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Table of Contents

PLATE I. Fig. 1.

The Solar System.

17. The Planets and Comets which move round the Sun as their center, constitute the Solar System. Those Planets which are nearer the Sun not only finish their circuits sooner, but likewise move faster in their respective Orbits than those which are more remote from him. Their motions are all performed from west to east, in Orbits nearly circular. Their names, distances, bulks, and periodical revolutions, are as follows.

The Sun.

18. The Sun , an immense globe of fire, is placed near the common center, or rather in the lower^[2] focus, of the Orbits of all the Planets and Comets^[3]; and turns round his axis in 25 days 6 hours, as is evident by the motion of spots seen on his surface. His diameter is computed to be 763,000 miles; and, by the various attractions of the circumvolving Planets, he is agitated by a small motion round the center of gravity of the System. All the Planets, as seen from him, move the same way, and according to the order of Signs in the graduated Circle ♈ ♉ ♎ ♋ &c. which represents the great Ecliptic in the Heavens: but, as seen from any one Planet, the rest appear sometimes to go backward, sometimes forward, and sometimes to stand still; not in circles nor ellipses, but in^[4] looped curves which never return into themselves. The Comets come from all parts of the Heavens, and move in all sorts of directions.

PLATE I. Fig. I. The Sun.

The Axes of the Planets, what.

19. Having mentioned the Sun’s turning round his axis, and as there will be frequent occasion to speak of the like motion of the Earth and other Planets, it is proper here to inform the young Tyro in Astronomy, that neither the Sun nor Planets have material axes to turn upon, and support them, as in the little imperfect Machines contrived to represent them. For the axis of a Planet is a line conceived to be drawn through it’s center, about which it revolves as on a real axis. The extremities of this line, terminating in opposite points of the Planet’s surface, are called its Poles. That which points towards the northern part of the Heavens is called the North Pole; and the other, pointing towards the southern part, is called the South Pole. A bowl whirled from one’s hand into the open air turns round such a line within itself, whilst it moves forward; and such are the lines we mean, when we speak of the Axes of the Heavenly bodies.

Their Orbits are not in the same plane with the Ecliptic.

PLATE I.

Their Nodes.

Where situated.

20. Let us suppose the Earth’s Orbit to be a thin, even, solid plane; cutting the Sun through the center, and extended out as far as the Starry Heavens, where it will mark the great Circle called the Ecliptic. This Circle we suppose to be divided into 12 equal parts, called Signs; each Sign into 30 equal parts, called Degrees; each Degree into 60 equal parts, called Minutes; and every Minute into 60 equal parts, called Seconds: so that a Second is the 60th part of a Minute; a Minute the 60th part of a Degree; and a Degree the 360th part of a Circle, or 30th part of a Sign. The Planes of the Orbits of all the other Planets likewise cut the Sun in halves; but extended to the Heavens, form Circles different from one another, and from the Ecliptic; one half of each being on the north side, and the other on the south side of it. Consequently the Orbit of each Planet crosses the Ecliptic in two opposite points, which are called the Planet’s Nodes. These Nodes are all in different parts of the Ecliptic; and therefore, if the planetary Tracks remained visible in the Heavens, they would in some measure resemble the different rutts of waggon-wheels crossing one another in different parts, but never going far asunder. That Node, or Intersection of the Orbit of any Planet with the Earth’s Orbit, from which the Planet ascends northward above the Ecliptic, is called the Ascending Node of the Planet; and the other, which is directly opposite thereto, is called it’s Descending Node. Saturn’s Ascending Node is in 21 deg. 13 min. of Cancer ♋, Jupiter’s in 7 deg. 29 min. of the same Sign, Mars’s in 17 deg. 17 min. of Taurus ♉, Venus’s in 13 deg. 59 min. of Gemini ♊, and Mercury’s in 14 deg. 43 min. of Taurus. Here we consider the Earth’s Orbit as the standard, and the Orbits of all the other Planets as oblique to it.

The Planets Orbits, what.

21. When we speak of the Planets Orbits, all that is meant is their Paths through the open and unresisting Space in which they move; and are kept in, by the attractive power of the Sun, and the projectile force impressed upon them at first: between which power and force there is so exact an adjustment, that without any solid Orbits to confine the Planets, they keep their courses, and at the end of every revolution find the points from whence they first set out, much more truly than can be imitated in the best machines made by human art.

Mercury.

Fig. I.

May be inhabited.

PLATE I.

22. Mercury, the nearest Planet to the Sun, goes round him (as in the circle marked ☿) in 87 days 23 hours of our time nearly; which is the length of his year. But, being seldom seen, and no spots appearing on his surface or disc, the time of his rotation on his axis, or the length of his days and nights, is as yet unknown. His distance from the Sun is computed to be 32 millions of miles, and his diameter 2600. In his course, round the Sun, he moves at the rate of 95 thousand miles every hour. His light and heat from the Sun are almost seven times as great as ours; and the Sun appears to him almost seven times as large as to us. The great heat on this Planet is no argument against it’s being inhabited; since the Almighty could as easily suit the bodies and constitutions of it’s inhabitants to the heat of their dwelling, as he has done ours to the temperature of our Earth. And it is very probable that the people there have such an opinion of us, as we have of the inhabitants of Jupiter and Saturn; namely, that we must be intolerably cold, and have very little light at so great a distance from the Sun.

Has like phases with the Moon.

23. This Planet appears to us with all the various phases of the Moon, when viewed at different times by a good telescope; save only that he never appears quite Full, because his enlightened side is never turned directly towards us but when he is so near the Sun as to be lost to our sight in it’s beams. And, as his enlightened side is always toward the Sun, it is plain that he shines not by any light of his own; for if he did, he would constantly appear round. That he moves about the Sun in an Orbit within the Earth’s Orbit is also plain (as will be more largely shewn by and by, § 141, & seq.) because he is never seen opposite to the Sun, nor above 56 times the Sun’s breadth from his center.

His Orbit and Nodes.

24. His Orbit is inclined seven degrees to the Ecliptic; and that Node § 20, from which he ascends northward above the Ecliptic is in the 14th degree of Taurus; the opposite, in the 14th degree of Scorpio. The Earth is in these points on the 5th of November and 4th of May, new style; and when Mercury comes to either of his Nodes at his^[5] inferior Conjunction about these times, he will appear to pass over the disc or face of the Sun, like a dark round spot. But in all other parts of his Orbit his Conjunctions are invisible, because he either goes above or below the Sun.

When he will be seen as if upon the Sun.

25. Mr. Whiston has given us an account of several periods at which Mercury may be seen on the Sun’s disc, viz. In the year 1782, Nov. 12th, at 3 h. 44 m. in the afternoon: 1786, May 4th, at 6 h. 57 m. in the forenoon: 1789, Dec. 6th, at 3 h. 55 m. in the afternoon; and 1799, May 7th, at 2 h. 34 m. in the afternoon. There will be several intermediate Transits, but none of them visible at London.

Fig. I.

Venus.

26. Venus, the next Planet in order, is computed to be 59 millions of miles from the Sun; and by moving at the rate of 69 thousand miles every hour in her Orbit (as in the circle marked ♀), she goes round the Sun in 224 days 17 hours of our time nearly; in which, though it be the full length of her year, she has only 9¹⁄₄ days, according to Bianchini’s observations; so that in her, every day and night together is as long as 24¹⁄₃ days and nights with us. This odd quarter of a day in every year makes every fourth year a leap-year to Venus; as the like does to our Earth. Her diameter is 7906 miles; and by her diurnal motion the inhabitants about her Equator are carried 43 miles every hour: besides the 69,000 above-mentioned.

Her Orbit lies between the Earth and Mercury.

27. Her Orbit includes that of Mercury within it; for at her greatest Elongation, or apparent distance from the Sun, she is 96 times his breadth from his centre; which is almost double of Mercury’s. Her Orbit is included by the Earth’s; for if it were not, she might be seen as often in Opposition to the Sun as in Conjunction with him; but she was never seen 90 degrees, or a fourth part of a Circle, from the Sun.

She is our morning and evening Star by turns.

28. When Venus appears west of the Sun she rises before him in the morning, and is called the Morning Star: when she appears east of the Sun she shines in the evening after he sets, and is then called the Evening Star: being each in it’s turn for 290 days. It may perhaps be surprising at first, that Venus should keep longer on the east or west of the Sun than the whole time of her Period round him. But the difficulty vanishes when we consider that the Earth is all the while going round the Sun the same way, though not so quick as Venus: and therefore her relative motion to the Earth must in every Period be as much slower than her absolute motion in her Orbit, as the Earth during that time advances forward in the Ecliptic; which is 220 degrees. To us she appears through a telescope in all the various shapes of the Moon.

29. The Axis of Venus is inclined 75 degrees to the Axis of her Orbit; which is 51¹⁄₂ degrees more than our Earth’s Axis is inclined to the Axis of the Ecliptic: and therefore the variation of her seasons is much greater than of ours. The North Pole of her Axis inclines toward the 20th degree of Aquarius, our Earth’s to the beginning of Cancer; and therefore the northern parts of Venus have summer in the Signs where those of our Earth have winter, and vice versâ.

Remarkable appearances.

30. The ^[6]artificial day at each Pole of Venus is as long as 112¹⁄₂ ^[7]natural days on our Earth.

Her Tropics and polar Circles, how situated.

31. The Sun’s greatest Declination on each side of her Equator amounts to 75 degrees; therefore her^[8] Tropics are only 15 degrees from her Poles; and her ^[9]Polar Circles as far from her Equator. Consequently, the Tropics of Venus are between her Polar Circles and her Poles; contrary to what those of our Earth are.

The Sun’s daily Course.

32. As her annual Revolution contains only 9¹⁄₄ of her days, the Sun will always appear to go through a Sign, or twelfth Part of her Orbit, in little more that three quarters of her natural day, or nearly in 18³⁄₄ of our days and nights.

And great declination.

33. Because her day is so great a part of her year, the Sun changes his Declination in one day so much, that if he passes vertically, or directly over head of any given place on the Tropic, the next day he will be 26 degrees from it: and whatever place he passes vertically over when in the Equator, one day’s revolution will remove him 36¹⁄₄ degrees from it. So that the Sun changes his Declination every day in Venus about 14 degrees more at a mean rate, than he does in a quarter of a year on our Earth. This appears to be providentially ordered, for preventing the too great effects of the Sun’s heat (which is twice as great on Venus as on the Earth) so that he cannot shine perpendicularly on the same places for two days together; and by that means, the heated places have time to cool.

To determine the points of the Compass at her Poles.

34. If the inhabitants about the North Pole of Venus fix their South, or Meridian Line, through that part of the Heavens where the Sun comes to his greatest Height, or North Declination, and call those the East and West points of their Horizon, which are 90 degrees on each side from that point where the Horizon is cut by the Meridian Line, these inhabitants will have the following remarkables.

Surprising appearances at her Poles;

The Sun will rise 22¹⁄₂ degrees^[10] north of the East, and going on 112¹⁄₂ degrees, as measured on the plane of the ^[11]Horizon, he will cross the Meridian at an altitude of 12¹⁄₂ degrees; then making an entire revolution without setting, he will cross it again at an altitude of 48¹⁄₂ degrees; at the next revolution he will cross the Meridian as he comes to his greatest height and declination, at the altitude of 75 degrees; being then only 15 degrees from the Zenith, or that point of the Heavens which is directly over head: and thence he will descend in the like spiral manner; crossing the Meridian first at the altitude of 48¹⁄₂ degrees; next at the altitude of 12¹⁄₂ degrees; and going on thence 112¹⁄₂ degrees, he will set 22¹⁄₂ degrees north of the West; so that, after having been 4⁵⁄₈ revolutions above the Horizon, he descends below it to exhibit the like appearances at the South Pole.

35. At each Pole, the Sun continues half a year without setting in summer, and as long without rising in winter; consequently the polar inhabitants of Venus have only one day and one night in the year; as it is at the Poles of our Earth. But the difference between the heat of summer and cold of winter, or of mid-day and mid-night, on Venus, is much greater than on the Earth: because in Venus, as the Sun is for half a year together above the Horizon of each Pole in it’s turn, so he is for a considerable part of that time near the Zenith; and during the other half of the year, always below the Horizon, and for a great part of that time at least 70 degrees from it. Whereas, at the Poles of our Earth, although the Sun is for half a year together above the Horizon, yet he never ascends above, nor descends below it, more than 23¹⁄₂ degrees. When the Sun is in the Equinoctial, or in that Circle which divides the northern half of the Heavens from the southern, he is seen with one half of his Disc above the Horizon of the North Pole, and the other half above the Horizon of the South Pole; so that his center is in the Horizon of both Poles: and then descending below the Horizon of one, he ascends gradually above that of the other. Hence, in a year, each Pole has one spring, one harvest, a summer as long as them both, and a winter equal in length to the other three seasons.

At her polar Circles;

36. At the Polar Circles of Venus, the seasons are much the same as at the Equator, because there are only 15 degrees betwixt them, § 31; only the winters are not quite so long, nor the summers so short: but the four seasons come twice round every year.

At her Tropics;

37. At Venus’s Tropics, the Sun continues for about fifteen of our weeks together without setting in summer; and as long without rising in winter. Whilst he is more than 15 degrees from the Equator, he neither rises to the inhabitants of the one Tropic, nor sets to those of the other: whereas, at our terrestrial Tropics he rises and sets every day of the year.

38. At Venus’s Tropics, the Seasons are much the same as at her Poles; only the summers are a little longer, and the winters a little shorter.

At her Equator.

39. At her Equator, the days and nights are always of the same length; and yet the diurnal and nocturnal Arches are very different, especially when the Sun’s declination is about the greatest: for then, his meridian altitude may sometimes be twice as great as his midnight depression, and at other times the reverse. When the Sun is at his greatest Declination, either North or South, his rays are as oblique at Venus’s Equator, as they are at London on the shortest day of winter. Therefore, at her Equator there are two winters, two summers, two springs, and two autumns every year. But because the Sun stays for some time near the Tropics, and passes so quickly over the Equator, every winter there will be almost twice as long as summer: the four seasons returning twice in that time, which consists only of 9¹⁄₄ days.

40. Those parts of Venus which lie between the Poles and Tropics, and between the Tropics and Polar Circles, and also between the Polar Circles and Equator, partake more or less of the Phenomena of these Circles, as they are more or less distant from them.

Great difference of the Sun’s amplitude at rising and setting.

41. From the quick change of the Sun’s declination it happens, that when he rises due east on any day, he will not set due west on that day, as with us; for if the place where he rises due east be on the Equator, he will set on that day almost west-north-west; or about 18¹⁄₂ degrees north of the west. But if the place be in 45 degrees north latitude, then on the day that the Sun rises due east he will set north-west by west, or 33 degrees north of the west. And in 62 degrees north latitude when he rises in the east, he sets not in that revolution, but just touches the Horizon 10 degrees to the west of the north point; and ascends again, continuing for 3¹⁄₄ revolutions above the Horizon without setting. Therefore, no place has the forenoon and afternoon of the same day equally long, unless it be on the Equator or at the Poles.

The longitude of places easily found in Venus.

42. The Sun’s altitude at noon, or any other time of the day, and his amplitude at rising and setting, being so different at places on the same parallels of latitude, according to the different longitudes of those places, the longitude will be almost as easily found on Venus as the latitude is found on the Earth: which is an advantage we can never enjoy, because the daily change of the Sun’s declination is by much too small for that purpose.

Her Equinoxes shift a quarter of a day forward every year.

43. On this Planet, wherever the Sun crosses the Equator in any year, he will have 9 degrees of declination from that place on the same day and hour next year; and will cross the Equator 90 degrees farther to the west; which makes the time of the Equinox a quarter of a day (almost equal to six of our days) later every year. Hence, although the spiral in which the Sun’s motion is performed, be of the same sort every year, yet it will not be the very same, because the Sun will not pass vertically over the same places till four annual revolutions are finished.

Every fourth year a leap-year to Venus.

PLATE I.

44. We may suppose that the inhabitants of Venus will be careful to add a day to some particular part of every fourth year; which will keep the same seasons to the same days. For, as the great annual change of the Equinoxes and Solstices shifts the seasons a quarter of a day every year, they would be shifted through all the days of the year in 36 years. But by means of this intercalary day, every fourth year will be a leap-year; which will bring her time to an even reckoning, and keep her Calendar always right.

When she will appear on the Sun.

45. Venus’s Orbit is inclined 3¹⁄₂ degrees to the Earth’s; and crosses it in the 14th degree of Gemini and of Sagittarius; and therefore, when the Earth is about these points of the Ecliptic at the time that Venus is in her inferiour conjunction, she will appear like a spot on the Sun, and afford a more certain method of finding the distances of all the Planets from the Sun than any other yet known. But these appearances happen very seldom; and will only be thrice visible at London for three hundred years to come. The first time will be in the year 1761, June the 6th, at 5 hours 55 minutes in the morning. The second 1996, June the 9th, at 2 hours 13 minutes in the afternoon. And the third in the year 2004, June the 6th, at 7 hours 18 minutes in the forenoon. Excepting such Transits as these, she shews the same appearances to us regularly every eight years; her Conjunctions, Elongations, and Times of rising and setting being very nearly the same, on the same days, as before.

She may have a Moon although we cannot see it.

46. Venus may have a Satellite or Moon, although it be undiscovered by us: which will not appear very surprising, if we consider how inconveniently we are placed for seeing it. For it’s enlightened side can never be fully turned towards us but when Venus is beyond the Sun; and then, as Venus appears little bigger than an ordinary Star, her Moon may be too small to be perceptible at such a distance. When she is between us and the Sun, her full Moon has it’s dark side towards us; and then, we cannot see it any more than we can our own Moon at the time of Change. When Venus is at her greatest Elongation, we have but one half of the enlightened side of her Full Moon towards us; and even then it may be too far distant to be seen by us. But if she has a Moon, it may certainly be seen with her upon the Sun, in the year 1761, unless it’s Orbit be considerably inclined to the Ecliptic: for if it should be in conjunction or opposition at that time, we can hardly imagine that it moves so slow as to be hid by Venus all the six hours that she will appear on the Sun’s Disc.

The Earth.

Fig. I.

It’s diurnal and annual motion.

47. The Earth is the next Planet above Venus in the System. It is 81 millions of miles from the Sun, and goes round him (as in the circle ⊕) in 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes, from any Equinox or Solstice to the same again: but from any fixed Star to the same again, as seen from the Sun, in 365 days 6 hours and 9 minutes; the former being the length of the Tropical year, and the latter the length of the Sidereal. It travels at the rate of 58 thousand miles every hour, which motion, though 120 times swifter than that of a cannon ball, is little more than half as swift as Mercury’s motion in his Orbit. The Earth’s diameter is 7970 miles; and by turning round it’s Axis every 24 hours from West to East, it causes an apparent diurnal motion of all the heavenly Bodies from East to West. By this rapid motion of the Earth on it’s Axis, the inhabitants about the Equator are carried 1042 miles every hour, whilst those on the parallel of London are carried only about 580, besides the 58 thousand miles by the annual motion above-mentioned, which is common to all places whatever.

Inclination of it’s Axis.

48. The Earth’s Axis makes an angle of 23¹⁄₂ degrees with the Axis of it’s Orbit; and keeps always the same oblique direction; inclining towards the same fixed Stars^[12] throughout it’s annual course; which causes the returns of spring, summer, autumn, and winter; as will be explained at large in the tenth Chapter.

A proof of it’s being round.

49. The Earth is round like a globe; as appears, 1. from it’s shadow in Eclipses of the Moon; which shadow is always bounded by a circular line § 314. 2. From our seeing the masts of a ship whilst the hull is hid by the convexity of the water. 3. From it’s having been sailed round by many navigators. The hills take off no more from the roundness of the Earth in comparison, than grains of dust do from the roundness of a common Globe.

It’s number of square miles.

50. The seas and unknown parts of the Earth (by a measurement of the best Maps) contain 160 million 522 thousand and 26 square miles; the inhabited parts 38 million 990 thousand 569: Europe 4 million 456 thousand and 65; Asia 10 million 768 thousand 823; Africa 9 million 654 thousand 807; America 14 million 110 thousand 874. In all, 199 million 512 thousand 595; which is the number of square miles on the whole surface of our Globe.

The proportion of land and sea.

PLATE I.

51. Dr. Long, in the first volume of his Astronomy, pag. 168, mentions an ingenious and easy method of finding nearly what proportion the land bears to the sea; which is, to take the papers of a large terrestrial globe, and after separating the land from the sea with a pair of scissars, to weigh them carefully in scales. This supposes the globe to be exactly delineated, and the papers all of equal thickness. The Doctor made the experiment on the papers of Mr. Senex’s seventeen inch globe; and found that the sea papers weighed 349 grains, and the land only 124: by which it appears that almost three fourth parts of the surface of our Earth between the Polar Circles are covered with water, and that little more than one fourth is dry land. The Doctor omitted weighing all within the Polar Circles; because there is no certain measurement of the land there, so as to know what proportion it bears to the sea.

The Moon.

52. The Moon is not a Planet, but only a Satellite or Attendant of the Earth, moving round the Earth from Change to Change in 29 days 12 hours and 44 minutes; and going round the Sun with it every year. The Moon’s diameter is 2180 miles; and her distance from the Earth 240 thousand. She goes round her Orbit in 27 days 7 hours 43 minutes, moving about 2290 miles every hour; and turns round her Axis exactly in the time that she goes round the Earth, which is the reason of her keeping always the same side towards us, and that her day and night taken together is as long as our lunar month.

Her Phases.

53. The Moon is an opaque Globe like the Earth, and shines only by reflecting the light of the Sun: therefore whilst that half of her which is toward the Sun is enlightened, the other half must be dark and invisible. Hence, she disappears when she comes between us and the Sun; because her dark side is then toward us. When she is gone a little way forward, we see a little of her enlightened side; which still increases to our view, as she advances forward, until she comes to be opposite to the Sun; and then her whole enlightened side is towards the Earth, and she appears with a round, illumined Orb; which we call the Full Moon: her dark side being then turned away from the Earth. From the Full she seems to decrease gradually as she goes through the other half of her course; shewing us less and less of her enlightened side every day, till her next change or conjunction with the Sun, and then she disappears as before.

A proof that she shines not by her own light.

Fig. I.

54. The continual changing of the Moon’s phases or shapes demonstrates that she shines not by any light of her own: for if she did, being globular, we should always see her with a round full Orb like the Sun. Her Orbit is represented in the Scheme by the little circle m, upon the Earth’s Orbit ⊕: but it is drawn fifty times too large in proportion to the Earth’s; and yet is almost too small to be seen in the Diagram.

One half of her always enlightened.

55. The Moon has scarce any difference of seasons; her Axis being almost perpendicular to the Ecliptic. What is very singular, one half of her has no darkness at all; the Earth constantly affording it a strong light in the Sun’s absence; while the other half has a fortnight’s darkness and a fortnight’s light by turns.

Our Earth is her Moon.

56. Our Earth is a Moon to the Moon, waxing and waneing regularly, but appearing thirteen times as big, and affording her thirteen times as much light, as she does to us. When she changes to us, the Earth appears full to her; and when she is in her first quarter to us, the Earth is in it’s third quarter to her; and vice versâ.

57. But from one half of the Moon, the Earth is never seen at all: from the middle of the other half, it is always seen over head; turning round almost thirty times as quick as the Moon does. From the line which limits our view of the Moon, or all round what we call her edges, only one half of the Earth’s side next her is seen; the other half being hid below the Horizon. To her, the Earth seems to be the biggest Body in the Universe; for it appears thirteen times as big as she does to us.

A Proof of the Moon’s having no Atmosphere;

58. The Moon has no such Atmosphere, or body of air surrounding her as we have: for if she had, we could never see her edge so well defined as it appears; but there would be a sort of a mist or haziness round her, which would make the Stars look fainter, when they were seen through it. But observation proves, that the Stars which disappear behind the Moon retain their full lustre until they seem to touch her very edge, and then vanish in a moment. This has been often observed by Astronomers, but particularly by Cassini^[13] of the Star γ in the breast of Virgo, which appears single and round to the bare eye; but through a refracting Telescope of 16 feet appears to be two Stars so near together, that the distance between them seems to be but equal to one of their apparent diameters. The Moon was observed to pass over them on the 21st of April 1720, N. S. and as her dark edge drew near to them, it caused no change in their colour or Situation. At 25 min. 14 sec. past 12 at night, the most westerly of these Stars was hid by the dark edge of the Moon; and in 30 seconds afterward, the most easterly Star was hid: each of them disappearing behind the Moon in an instant, without any preceding diminution of magnitude or brightness; which by no means could have been the case if there were an Atmosphere round the Moon; for then, one of the Stars falling obliquely into it before the other, ought by refraction to have suffered some change in its colour, or in it’s distance from the other Star which was not yet entered into the Atmosphere. But no such alteration could be perceived though the observation was performed with the utmost attention to that particular; and was very proper to have made such a discovery. The faint light, which has been seen all around the Moon, in total Eclipses of the Sun, has been observed, during the time of darkness, to have it’s center coincident with the center of the Sun; and is therefore much more likely to arise from the Atmosphere of the Sun than from that of the Moon; for if it were the latter, it’s center would have gone along with the Moon’s.

Nor Seas.

She is full of caverns and deep pits.

59. If there were seas in the Moon, she could have no clouds, rains, nor storms as we have; because she has no such Atmosphere to support the vapours which occasion them. And every one knows, that when the Moon is above our Horizon in the night time, she is visible, unless the clouds of our Atmosphere hide her from our view; and all parts of her appear constantly with the same clear, serene, and calm aspect. But those dark parts of the Moon, which were formerly thought to be seas, are now found to be only vast deep cavities, and places which reflect not the Sun’s light so strongly as others, having many caverns and pits whose shadows fall within them, and are always dark on the sides next the Sun; which demonstrates their being hollow: and most of these pits have little knobs like hillocks standing within them, and casting shadows also; which cause these places to appear darker than others which have fewer, or less remarkable caverns. All these appearances shew that there are no seas in the Moon; for if there were any, their surfaces would appear smooth and even, like those on the Earth.

The Stars always visible to the Moon.

60. There being no Atmosphere about the Moon, the Heavens in the day time have the appearance of night to a Lunarian who turns his back toward the Sun; and when he does, the Stars appear as bright to him as they do in the night to us. For, it is entirely owing to our Atmosphere that the Heavens are bright about us in the day.

The Earth a Dial to the Moon.

61. As the Earth turns round it’s Axis, the several continents, seas, and islands appear to the Moon’s inhabitants like so many spots of different forms and brightness, moving over it’s surface; but much fainter at some times than others, as our clouds cover them or leave them. By these spots the Lunarians can determine the time of the Earth’s diurnal motion, just as we do the motion of the Sun: and perhaps they measure their time by the motion of the Earth’s spots; for they cannot have a truer dial.

PLATE I.

How the Lunarians may know the length of their year.

62. The Moon’s Axis is so nearly perpendicular to the Ecliptic, that the Sun never removes sensibly from her Equator: and the^[14] obliquity of her Orbit, which is next to nothing as seen from the Sun, cannot cause any sensible declination of the Sun from her Equator. Yet her inhabitants are not destitute of means for determining the length of their year, though their method and ours must differ. For we can know the length of our year by the return of our Equinoxes; but the Lunarians, having always equal day and night, must have recourse to another method; and we may suppose, they measure their year by observing the Poles of our Earth; as one always begins to be enlightened, and the other disappears, at our Equinoxes; they being conveniently situated for observing great tracks of land about our Earth’s Poles, which are entirely unknown to us. Hence we may conclude, that the year is of the same absolute length both to the Earth and Moon, though very different as to the number of days: we having 365¹⁄₄ natural days, and the Lunarians only 12⁷⁄₁₉; every day and night in the Moon being as long as 29¹⁄₂ on the Earth.

And the longitudes of their places.

63. The Moon’s inhabitants on the side next the Earth may as easily find the longitude of their places as we can find the latitude of ours. For the Earth keeping constantly, or very nearly so, over one Meridian of the Moon, the east or west distances of places from that Meridian are as easily found, as we can find our distance from the Equator by the Altitude of our celestial Poles.

Mars.

Fig. I.

64. The Planet Mars is next in order, being the first above the Earth’s Orbit. His distance from the Sun is computed to be 123 millions of miles; and by travelling at the rate of 47 thousand miles every hour, as in the circle ♂, he goes round the Sun in 687 of our days and 17 hours; which is the length of his year, and contains 667¹⁄₄ of his days; every day and night together being 40 minutes longer than with us. His diameter is 4444 miles, and by his diurnal rotation the inhabitants about his Equator are carried 556 miles every hour. His quantity of light and heat is equal but to one half of ours; and the Sun appears but half as big to him as to us.

His Atmosphere and Phases.

65. This Planet being but a fifth part so big as the Earth, if any Moon attends him, she must be very small, and has not yet been discovered by our best telescopes. He is of a fiery red colour, and by his Appulses to some of the fixed Stars, seems to be surrounded by a very gross Atmosphere. He appears sometimes gibbous, but never horned; which both shews that his Orbit includes the Earth’s within it, and that he shines not by his own light.

66. To Mars, our Earth and Moon appear like two Moons, a bigger and a less; changing places with one another, and appearing sometimes horned, sometimes half or three quarters illuminated, but never full; nor at most above a quarter of a degree from each other, although they are 240 thousand miles asunder.

PLATE I.

How the other Planets appear to Mars.

67. Our Earth appears almost as big to Mars as Venus does to us, and at Mars it is never seen above 48 degrees from the Sun; sometimes it appears to pass over the Disc of the Sun, and so do Mercury and Venus: but Mercury can never be seen from Mars by such eyes as ours, unassisted by proper instruments; and Venus will be as seldom seen as we see Mercury. Jupiter and Saturn are as visible to Mars as to us. His Axis is perpendicular to the Ecliptic, and his Orbit is 2 degrees inclined to it.

Jupiter.

Fig. I.

68. Jupiter, the biggest of all the Planets, is still higher in the System, being about 424 millions of miles from the Sun: and going at the rate of 25 thousand miles every hour in his Orbit, as in the circle ♃ finishes his annual period in eleven of our years 314 days and 18 hours. He is above 1000 times as big as the Earth, for his diameter is 81,000 miles; which is more than ten times the diameter of the Earth.

The number of days in his year.

69. Jupiter turns round his Axis in 9 hours 56 minutes; so that his year contains 10 thousand 464 days; and the diurnal velocity of his equatoreal parts is greater than the swiftness with which he moves in his annual Orbit; a singular circumstance, as far as we know. By this prodigious quick Rotation, his equatoreal inhabitants are carried 25 thousand 920 miles every hour (which is 920 miles an hour more than an inhabitant of our Earth moves in twenty-four hours) besides the 25 thousand above-mentioned, which is common to all parts of his surface, by his annual motion.

His Belts and spots.

70. Jupiter is surrounded by faint substances, called Belts, in which so many changes appear, that they are generally thought to be clouds: for some of them have been first interrupted and broken, and then have vanished entirely. They have sometimes been observed of different breadths, and afterwards have all become nearly of the same breadth. Large spots have been seen in these Belts; and when a Belt vanishes, the contiguous spots disappear with it. The broken ends of some Belts have been generally observed to revolve in the same time with the spots; only those nearer the Equator in somewhat less time than those near the Poles; perhaps on account of the Sun’s greater heat near the Equator, which is parallel to the Belts and course of the spots. Several large spots, which appear round at one time, grow oblong by degrees, and then divide into two or three round spots. The periodical time of the spots near the Equator is 9 hours 50 minutes, but of those near the Poles 9 hours 56 minutes. See Dr. Smith’s Optics, § 1004 & seq.