> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Astronomy for Amateurs, by Camille Flammarion + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ASTRONOMY FOR AMATEURS *** + +***** This file should be named 25267-h.htm or 25267-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/2/6/25267/ + +Produced by Jason Isbell, Greg Bergquist and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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