Dick's idea of their
habitability--Swedenborg's curious description of the
appearance of the rings from Saturn--Is Saturn a globe of
vapor, or of dust?--The nine satellites and "Roche's
limit"--The play of spectacular shadows in the Saturnian
system--Uranus and Neptune--Is there a yet undiscovered
planet greater than Jupiter?
CHAPTER VIII
_THE MOON, CHILD OF THE EARTH AND THE SUN_ 212
The moon a favorite subject for intellectual speculation--Its
nearness to the earth graphically illustrated--Ideas of the
ancients--Galileo's discoveries--What first raised a serious
question as to its habitability--Singularity of the moon's
motions--Appearance of its surface to the naked eye and with
the telescope--The "seas" and the wonderful mountains and
craters--A terrible abyss described--Tycho's mysterious
rays--Difference between lunar and terrestrial
volcanoes--Mountain-ringed valleys--Gigantic cracks in the
lunar globe--Slight force of gravity of the moon and some
interesting deductions--The moon a world of giantism--What
kind of atmospheric gases can the moon contain--The question
of water and of former oceans--The great volcanic cataclysm
in the moon's history--Evidence of volcanic and other
changes now occurring--Is there vegetation on the
moon?--Lunar day and night--The earth as seen from the
moon--Discoveries yet to be made
CHAPTER IX
_HOW TO FIND THE PLANETS_ 256
It is easy to make acquaintance with the planets and to
follow them among the stars--The first step a knowledge of
the constellations--How this is to be acquired--How to use
the Nautical Almanac in connection with the charts in this
book--The visibility of Mercury and Venus--The oppositions
of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn
INDEX 277
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Chart of Mars _Frontispiece_
Diagram showing causes of day and night on portions of Mercury 35
Regions of day and night on Mercury 38
Venus's atmosphere seen as a ring of light 56
View of Jupiter _facing_ 168
Three views of Saturn _facing_ 186
Diagram showing the moon's path through space 217
The lunar Alps, Apennines, and Caucasus _facing_ 222
The moon at first and last quarter _facing_ 226
Phases and rotation of the moon 250
Charts showing the zodiacal constellations:
1.
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