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Eclipse of the Sun. Frontispiece. 



THE STARRY SKIES 



OR, 



FIRST LESSONS ON THE SUN, MOON 
AND STARS. 



AGNES GIBERNE, 

AUTHOR OF "AMONG THE STARS," " SUN, MOON, AND STARS,' 
ETC. 






: (y]AY 6 tB^4 rP 



&*< 



AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

IO EAST 23D STREET, NEW YORK. 



.— ry? A 



\ 



COPYRIGHT, 1894, 
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. 






GOKTRNTS 



CHAPTER I. 
This Earth of Ours page 5 

CHAPTER II. 
Why Men Do Not Fall Off- 16 

CHAPTER III. 

By Day and by Night 27 

CHAPTER IV. 

How the World Spins 38 

CHAPTER V. 

The Moon by Night 49 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Moon's Changes 61 

CHAPTER VII. 

The Moon through a Telescope 72 

CHAPTER VIII. 
The Sun by Day 82 

CHAPTER IX. 

Storms on the Sun 90 

CHAPTER X. 

How the World Journeys 102 



4 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XI. 

Other Worlds in 

CHAPTER XII. 

What is Meant by an Eclipse 124 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Mercury and Venus 156 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Planet Mars 147 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Planet Jupiter 158 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune 166 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Long-Tailed Comets 175 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Little Meteors 184 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Sun's Kingdom 191 

CHAPTER XX. 

A Starry Universe 200 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Star-Groups _ 209 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Giant-Suns and Clusters 217 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

How to Study the Sky _ 226 



THE STARRY SKIES. 



CHAPTER I. 

THIS EARTH OF OURS. 

Once upon a time — thus runs a certain tale-^ 
there was a man who wanted to see what could 
be found at the other end of the world. 

So he left his home behind him, and started 
off to explore. He had a toilsome journey. He 
wandered over wide plains ; he climbed steep 
mountains ; he forded dangerous rivers ; he 
crossed stormy seas. Through weeks and 
months, and even years, he kept straight on, 
steadily on, patiently on, never turning to right 
or to left. And at last, what do you think he 
found ? 

Was it a world of giants ? Or a land of fair- 
ies? Or a dark ocean, without any further 
shore ? Or a vast range of hills, reaching sky- 
ward ? Or a profound depth, going downward ? 

He certainly must have found something, be- 
cause he came to the end of his journey and 
travelled no more. He had no need to travel 
any more. His task was done : the puzzle was 



6 THE STARRY SKIES. 

found out ; and he had arrived at " the other end 
of the world." 

Only it was no " end " at all, but just the 
very same spot from which he had started. For 
he had actually found his way back to his own 
old home again. 

Don't you think he must have been rather 
astonished ? It was not at all what he had ex- 
pected. 

Suppose that a spider, living in the middle of 
a very big plain, were to make up his mind to 
walk to the outside edge of that plain, and see 
what might chance to be there. And suppose 
that, having climbed little hillocks, and crossed 
little brooks, trying always to keep steadily in 
the same forward direction, he were to find him- 
self all at once back on the very same spot from 
which he had first set forth ! 

He would no doubt be a good deal surprised ; 
and if he had sense to think the matter over he 
would see plainly that he had not managed, after 
all, to keep going straight forward, but that he 
must somehow have turned round without know- 
ing it and gone back to his starting point. 

The man in the story made no such mistake, 
however. He did not turn round. He went 
always on, and on, in exactly the same direction. 
Yet in the end he found himself at home ! 
There is the curious part of the matter. 



THIS EARTH OF OURS. 7 

If the world were a flat plain, like the top of a 
large round table, the man could not have done 
this. It would be out of the question. He might 
have turned round and walked back ; he could 
not have walked steadily onward and onward, 
farther and farther away from his home, only to 
find himself suddenly there again. The thing 
would be impossible. 

Whether any living man ever took such a 
journey round the world is more than doubtful. 
But I can assure you of this : tha t if any man 
ever did take such a journey it would end just 
as that man's journey is said to have ended. 
By keeping straight forward, always in one di- 
rection, and by going on long enough, he would 
in time get back to his own house again. 

How could he ? That is the question. If a 
spider were to walk on for ever, straight across a 
flat plain, he would never get back to his start- 
ing-point. 

But the world on which we live is not a flat 
plain. For a long while men believed that it 
was ; and they made a mistake. 

Let us think again of a spider — one of those 
tiny red spiders often found in a garden — and 
let us suppose this wee red spider to be standing 
on a huge round globe, as large as a house. Sup- 
pose that the spider, having very short sight, 
fancied himself to be on a flat table and resolved 



8 THE STARRY SKIES. 

to take a walk to the further end, to see what he 
might find there. 

You and I, looking on, would know there was 
no end to the globe : but the spider could not 
guess this. He would walk on and on, in a 
straight line, believing himself always to be on a 
flat surface. And if he contrived to keep a per- 
fectly straight line all round the globe — not an 
easy thing to do — then, whichever direction he 
began to go in, the end would be the same : if 
he kept on long enough he would go round the 
whole huge ball, and would arrive again at the 
spot where first he had stood. 

If he did not manage to keep quite a direct 
line, but zigzagged a little to right or left, he 
would not reach the same spot ; though even 
then he would get back to the same side of the 
globe as before. He would find no " end " to it, be- 
cause a globe, properly speaking, has no " ends." 

And this Earth, on which we live, is not flat, 
like a board or table, but round, like a globe or 
orange. It is really very like an orange ; for 
an orange is not a perfect globe, but is a little 
flattened on its sides, or, as we commonly say, 
" at the ends." Our Earth also is rather flat in 
shape at the north and south poles. A round 
globe, like an orange, or like the Earth, has really 
no " ends " at all : though we often use the word 
when speaking of the two poles. 



THIS EARTH OF OURS. 9 

If you were to take such a journey, starting 
from your home, and keeping a perfectly straight 
line onwards always in one direction, you too 
would in time come back to the spot from which 
you started. 

But a journey of this kind would be very 
hard to manage : far more so than it sounds. 
Every little hillock, every little streamlet, every 
house and every tree, to say nothing of rivers 
and towns, mountains and oceans, would turn 
you out of your path. By the time you got 
round the world, although you would return to 
the same side of the globe from which you first 
set out, you might be a long way off from the 
exact spot. 

In case you do not know where the two 
" poles" are, you should ask some one to show 
you on a school globe. The north pole and the 
south pole are both very cold parts of our Earth. 
Ice and snow are there all the year round. 

Half way between the north and the south 
poles is the equator — a line drawn exactly round 
the whole Earth : and all round the Earth, on 
or near the equator, are the very hottest coun- 
tries. About half way between the north pole 
and the equator, and between the south pole 
and the equator, are the " temperate " parts of 
the Earth — not so very cold, or so very hot. 

If a man is travelling from near the north 



10 THE STARRY SKIES. 

pole towards the equator, or from near the south 
pole towards the equator, he gets into warmer 
and warmer places. 

But if he is travelling from the equator to- 
wards the north pole, or from the equator to- 
wards the south pole, he gets into colder and 
colder places. 

The right name for a globe-shaped body, 
like an orange or like the Earth, is a " sphere." 
Neither an orange nor the Earth is a perfect 
sphere, because both have flattened ends ; still, 
the ends are only a little flattened, and we al- 
ways speak of the Earth as a " sphere." 

A " hemisphere " means a " half -sphere." If 
our whole Earth were cut into two equal-sized 
pieces each of those pieces would be a " hemi- 
sphere." 

We always think of the equator as dividing 
our Earth into two halves. The half towards 
the north is called " the northern hemisphere ;" 
and the half towards the south is called " the 
southern hemisphere." 

Since our Earth is said to be a round globe, 
like a ball, why do we not see over the edge ? 
A fly, standing on an orange, would have, it is 
true, a rounded surface just under his feet ; but 
he could take a good view downward over the 
edge. It would look like an edge to him, though 
there is no edge really to a ball. 



THIS EARTH OF OURS. II 

If our world were as small as an orange, and 
we by comparison were each as large as a fly, 
then we should be able to do the same. 

But the Earth is huge in size : and we are 
very tiny — yes, exceedingly tiny, side by side 
with the great Earth! And the surface on 
which we stand curves away so very gently, so 
very gradually, that it looks like a flat surface 
to us — just as the large globe would have 
seemed flat to the wee red spider, only very 
much more so. For the difference in size be- 
tween the Earth and a man is far greater than 
the difference between the globe and the wSpider. 

You may get some idea of how things are, 
by standing on the sea-shore, and gazing out to 
sea. Far away the sky and earth seem to meet 
in a long line, which we call "the horizon." 
That line is always around you, on all sides, 
wherever you are, though often you cannot see 
it, because of hills or buildings or trees coming 
between. 

Beyond that line the rounded surface of the 
Earth drops away, so that you can see it no more. 
It is, in fact, what looked like an edge, to the fly 
standing on the orange. To us it looks much 
more as if the ground slanted upwards to meet 
the sky. But there is no real upward slant. 
After a certain number of miles, the surface of 
the ground or the ocean dips downward, out of 



12 THE STARRY SKIES. 

sight, and all else beyond that line is out of sight 
also. 

Put your eyes close down upon a large school- 
room globe. You will see at once how the solid 
ball hides from you part of the room. You can 
see the ceiling, and perhaps the window and 
the fireplace, but beyond the globe all is hid- 
den. Your horizon, as you stand thus, is just 
where you seem to see a sort of edge to the 
globe, beyond which its rounded surface dips 
away, out of view. 

Looking upward into the sky we are able to 
see enormous distances — hundreds of miles, 
thousands of miles, millions of miles, billions of 
miles away ! Light travels to earth from far, far 
distant stars : and we ' can perceive those feeble 
gleams because nothing comes between to hide 
them. 

On the Earth it is very different. Here we 
can commonly see only a few miles off. Not 
because our eyes are not strong enough : but 
because the Earth's rounded surface soon dips 
away, and all beyond that dip is cut off from us 
by the solid body of the Earth. 

On a flat plain, or close to the surface of the 
sea, our view is very narrow. If we climb a hill 
we get a wider landscape, because we can see 
farther over the " dip," and from a mountain- 
top the view is very greatly increased. 




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THIS EARTH OF OURS. 1 3 

Still, no matter how high we go, the Earth's 
surface always stretches away to north and 
south, to east and west. It always seems to rise 
and meet the sky, making our horizon-line. 

If we could get very, very far off indeed, into 
the sky, we should then see our Earth floating, 
like an enormous ball — a huge round solid 
globe. But this we are never able to do. We 
know our Earth to be a round ball : but we can- 
not stand apart and see her to be such. 

Did you ever notice a ship " hull-down " on 
the horizon? — that is, with its masts standing 
up above the horizon, and its body hidden ? 

This again was caused by the shape of the 
earth : the hull of the ship having dipped down 
below the horizon, while the masts still stood 
up within sight. 

When we see the Sun in the sky, he is al- 
ways a round body. But when he sinks at 
night below the horizon part of the round sur- 
face is hidden first, and then the whole. Hid- 
den in the same way : by the Earth's rounded 
surface coming between him and our eyes. 

At the moment when the Sun is all but gone, 
only one glimmer being visible, you might say 
of him too, as of the ship, that he is "hulL 
down." 



14 THE STARRY SKIES. 

QUESTIONS. 

1 . What is a Sphere ? 

A body in the shape of a rounded ball or 
globe. 

2. What shape is our Earth ? 

The Earth is a sphere in shape : but not a 
perfect sphere, because flattened at the north 
and south poles. 

3. What is a hemisphere ? 

A hemisphere is a half -sphere. 

4. Describe the two hemispheres of the Earth, commonly 
so called ? 

The northern hemisphere is the whole of the 
Earth north of the equator; and the southern 
hemisphere is the whole of the Earth south of 
the equator. 

5. What is the Equator? 

A line supposed to be drawn round the 
whole earth, exactly half-way between the north 
and south poles. 

6. What is the horizon ? 

The horizon is that line in the distance 
where the sky and earth seem to meet. 

7. What hides all below the horizon ? 
The solid body of our Earth. 



THIS EARTH OF OURS. 1 5 

8. How far can a man see on the Earth ? 

A few miles, usually. On a hill he has a 
much wider view. 

9. How far can a man see in the sky ? 

He can see stars millions and billions of 
miles away. 

10. What is meant by a ship " hull-down?" 

A ship " hull -down" is partly above and 
partly below the horizon. 

n. What becomes of the Sun when he sets ? 
He goes down below the horizon. 

12. Is the Sun then too far off for us to see him ? 

No : he is only hidden from us after sunset 
by the solid body of the Earth coming between 
him and our eyes. 

13. Does the Earth's surface really rise to meet the sky? 

No : it really drops away, so that beyond a 
certain line we can no longer see it. 



l6 THE STARRY SKIES. 



CHAPTER II. 

WHY MEN DO NOT FALL OFF. 

We come now to a curious thought. 

The world is a round ball; and people live 
on all parts of it. Therefore, a man on the op- 
posite side from us stands with his feet turned 
upwards towards our feet and his head pointing 
in the other direction — " hanging do wn wards, in 
short," you might say. 

This seems extremely odd. 

Suppose you hold a big ball, and place a pea 
on the top of it. The pea will stay where you 
put it, if you keep your hand steady. But if you 
place the pea at the side or bottom of the ball it 
will instantly drop away. Try for yourself, and 
you will see. 

To be sure, a fly or a spider might stand with 
equal ease on the top or the bottom of the ball. 
The feet of a fly and a spider are made for cling- 
ing and walking in such a position. Alan is not 
formed to stand or walk upside down, like a fly 
on the ceiling. 

Now, why do n't the people on the other side 
of the world, in Australia for instance, drop off 
the earth, and fall away into the sky ? 



WHY MEN DO NOT FALL OFF. 1 7 

Of course there is a sky under our feet, just 
as much as over our heads. The entire world is 
surrounded on all sides by sky ; not only over 
our heads, but down under our feet, beyond the 
solid Earth on which we stand, and in all direc- 
tions. 

If you were to travel round the world, and 
were to reach Australia — then, as you stood on 
the ground, your feet would point upwards to 
the feet of people in the United States ; just as 
two flies, standing on two opposite sides of a 
ball, have their feet pointed, those of one fly 
towards those of the other. It cannot help be- 
ing so, because of the shape of our Earth. 

How do you think you would feel there ? Do 
you think you would be in danger of dropping 
off the Earth into the blue sky ? 

Not in the least. No more danger of such an 
accident in Australia than in America. Nothing 
indeed would astonish you more ! Instead of 
being disposed to fall from the Earth, you would 
find it every inch as hard there as here to get 
away from the Earth. Your own weight would 
hold you fast to the ground in Australia just 
the same as in America. 

Try to jump up into the air, with all your 
strength. Try your very utmost ; get as far 
away as you can from the ground, and stay up 
in the air as long as possible. 

B:l.'!.t Wovkls. 2 



1 8 THE STARRY SKIES. 

Not much good ; is it ? Do what you will, you 
do not find that you can rise more than a foot or 
two, and you instantly drop back again. The 
most powerful leaper can manage at most only 
a few feet. A man is quite unable to stay up in 
the air at all, unless something holds him there : 
far less is he able to drop or float away into the sky. 

And the reason why he cannot is that he is 
too heavy. He is too heavy in America : and he 
is too heavy in Australia. In both cases he is 
heavy towards the ground : and he cannot get 
away from the ground without something to 
bear him up. It is just as impossible that people 
in Australia should drop off the world into the 
sky as that people in America should do so. 

But — you will perhaps say — the sky is above 
us here ; and in Australia it would be under us. 

Oh, no ; it would not ! The sky is all round 
the whole Earth, on every side alike. In all 
parts of the world people have the sky over their 
heads and firm ground beneath their feet. 

The Australian sky is under the feet of those 
who live in North America : that is true. But 
then it is no less true that the North American 
sky is under the feet of those who live in Aus- 
tralia. To you the Earth is underneath : the 
sky is overhead. To an Australian also the 
Earth is underneath and the sky is overhead. 
All round the world it is the same. Down means 



WHY MEN DO NOT FALL OFF. IQ 

always towards the ground. Up means always 
towards the sky. 

If you hold up a stone in the air, and let it 
go, what happens ? The stone drops at once to 
the ground. 

If you fling a ball into the air, what happens ? 
The ball goes a little upwards, carried by the 
force of your fling : but soon it curves over and 
comes to the ground. 

If you tilt up a jug full of water, what hap- 
pens ? The water pours down upon the floor. 

If a man steps over a precipice-edge, what 
happens ? He falls to the bottom, and is most 
likely killed. 

But these things are not more true of the 
United States than of Australia. All round the 
world, in every part, it is the same. Water al- 
ways flows downward. Loose bodies always 
drop downward, unless kept up by something. 

We have been asking why it is that people 
never drop off from the Earth into the sky. Of 
course nobody ever asks that question about the 
part of the Earth on which he happens to be. 
Whether he is in England, or in America, or in 
Australia, he knows very well that he is in no 
danger of "dropping off." The very idea as to 
himself would seem absurd. To " drop off " 
would really be to rise upward into the sky : and 
he feels that he is much too heavy for that. It 



20 THE STARRY SKIES. 

is only when he thinks about the other side of 
the world, and about people walking there with 
their heads hanging downward 

But they do not walk with their heads hang- 
ing downward. Their heads, like ours, point 
upward to the sky ; and their feet, like ours, rest 
firmly on solid ground; and they too, like us, 
are heavy towards the Earth. It is as impossi- 
ble for a man in Australia as for a man in Eng- 
land or America to " drop off " the Earth — in 
other words, to rise upwards towards the sky. 
His own weight holds him down. 

What do we mean by "weight?" What 
makes a man " heavy ?" 

He is made heavy by the Earth's pulling 
or attracting him ; and this gives him weight. 

And how does the Earth pull ? 

There I cannot tell you much. We know 
that the Earth does pull : but how she pulls is 
another question. We name that pulling "At- 
traction," and sometimes we call it by a longer 
word, "Gravitation." But not the very wisest 
man living can explain to us exactly what at- 
traction is. He can only tell us what it does. 

Did you ever see a magnet ? It is generally 
shaped rather like a horse-shoe : and the two 
ends have an odd drawing power. A number of 
tiny iron shavings, held near enough, will jump 
up to meet the magnet as if they were alive. 



WHY MEN DO NOT FALL OFF. 21 

This is because the magnet pulls them towards 
itself. Sometimes a toy-box of metal ducks or 
fishes is sold, with a magnet ; and they will fol- 
low the magnet to and fro, in a basin of water. 

Now our Earth seems to be a sort of huge 
magnet, with power to pull towards herself, not 
only iron or steel, but every single thing and 
creature upon her surface. Not only on one side 
of the Earth, but around the whole globe, on 
every part, there is the same steady downward 
drag, always toward the centre of the Earth. 

The mountains are pulled earthward : so are 
houses and trees, rocks and soils, seas and riv- 
ers, animals and men. There is not a single 
thing on or near the surface of our Earth which 
is not thus drawn earthward. 

If it were not for this attraction nothing 
would have any weight. When you leap up- 
ward and instantly drop back it is because the 
Earth drags you down. Without such dragging 
you would not be heavy at all. 

Think what that would mean. You might 
jump over the highest mountains with ease: 
or you might spring away into the sky, and 
never return : only, of course, there is no air, far 
away in the sky, and you could not breathe with- 
out air. 

But if the Earth did not attract we should 
have no air here either, because it would long 



22 THE STARRY SKIES. 

ago have all wandered away. Earth's strong at- 
traction holds the air prisoner, as well as all other 
things upon her surface. 

Now do you begin to see how it is that people 
do not fall away into the sky, from any part of 
Earth ? They are held firmly down by Earth's 
perpetual drag, which gives them weight. Whe- 
ther they are in England or in Australia, in Asia 
or in America, makes no difference. The pull is 
always downward, always earthward. The diffi- 
culty always is to get away from earth, upward, 
toward the sky. 

So when we think of the world as a whole we 
have to remember that in the surrounding sky 
there is no true "up" or "down" in one direc- 
tion more than another. " Up " is towards the 
sky for each man, from that part of Earth on 
which he stands : and as our Earth is ever turn- 
ing round and round our " up " is constantly 
changing its direction. 

'Perhaps you will think that I am rather slow 
in getting to my subject of "The Starry Skies." 
Two whole chapters first about this old Earth 
of ours ! 

But indeed I have not been slow : for on the 
very first page we started right off with a Bright 
World in the Sky. 

By this time you know that our world is ac- 
tually in the sky, just as much as the sun and 



WHY MEN DO NOT FALL OFF. 23 

moon are in the sky. We are in the moon's sky, 
and in the sun's sky, and in the sky of all other 
planets and all other stars. For our Earth floats 
in the same boundless sky-depths as all of them, 
those sky-depths which are usually known by the 
name of Space. 

So now, when " Space " is spoken of, you will 
understand. You will know that it means the 
Sky, in which float all the heavenly bodies. 

"Only" — you will perhaps say — "the Moon 
and the Sun are bright ; and so are the Stars. 
But our dull old world is not bright at all." 

That is a great mistake, I assure you. Our 
world is very bright indeed. She shines with an 
exquisite radiance. Not indeed with such a dazz- 
ling glory as the Sun, but quite as brightly as the 
Moon. 

Have you ever noticed how the ocean shines, 
and flashes forth light, when the Sun beats down 
full upon it ? Or, again, have you not been struck 
with the shining of white clouds in sunlight ? 
More or less the whole surface of our Earth 
catches and gives forth again the brightness that 
comes to her from the Sun. 

If we could travel away from the Earth to a 
good distance — say, as far as to the Moon — we 
should see the round Earth like an enormous, 
brilliant Moon in the sky, only far larger and 
more beautiful than our Moon ever looks to us. 



24 THE STARRY SKIES. 

Some parts would be darker, some more shining ; 
but as a whole the Earth would be a splendid 
sight. 

Not bright ? Yes, indeed ; we are living on a 
very bright world indeed, though we cannot al- 
ways see her radiance. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is Space ? 

By Space we mean Sky — the whole great 
Sky, in which are all the heavenly bodies. 

2. Is our Earth in the Sky ? 

Just as truly as the Sun and Moon are in the 
Sky. They are in our sky, we are in their sky. 

3. Does our Earth float in Air ? 

No ; she floats in the Sky : and the air is a 
part of the Earth. 

4. Do people on the other side of the globe walk head 
downwards ? 

No; they walk as we do, on firm ground, 
with the Sky over their heads. 

5. What is meant by " up " and " down " to us on Earth ? 

On every part of the Earth up is always to- 
ward the Sky, and down is always toward the 
Earth. 

6. Give some examples of the way in which all things move 
earthward. 

Water always pours downward. A stone 



WHY MEN DO NOT FALL OFF. 2} 

flung, or a ball dropped, always reaches the 
ground. 

7. Why do things descend thus ? 

Because of their own weight or heaviness. 

8. What causes weight ? 
The pull of the earth. 

9. Give two other names for that " pull." 
Attraction and Gravitation. 

'10. Tell me a few things that are pulled earthward. 
Men, animals, trees, houses, rocks, cities, hills, 
mountains, lakes, rivers, oceans, air, clouds, etc. 

11. What keeps people on the other side of the Earth 
. from dropping off into the sky ? 

They cannot possibly drop off ; because the 
sky there is upward, the same as here. 

12. What would " dropping off " really be ? 

It would be rising upward into the sky. 

13. Why should a man not rise upward ? 
He cannot, because he is too heavy. 

14. He is heavy towards what ? 

He is heavy towards the Earth, because of 
the Earth's attraction. 

15. Is he as heavy in Australia as in the United States ? 
Exactly the same. 



26 THE STARRY SKIES. 

1 6. In what direction is he pulled there ? 

Towards the Earth. All round our whole 
world the pull is towards the centre of the Earth. 

17. Can our Earth be called " a bright world ?" 

Quite as much so as other planets. If we 
were far enough off she would be seen by us to 
shine with reflected sunlight, like the Moon. 



BY DAY AND BY NIGHT. 27 



CHAPTER III. 

BY DAY AND BY NIGHT. 

Let us take a good look up into the sky, 
and see what is to be found there. 

First, by day. Beginning- in the early morn- 
ing, just before sunrise, we have perhaps a clear 
sky, grayish rather than blue, and towards the 
east a brightening glow shows that the Sun 
is about to appear. That glow grows stronger 
and stronger, and soon a tiny glimmer creeps up 
over the rounded surface of our earth. Then 
the broad golden face follows, till the sun is 
visible, and full daylight has arrived. 

But the Sun does not stand still there, low 
down on the horizon. He goes on rising higher 
and higher, " climbing the heavens " steadily, 
one hour after another. At mid-day — twelve 
o'clock — he has reached his very highest point. 
Then he begins to descend, moving downward 
towards the west till he reaches the western 
horizon and vanishes from our sight. 

The Sun always rises in the East ; never in 
the West. He always sets in the West ; never 
in the East. 

By this I mean that he always rises to the 



28 THE STARRY SKIES. 

cast of our world and sets to the west of our 
world. He rises on the eastern side of the 
Earth and sets on the western side. You must 
not suppose that he always rises due east and 
sets due west of all countries in the world at once. 

On two days only he does so — that is at the 
Spring Equinox, on March 21st, and at the 
Autumn Equinox, on Sept. 21st. " Equinox" 
means " Equal Nights." At those two dates 
days and nights are of the same length, twelve 
hours each, throughout the whole world ; and 
everywhere the Sun rises exactly in the east, and 
sets exactly in the west. 

Everywhere except at the north and south 
poles. There the Sun is seen to circle round 
the sky in twenty-four hours, just above the hor- 
izon, neither rising nor setting. 

A man standing on the equator at one of the 
equinoxes sees the Sun rise just in the east ; 
climb high in the sky just over his head ; and 
set just in the west. 

People living in the northern parts of Europe 
and of America do not see precisely the same 
thing. With them the Sun does not circle round 
the sky, just over the horizon, as at the poles. 
And though he rises in the east and sets in the 
west, as at the equator, he does not reach the 
higbest point in the sky, but only a point some- 
what lower down, towards the south. 



BY DAY AND BY NIGHT. 29 

The very highest point in the sky, exactly 
over one's head, is called " the zenith." In north- 
ern countries the Sun never gets to the zenith. 
No ; not even on the very hottest summer day. 
He is always towards the south. 

There are two other dates, which you ought 
to learn, besides the Spring Equinox and the Au- 
tumn Equinox. These are — the Summer Solstice, 
on June 21 ; and the Winter Solstice ■, on Decem- 
ber 21. 

On the 21st of June the Sun is not exactly 
overhead at the Equator, as at the Equinoxes. 
He has come farther north ; not nearly so far 
north as England or Canada, but as far north as 
he ever does come. 

By that time days and nights are not at all 
equal through the world. In the north of Europe 
and America we have long days and short nights ; 
while our friends in Australia have long nights 
and short days. 

Although the Sun is never actually overhead 
with people in the northern parts of Europe and 
America, but is always somewhat to the south, 
even at his highest point, still he climbs very 
much higher in June than in March or Septem- 
ber, and so he is much longer above the horizon. 

Things are quite the other way on the 21st of 
December. Then the Sun is overhead, not far- 
ther north than the Equator, but farther south. 



30 THE STARRY SKIES. 

Then it is summer in the southern hemisphere 
and winter in the northern. Then we who live 
in England or in the northern parts of North 
America have long nights and short days, while 
our friends in Australia are having long days 
and short nights. 

Then, too, in the north, the highest point at 
mid-day which the Sun can reach is low down in 
the south ; and his rays come to us in a slanting 
manner, with far less power to warm than when 
they are poured down from nearly overhead. 
That is why we are so cold in the dark months 
of the year. 

At the equinoxes the Sun rises to the east 
and sets to the west of almost the whole Earth. 

In our northern summer the Sun rises to the 
north-east, travels round by the south, and sets 
in the north-west. 

In our northern winter, the Sun rises to the 
south-east, climbs up a little way, and sets in the 
south-west. 

These changes come about slowly. Every 
twenty-four hours there is a difference. Each 
day of spring the Sun rises and sets a little more 
to the north, and climbs higher in the sky. Each 
day of autumn he rises and sets a little more to 
the south, and climbs less high in the sky. 

But all the while, though he may rise to the 
north-east or south-east of New York or London 



BY DAY AND BY NIGHT. 3 1 

or some other particular spot, he rises to the east 
of the ivorld ; though he may set to the north- 
west or south-west of any particular spot, he sets 
to the west of the world. 

You will find a grand description in the 19th 
Psalm -of this daily journey of " the Sun, which is 
as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and 
rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His 
going forth is from the end of heaven, and his 
circuit unto the ends of it ; and there is nothing 
hid from the heat thereof." 

The full meaning of that heat and strength 
can hardly be known in northern lands. Their 
hottest summer day's heat is as nothing, com- 
pared with the scorching blaze and glare of the 
Sun in countries nearer to the equator — for in- 
stance, in that country where the Psalm was 
written. 

Through all the ages of our world's history, 
from the very beginning, the radiant Sun has 
risen and set, day after day. Morning after 
morning he has come up from beyond the hori- 
zon on one side ; evening after evening he has 
vanished below the horizon on the other side. 
Year after year, and century after century, still 
" like a strong man " he runs his daily race, and 
warms and lights each side of the world in turn. 

Now about the Sky at night. What happens 
when the Sun is gone ? 



32 THE STARRY SKIES. 

The bright blue of the sky grows fainter and 
more dull, and stars begin to show themselves. 

First, one little twinkle is seen ; then another 
little twinkle ; then a third ; till, if it be a clear 
evening, the whole sky is dotted with gleaming 
points. Some are more bright, some are less 
bright. Here one flashes like a diamond, with 
different colors ; there another is so dim as 
hardly to be seen at all. 

It may be that we have caught sight of the 
Moon before the Sun has set — should she happen 
to be in a right place in the sky, not too near to 
the Sun. While he is up, if we get a glimpse of 
her at all, she looks like a mere pale patch of 
whiteness. But when the Sun is gone, and dark- 
ness deepens, she changes fast ; and soon she is 
lighted up with a soft silvery glow, sending her 
beams to the Earth. 

Now, you all know — everybody knows — that 
the Sun rises each morning, crosses the sky, and 
sets each evening. 

But perhaps not every boy and girl knows 
quite so clearly that the Moon and the Stars be- 
have very much in the same manner. They too, 
either in the day or in the night, rise and cross 
the sky and set ; and at night we may see them 
do it. 

We cannot always watch the rising and 
setting of the Moon : for when she rises in the 



BY DAY AND BY NIGHT. 33 

day-time her soft beams are often lost in the glare 
of sunlight. Still she is always there, in the sky : 
always rising and setting to some part of our 
Earth. When we say, as we often do, " Is there 
a moon to-night?" we mean, " Is the moon 
where we can see her to-night ?" There is always 
a Moon, and there is always the same Moon. 

As to the Stars, their movements are puz- 
zling, no doubt. No two stars rise at the same 
point or take just the same path over the sky, or 
set on the same spot. Some rise exactly east, 
and set exactly west. Some rise in the south- 
east and set in the south-west. Some rise in the 
north-east, and set in the north-west. 

No star is ever seen, however, to rise any- 
where towards the west, and to travel backwards 
towards the east. All the stars in company move 
as a whole from the eastern side of the world towards 
the western side of the zvorld. That is to say, they 
seem to move thus. 

Some stars to the north do not rise or set at 
all, as seen from the northern parts of Europe 
and North America. They only travel round and 
round, in a circle about the Pole-star, which is 
almost exactly over our north pole. Yet their 
movements too are from east to west. 

If we lived in the southern hemisphere we 
should see the same thing going on nightly, only 
with a different set of stars. 



34 THE STARRY SKIES. 

Then the far-south stars would circle round 
and round over the south pole ; and those lying- 
over the north pole would be hidden by the 
Earth lying between. But still the whole move- 
ment would be always from east to west ; never 
from west to east. 

Each tiny star, bright or dim, takes its daily 
journey, like the sun, once in twenty-four hours. 
No matter whether it has to go right round the 
whole Earth or whether it only has to creep in 
a small circle round the Pole-star — still the 
journey is always the same in length : always 
close upon twenty-four hours. At the end of 
twenty-four hours it is back at its starting point, 
and begins over again. Just as the Sun does. 

If you look out at night sometimes, and 
watch carefully, you will see for yourself some- 
thing of this constant nightly journeying of the 
stars. 

QUESTIONS, 
i. Where does the Sun rise and set ? 

The Sun rises in the East and sets in the 
West. 

2. Always in the East and West exactly ? 

Always to the east of our world and to the 
west of our world. Not due east and due west 
of each particular country always. 



BY DAY AND BY NIGHT. 35 

3. When is the Spring Equinox ? 
On the twenty-first of March. 

4. When is the Autumn Equinox ? 

On the twenty-first of September. 

5. What does the word Equinox mean ? 

Equal nights. At the Equinox, days and 
nights are of the same length over almost the 
whole world. 

6. When is the Summer Solstice ? 
On the twenty-first of June. 

7. When is the Winter Solstice ? 

On the twenty-first of December. 

8. In what direction does the Sun rise and set at the Equi- 
noxes ? 

At each of the equinoxes the sun rises due 
east, and sets due west, over all the world, except 
at the poles. 

9. At the Summer Solstice where does the Sun rise and 

set? 

To people in England, or in Canada, or in 
the northern States, he rises in the north-east 
and sets in the north-west. 

10. And in the Winter Solstice ? 

To those same places he rises then in the 
south-east and sets in the south-west. 



36 THE STARRY SKIES. 

1 1 . What do we call the highest point in the heavens, ex- 
actly over one's head ? 

The zenith. 

12. Does the Sun ever reach the zenith in England, or in 
the northern parts of North America ? 

Never. He rises much higher in summer 
than in winter at midday, but he is always to 
the south of the highest point. 

13. When or where may the Sun be seen precisely over- 
head ? 

On the equator, at the two equinoxes. 

14. At what hour of the day may the Sun be seen exactly 
overhead ? 

Only at Mid-day. 

15. Do any other heavenly bodies rise and set ? 

Yes ; the Moon and the Stars ; in fact, nearly 
all the heavenly bodies. 

16. Can we see the Moon rise and set ? 
Sometimes ; not always. 

17. Tell me one reason why we sometimes do not see the 
Moon. 

Sometimes she rises and sets at about the 
same time as the Sun ; and then she is hidden 
by his brightness. 



BY DAY AND BY NIGHT. 37 

18. How do the Stars rise and set ? 

Like the Sun and Moon, they rise in the east 
of the world and set in the west of the world. 

19. Do all the Stars take the same journey ? 

Some rise due east, some north-east, some 
south-east ; and they set either due west, or 
north-west, or south-west. 

20. Does every Star that we can see rise and set ? 

No ; many stars to the far north never rise 
nor set to us in England or the northern States, 
but circle round and round the pole-star. 

21. How long a time does this journey take — either round 
the world or round the pole-star ? 

Nearly twenty-four hours for each star. 



38 THE STARRY SKIES. 



CHAPTER IV. 

HOW THE WORLD SPINS. 

In our last chapter we saw how the Sun rises 
and sets in the day, and how the Moon and Stars 
rise and set in the night. 

True, they also rise and set, by day as well as 
by night. The Moon often does so : and all day 
long there are Stars coming up in the east, and 
stars crossing the sky, and stars going down in 
the west. But we cannot see them. Until the 
great Sun has withdrawn his radiance the little 
star-gleams are hidden from us, and even the 
Moon can seldom be caught sight of. 

In the daytime, when you look up into the 
blue sky, and see a blaze of sunlight, you should 
sometimes remember that the stars are there. 
All day long, as well as all night long, the stars 
are there, shining just as usual. All day long, 
as well as all night long, they are moving stead- 
ily across our sky : rising, marching onward, and 
setting. We cannot see them; but that is be- 
cause our eyes are weak, not because the stars 
themselves do not shine. 

So by day and by night the heavenly bodies 
seem to be ever on the move. No matter what 



HOW THE WORLD SPINS. 39 

part of the world you may be in — whether Eng- 
land or America, whether India or Australia — 
still you will find them moving. By day you 
will see the Sun rising in the east, journeying 
towards the west, and setting. By night you 
will see the Moon, and most of the stars, rising 
in the east, journeying towards the west and 
setting. 

This goes on continually. It is always the 
same. Year after year, there is no "change. 

The Sun rises in one spot, crosses the sky ? 
sets ; and then a few hours afterwards rises 
again in very nearly the same spot as before, to 
cross the sky by very nearly the same path, and 
to set in almost exactly the same part of the west- 
ern horizon. Each day there is a tiny, very tiny, 
difference ; but by the end of twelve months the 
Sun gets back to exactly the same spot in rising 
and setting as in the previous year. And most 
of the stars follow the Sun's example. 

Why should not one fix upon a bright star 
overhead, and hurry along on the ground, just 
as fast as the star goes, so as to keep it overhead 
longer — to keep it in sight ? 

There is no reason why one should not do 
this, if only one could get along fast enough. 

It would have to be very rapid travelling. If 
you wished to keep that star in sight, overhead, 
for twenty-four hours, you would have to do — 



40 THE STARRY SKIES. 

what do you think? You would have to rush 
round the whole world in twenty-four hours ! 

If you could possibly manage to do that, you 
might possibly choose any bright star overhead 
that you liked, and keep it in view all night ; in 
fact for two nights, with no day between ; for 
you would journey with the night. 

Or if you chose to follow the Sun by day, 
keeping him overhead in your rapid rush over 
continents, and mountains, and oceans, you 
might have a double day of twenty-four hours, 
with sunshine all the while and no darkness. 

But think what such a rush would mean ! 
Think how big the world is ! People sometimes 
do travel all round the whole earth, and the 
journey takes them many months. Even if they 
stopped to look at nothing by the way, and went 
as fast as possible, and cared nothing about 
being tired — even then, at the very least, it 
would take them many weeks. 

To get round the world, on the Equator, or 
from England, or from the United States, or 
from Australia, in twenty-four hours, is a thing 
which no living man could ever do ! The Sun 
and the stars go much too fast for us. 

They are seen to whirl round the whole earth, 
swiftly and calmly and easily, with no manner 
of fuss or difficulty, once in every twenty-four 
hours ! 



HOW THE WORLD SPINS. 4 1 

Ah ! but do they ? That is the question. Do 
they really all whirl round and round, at this 
rate? 

When you take a journey in a train, and look 
out of the window, what do you see ? 

Everything seems to be moving. The more 
distant hills travel slowly ; fields and villages 
speed at a good rate ; houses and hedges near at 
hand rush by ; and the telegraph poles flash past 
as if running away. But one house does not go 
one way and another house in the opposite way. 
All of them journey in the same direction. 

Do they really journey ? Are the fields and 
hills, the villages and trees and telegraph poles, 
all spinning swiftly along, while you in your 
train sit quite still, not moving at all ? 

It must be one of the two things : either they 
are on the move, and you are quiet ; or else they 
are quiet, and you are yourself rushing along, so 
that they only seem to move. 

You would not have much difficulty in decid- 
ing. Even if you did not feel the carriage in 
which you sit to be shaking and jarring with its 
own rush, still you would count it easier to be- 
lieve that the train was going forward than to 
think that all the hills and fields and trees and 
houses were speeding the opposite way. 

It is almost the same thing with our earth. 
We see the Sun, and the Moon, and all the stars, 



42 THE STARRY SKIES. 

hurrying past, and we have to believe one of 
two things : either they are all moving, and we 
are still ; or else we are moving and that makes 
them only seem to move. 

For a long while people were not quite so 
sensible about the heavenly bodies in the sky as 
you would be about the houses and fields seen 
out of a train. It seemed to them easier to be- 
lieve that all the stars went round and round the 
earth, than to believe that the solid earth her- 
self moved. 

There was this excuse, that the earth does 
not jar and rattle like a train, and also that the 
distances of the stars cannot be easily seen at a 
glance, like the distances of hills and valleys. 

We have learned differently now. We know 
that our earth does indeed move ; and that the 
daily journey of the Sun, the nightly journey of 
the moon and planets and stars, is not a real 
journey. It is only a seeming journey. They 
seem to move, because our earth truly moves, 
just as the hedges and trees seem to move when 
looked upon out of a train which really moves. 

Day and night the earth moves. Day and 
night, year after year, she spins, like an enor- 
mous top, upon her axis. 

By the "axis" of the earth I mean a straight 
line through her centre, from the north pole to 
the south pole. 



HOW THE WORLD SPINS. 43 

If you have a school-globe you will see that 
it turns round and round upon a kind of large 
pin, which reaches from one pole to the other. 
That is its " axis," and that is how the Earth 
spins. 

Or you may stick a long bonnet-pin through 
an orange, from one flattened end to the other, 
and spin the orange upon that pin, which is then 
the axis of the orange. 

A spinning-top also has an axis. There is no 
pin stuck through the top ; but as it whirls 
round, humming, and remaining in one spot, 
there is a line from top to bottom of it which 
does not seem to move. The whole top whirls 
round this line, which again is the axis of the 
top. 

Our Earth has no huge pin passed through 
her body ; but, like the top, as she spins there is 
a line straight through her, from the north to 
the south pole, which keeps still, while round it 
whirls the whole big body of the Earth. And 
that is the Earth's axis. 

If a man stands close to the north pole, or 
close to the south pole, at either end of the axis, 
he moves very little. But if he is far away from 
the poles, on or near the equator, the ground on 
which he stands rushes along at a great rate, 
carrying him with it. 

He does not feel the movement. He is not 



44 THE STARRY SKIES. 

shaken or jolted. The Earth whirls very smooth- 
ly. As she spins she carries with her, on her 
surface, all the mountains and seas, the hills and 
valleys, the trees and towns and villages, yes, 
and the very air which we breathe. Nothing is 
left behind. 

So the man cannot know how fast he is going 
by any feeling of his own. He can only know 
it by looking up into the sky. There he sees the 
Sun, the Moon, the Planets, the Stars, all hurry- 
ing past. Why ? Because he is hurrying past — 
not because they are. 

They all go in the same direction, from east 
to west. We have seen this plainly. It is not a 
journeying of some stars one way, and some 
stars another way. It is one great sweep of the 
whole heavens from the east of the world toward 
the west of the world. 

And the reason of this is that our Earth spins 
or whirls from the west to the east. 

That is what makes the Sun and the Stars 
all seem to rise in the east and set in the west. 

In the morning, when you get up early, and 
look towards the east, you are gazing at that part 
of the sky towards which you are travelling. The 
Sun is not coming to meet you, but you are go- 
ing to meet him. This solid world on which 
you stand is whirling like a big teetotum, carry- 
ing you round in his direction. 



HOW THE WORLD SPINS. 45 

So presently you see him seem to creep up 
over the horizon. And by-and-by, at mid-day, 
the moving surface of the Earth has carried you 
on almost underneath him. And later in the 
evening, as you are still whirled on toward the 
east, you leave the Sun behind you, in the west. 

But still he goes on rising to other parts of 
the world, as country after country spins round 
into his light. 

At night it is the same thing over again. 
Each star that rises only seems to rise, because we 
on the Earth's surface are whirled round towards 
that part of the sky in which the star always 
shines. Then we pass on, and leave that star 
behind, as we left the Sun ; and we say that it 
has set. 

But the Sun and the Star have not moved. 
It is we who have moved ; not they. 

So when we think of the Earth as a whole 
we have to picture her, not only as a large solid 
globe floating in the sky, but as a spinning 
globe, ever turning round and round like a top 
or a teetotum. 

It is this whirling movement of the Earth 
which gives us Day and Night. 

For, as our Earth floats and spins, one side of 
her is always turned toward the Sun, and is in 
daylight ; the other side is turned away from the 
Sun, and is in darkness. Each land and ocean 



46 THE STARRY SKIES. 

in turn comes towards the Sun in the east and 
passes onward, leaving the Sun in the west. 

And around, on all sides, is the great Sky, 
which sometimes we name " Space," and which 
sometimes we call " The Heavens." In that Sky 
float all the Worlds and all the Stars, as well as 
our Earth and our Moon and Sun. And in that 
sky is God himself. 

He made the Sky, the Sun and the Moon and 
the Earth, the Planets and the Stars ; and He is 
everywhere, around and amidst and in them all. 
Wherever in the boundless reaches of Space we 
may wander in thought, we shall never find a 
spot where God himself is not. 

QUESTIONS. 

i. Where are Stars in the day-time ? 

In the sky : only we cannot see them. 

2. Could a man travel round the world from America or 
England as fast as a Star travels ? 

No : he would have to go round the whole 
world in twenty -four hours. 

3. Do the Stars really journey round the world ? 
They only seem to do so. 

4. But the Sun rises and sets, does he not ? 

He seems to do so. It is really our Earth 
that moves. 



HOW THE WORLD SPINS. 47 

5. In what way does the Earth move ? 

Once in twenty-four hours she whirls round 
on her axis from west to east. 

6. What is the Earth's axis ? 

An imaginary line through her centre, from 
the north pole to the south pole. 

7. How does our Earth's spinning make the heavenly 
bodies seem to move ? 

A little in the same way that, when we jour- 
ney in a fast train, houses and trees and fields 
seem to go the other way. 

8. Did people always know that the Earth whirled round ? 
No ; they used to think it was a real jour- 
neying of the Sun and Stars in our sky. 

9. Where does the surface of the Earth move fastest ? 
On the equator. The ground there rushes 

at a great speed. 

10. Where does it move most slowly? 
At the poles. 

1 1 . Does a man standing on the equator feel how fast he 
moves ? 

No ; because the Earth moves smoothly ; 
and everything on the ground and in the air is 
carried along by the Earth. 

1 2. How can he know that the Earth moves ? 

By looking up into the sky — like a man in a 
train looking out of the window. 



48 THE STARRY SKIES. 

13. How does the Earth's spinning make the Sun seem 
to rise ? 

The Sun remains fixed — but a man on the 
Earth is carried round towards the east, and so 
the Sun seems to come towards him from the 
east. 

14. And how does it make the Sun seem to set ? 

The man is still carried on towards the east, 
and by-and-by he leaves the Sun behind him in 
the west. 



THE MOON BY NIGHT. 49 



CHAPTER V. 

THE MOON BY NIGHT. 

How far off would you guess the Moon to be 
from our Earth ? 

A mile or two, perhaps you will say. Or 
twenty miles ! Or forty miles ! Or one hundred 
miles ! 

Even on Earth it is often puzzling to tell 
distances. If one is looking across a smooth 
surface, with nothing to break it, one cannot 
easily judge. I remember going in a sailing- 
boat, as a child, and after a good while say- 
ing, " Why, what a little way Ave have come ! 
The shore looks only a mile or two off !" And 
I was told that it was at least ten miles off. 

You see, there was nothing between to break 
the smooth water-surface, and so to show how 
far we had sailed. 

If it is perplexing down here on Earth it 
is much more so up in the Sky. There, nothing 
lies between to break the great distance ; and 
the stars seem so much alike, except that some 
are a little brighter and some a little dimmer. 
One might very easily suppose that the Moon 
and the Sun and all the Stars were at much the 
same distances from the Earth. 



50 THE STARRY SKIES. 

Yet nothing could be a greater mistake. 
Some are very near, and some are enormously 
far away. 

That is to say, some are very near compared 
with others. But even the very nearest is a 
great deal farther off than fifty or a hundred 
miles. 

Of all bright bodies in the sky, seen day 
after day and night after night from our Earth, 
not one ever comes so close as the round silvery 
Moon. 

The Moon is our own especial companion. 
She always journeys with us, and never goes 
away. 

Before we learn the distance of the Moon 
we have to think a little about her size. You 
have not yet learned about the size of our Earth, 
so we will take the two friends together. 

There are two ways of measuring a ball or 
globe. We may say how big it is through the 
middle, from one side to the other. Or we may 
say how big it is round the outside. The out- 
side measure is always about three times as 
much as the through-measure. 

A large grape may be one inch through, and 
three inches round outside. A small orange 
may be two inches through, and six inches 
round outside. A large apple might be three 
inches through, and nine inches round outside. 



THE MOON BY NIGHT. 5 1 

A small cocoa-nut might be four inches through 
and twelve inches round outside. A school- 
globe might be one foot through and three feet 
round outside ; or two feet through, and six 
feet round outside. A balloon might be twenty 
feet through and sixty feet round outside. Or 
it might be thirty feet through, and ninety feet 
round outside. 

The through measure is called the Diameter 
of a ball, and the outside measure is called its 
Circumference. A globe may be of any size ; and 
it can be measured according to its size in inches, 
or feet, or yards, or miles. 

Our Earth is a little less than eight thousand 
miles through, from side to side, or from north pole 
to south pole. Its outside measure, right round 
the equator, is nearly twenty-Jive thousand miles. 

This will not give you any clear idea. It only 
sounds very large. 

Think first of a mile. One mile is a good way 
for a little child to walk ; but not much for a big 
boy. Some people count five or six miles a very 
long walk, while others think nothing of ten or 
twelve miles. Not many men can do as much as 
thirty or forty miles in a day. 

But even fifty miles are only half of one 
hundred. And it takes ten hundreds to make 
one thousand. And the through-measure of our 
Earth is eight thousands of miles. 



52 THE STARRY SKIES. 

If that man, whose story you heard in the 
first chapter, ever had really done as the story 
says, and walked round the whole world, he 
would have gone about twenty-five thousand 
miles ! 

How long would that have taken him ? Cer- 
tainly very much longer than twenty-four hours. 
He could not possibly have got along at the rate 
of one thousand miles and more each hour. The 
fastest express train does not manage over sixty 
or seventy miles in an hour. 

If he had journeyed all the while, Sundays 
and week-days alike, twenty miles each day, then 
he would have got round the world in three years 
and a half. And if he had only done ten miles a 
day he would have been nearly seven years get- 
ting round. 

Of course no man could really cross the oceans 
on foot ; but this will help you to a little notion 
of what the size of our Earth is. 

A very big globe, is she not ? yet not truly 
large, compared with other larger worlds in the 
sky. 

Our Moon is not one of those larger worlds, 
however. 

While the through-measure of the Earth is 
eight thousand miles that of the Moon is only a 
little more than two thousand miles. And while 
the Earth is nearly twenty-five thousand miles 



THE MOON BY NIGHT. 53 

round outside, the Moon is only about six thou- 
sand miles. 

So if we could put a knitting-needle straight 
through the Moon, with the ends just showing, 
one on each side, it would need to be only a 
quarter as long as a needle to go through the 
Earth. And a ribbon to fold round the Moon 
should be scarcely a quarter as long as a ribbon 
which could be folded just round the Earth. 

This makes a good deal of difference in the 
sizes of the two globes ; perhaps more than you 
would suppose. 

I want you now to bring down the Moon, in 
your mind, to the size of a very small ball ; only 
one inch through or three inches round outside. 
Picture her to yourself as getting smaller — and 
smaller — and smaller, till she is only the size of a 
very big grape. 

Then think of the Earth also, as getting 
smaller and smaller, just in the same way. Only 
the Earth must not get so small as the little 
Moon, in your mind. It must still be four times 
as long in its through-measure — four inches in- 
stead of one inch. And while a little piece of 
tape, only three inches long, would go just round 
the tiny Moon, a tape to go round the little Earth 
would have to be twelve inches long. 

Then, if the Moon is about the size of a big 
grape, or a small walnut, the Earth will be the 



54 THE STARRY SKIES. 

size of a very large apple, or of a small cocoa-nut. 

It would be a good plan to get a walnut and 
cocoa-nut of the right sizes, or, if you like, to find 
two balls, and to place them side by side. The 
little one must be one inch through, the bigger 
one must be four inches through. Looking upon 
them, you will see in a moment how great is the 
difference between the Earth and the Moon. 

I shall often speak of these sizes, so it would 
be as well to fix them now in your mind, and 
have them there, ready for use. 

Now as to the distance of the Moon from the 
Earth : 

It is about tzvo hundred ct7id forty thousand 
miles ! 

A rope twenty-five thousand miles long would 
reach once round the whole Earth, if laid down 
on the equator. 

But a rope to reach all the way from our 
Earth to the Moon would have to be more than 
nine times as long as the equator-rope. 

You have tried to picture the Earth in your 
mind as brought down to the size of a small 
' cocoa-nut, and the Moon as brought down to a 
walnut. In doing this we make one little half-inch 
do duty for a thousand miles ; so that one inch 
stands for two thousand miles, and four inches 
means eight thousand miles. 

The Moon is two thousand miles through ; 



THE MOON BY NIGHT. 55 

therefore a ball or walnut, to picture the Moon, 
must be one inch through. The Earth is eight 
thousand miles through ; therefore a very big 
apple or small cocoa-nut, to picture the Earth, 
must be four inches through. 

In the same way we will bring down the dis- 
tance of the Moon from the Earth. We will let 
each thousand miles of all that space in the sky 
shrink into a tiny half -inch. Then, instead of 
two hundred and forty thousand miles, we shall 
only have to think of one hundred and twenty 
inches, which make ten feet. 

So the smaller ball, or walnut, must be put 
ten feet off from the larger ball, or cocoa-nut. 
That will give you a picture, not only of the size 
of the earth, compared with the size of the Moon, 
but also of the distance between the two. 

Besides putting the two balls ten feet apart 
you have to think of them as two little shining 
worlds. 

That is not quite so easy, is it ? Why should 
they shine ? 

We know that bodies in the sky do shine ; 
but bodies on the Earth more commonly do not. 
By " bodies " I mean " things." A marble does 
not shine, nor a grape, nor a walnut, nor an 
apple, nor an orange, nor a school-globe, nor a 
balloon. 

At least they do not shine of themselves. 



56 THE STARRY SKIES. 

Any of them can be made to shine a little, if not 
much, by being placed in bright sunshine. 

Suppose that the two balls — the little imita- 
tion-Earth and the little imitation-Moon — were 
made of glass, or of some smooth metal, such as 
tin or silver. And suppose you were to hang 
them up, by wires, out-of-doors, in pitch dark- 
ness. Would they shine ? 

Certainly not. How could they ? 

But suppose there was another ball, also out 
in the darkness ; a much larger ball, shining 
with great brilliance, like an electric light. 

Would the glass or metal balls show any 
brightness then at all ? 

Yes ; for the shining of the large brilliant 
ball would light them up, at least on one side, 
and would make them bright. 

Light is always thrown back from a smooth 
surface. If you have a looking-glass in a dark 
room it does not shine ; but if you hold it in full 
sunlight it flashes radiantly. Yet the looking- 
glass has no brightness of its own. It only takes 
and gives out again of the Sun's light. 

That is just how our Earth shines, and how 
the Moon shines. In themselves both are dull 
and dark worlds ; but, like the looking-glass, 
they receive radiance from the Sun and give it 
out again. 

Before we go on I want you to be quite 



THE MOON BY NIGHT. 57 

clear in your mind as to what is really meant 
by this bringing down of large sizes to small 
sizes. In coming pages you will often hear of it 
again. 

Suppose you have two very large toy-carts, 
big and heavy. One of them is four feet long 
and two feet wide, the other of them is three 
feet long and one foot and a half wide. And 
suppose that you are trying to explain, to some- 
body who has not seen them, how much bigger 
one cart is than the other cart. 

You may do it by talking, and by showing 
with your hands about how high they each 
stand. 

Or you may do it in quite a different manner, 
and much more exactly, by making a kind of 
little model of each cart — in paper, or cardboard, 
or wax. 

The models would not of course be of the 
same size as the big carts, but they would have 
to keep what is called the same proportion of 
sizes. The bigger must still be the bigger ; and 
the smaller must still be the smaller. 

You could let one inch stand for one foot. 
Then the tiny model of the bigger cart — the cart 
which is four feet long and two feet broad — 
would only be four inches long and two inches 
broad. And the tiny model of the lesser cart — 
the cart which is three feet long and one foot 



58 THE STARRY SKIES. 

and a half broad — would be only three inches 
long and one inch and a half broad. 

Anybody looking on those two tiny model 
carts could not possibly tell how big the real 
carts are. But he could tell one thing. He 
could know how much bigger one cart is than the 
other. 

This is what I hope to show you, by bringing 
down the sizes of worlds and moons — not how 
large they really are, but how much larger or 
how much smaller one is than another. 

Also, by this means we learn to understand 
distances better. 

If you are looking at a map of the world, or 
of a part of the world, the miles in that map have 
to be brought down into a very tiny space. A 
map of a country, made as large as the country 
itself, would take up a great deal too much room. 
So half-an-inch is made to do duty for perhaps 
fifty real miles, or a hundred real miles, or even 
a thousand real miles. In quite a small map, a 
continent or an ocean which is really two thou- 
sand miles across might be only one inch across. 

And yet, looking at that map, small though 
it is, you are able to see how near one country 
is to your own, and how very much farther off 
another country is. 

This is the way in which we are going to 
think about different worlds — those which are 



THE MOON BY NIGHT. 59 

nearer and those which are farther. We have to 
make a sort of little map or model of them in 
our minds ; letting one inch always picture two 
thousand real miles. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is meant by the diameter of a ball ? 

Its " through measure " from one side to the 
other, straight through the centre. 

2. What is the circumference of a ball ? 
Its measure round the outside. 

3. Which is larger, the through measure or the measure 
round outside ? 

The outside measure is about three times as 
large as the through measure. 

4. Give an example or two. 

A ball one inch through is about three inches 
round outside. A ball four inches through is 
about twelve inches round outside. 

5. What is the Earth's diameter ? 

The Earth is nearly 8,000 miles through. 

6. And the Earth's circumference ? 

The Earth is nearly 25,000 miles round at the 
equator. 

7. What is the Moon's diameter ? 

The Moon is about 2,000 miles through. 



60 THE STARRY SKIES. 

8. And the Moon's circumference ? 

The Moon is about 6,000 miles round outside. 

9. How far is the Moon from the Earth ? 
About 240,000 miles. 

10. How long should a rope be to lie round the Earth on 
the equator ? 

About 25,000 miles. 

11. How many such ropes would reach all the way from 
here to the Moon ? 

About nine such ropes joined together. 

12. If we should let one inch stand for 2,000 miles, how 
large would the Moon be ? 

A ball one inch through. 

13. How large would the Earth be ? 
A ball four inches through. 

14. In that case, how far would the Moon be from the 
Earth ? 

About ten feet off. 

15. How do the Earth and the Moon shine ? 

By giving out again, or throwing back, the 
sunlight which falls upon them. 



THE MOON'S CHANGES. 6l 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE MOON S CHANGES. 



The Moon in our sky does not always seem 
to be of the same shape. 

Sometimes she is quite round, like a plump 
laughing child-face, with eyes and nose and 
mouth marked in grey shadows. Sometimes a 
part of the round face seems to be shaven off on 
one side. Sometimes she is a half-round. Some- 
times she is a bright crescent, wider or nar- 
rower. Sometimes she is only a slender sickle 
of light. 

Now, how is this? What causes so many 
changes in the Moon ? 

You know in what way our Earth shines — as 
shine she does, if only we were far enough off 
to see it. You know that she is bright on that 
side alone which faces the Sun. And you know 
too that, as she spins daily on her axis, each 
country in turn comes into the Sun's rays, is 
lighted up for awhile, then passes away into the 
night-time of darkness which is on the side of 
the Earth turned away from the Sun. 

And you also know that as the Earth shines 
so the Moon shines. 



62 THE STARRY SKIES. 

The Moon has no radiance of her own. She 
can only, like a looking-glass, reflect the Sun's 
radiance. In other words, she receives his light 
and throws it off again. 

As the Earth spins, so the Moon spins, but 
very much more slowly. It takes our big Earth 
only twenty-four hours to whirl once round upon 
her axis. It takes the Moon about twenty-eight 
days to spin once round upon her axis. 

Only that half of the Moon upon which the 
Sun shines is bright. Half of her is turned to- 
wards the Sun, and this half is bright. Half of 
her is turned away from the Sun, and this half 
is dark. 

And we from Earth can see, usually, only the 
bright side of the Moon, or just so much of the 
bright side as happens to be towards us. 

Sometimes the whole of the bright side is 
turned towards us. Sometimes only a part of it, 
and sometimes none of it is turned towards us. 

Now and then we catch a little glimpse of the 
dark body of the Moon when it is not shining 
in the sunlight. We see a round dark ball held 
in the arms of the silver crescent. That is be- 
cause our own Earth shines so brightly upon the 
dark side of the Moon as to light it up and show 
it to us. But more often we only perceive the 
sunlighted side, and the darker part is quite 
hidden. 




,;■ -:. ....-:.■;■■ r 




THE MOON'S CHANGES. 63 

You have noticed the Full Moon, of course, 
because the Moon then is at her best and bright- 
est. Once a month we always have a Full Moon. 
It is only on one night that the Moon is really 
quite full ; but for two or three days before and 
after she is very nearly so. 

At Full Moon the Earth is between the Sun and 
the Moon. On one side of our Earth is the Sun ; 
on the other side is the Moon. The Sun shines 
full upon that side of the Moon which is turned 
towards us ; and so we see the whole of her 
round bright face. We know that her farther 
side is in darkness, because it is turned away 
from the Sun : in almost pitch-darkness, for it 
has not even our Earth to light it up, being 
turned away from us also. It has only Stars on 
the farther side. 

I am speaking of when the Sun has set, and 
is below our horizon, so that we cannot see him, 
although his rays travel straight to the Moon. 

The Sun having set means only that the 
solid body of our Earth is between him and us. 
It does not interfere with his shining upon the 
Moon. 

If our Earth at Full Moon were exactly be- 
tween the Sun and the Moon, that would inter- 
fere with his shining upon her. More com- 
monly, however, our Earth is not just in the 
line between, but only very nearly so. Thus 



64 THE STARRY SKIES. 

we get the best possible view of the Moon's 
round face. 

The Moon does not stay on one side of the 
Earth. She is always travelling round from 
one side to the other side of us. At another 
part of her monthly journey things are quite 
different. 

A fortnight after Full Moon we have New 
Moon. 

At Full Moon the Earth is between Sun and 
Moon ; but at New Moon the Moon has come 
right round to the opposite side, and is between 
the Sun and the Earth. Not usually in the exact 
line between, so as to hide the Sun from us, but 
very nearly so. 

Then still the Moon has a bright round face ; 
only we on Earth cannot see it. For her bright 
side is, as always, towards the Sun ; and her dark 
side is towards us. 

Just at first we cannot see the New Moon at 
all, for it is entirely dark. As she journeys on 
to one side we get a glimpse of a thin line of 
light shaped like a sickle; and this widens 
every day. It is while we see the sickle of light 
that we sometimes catch a glimpse of the dark 
side of the Moon, dimly lighted up by Earth- 
shine. 

When the Moon gets half-way back to where 
she was at Full Moon we are able to see half "of 




The Moon. Second quarter. 10% days old. 



THE MOON'S CHANGES. 65 

her bright face, and we call that the " First 
Quarter." The other half of the bright face is 
still turned away from us, and half of the dark 
side is still towards us. We do not see the whole 
round face till she gains once more the place of 
Full Moon — after which, between Full Moon 
and New Moon, follows the Third Quarter, 
which is much the same as the First Quarter. 

You know that the rising and the setting of 
the Moon in our sky, by night or by day, are not 
real movements. They are only seeming move- 
ments, caused by our own Earth's daily spinning 
on her axis. 

But these " Phases " as they are called — 
these changes in the shape and brightness of 
the Moon — are brought about by her own move- 
ments, as she travels round the Earth. She 
does not actually alter her shape : but she does 
actually alter her place in the sky, so that we 
get different views of her from week to week. 

The four weeks of the Moon's phases are 
called a " Lunar Month." 

You can make clear to your mind how the 
changes come about, by acting them out with a 
lamp and a big ball. 

There must be no other light in the room. 

Stand first with your back to the lamp and 
the ball in your hand, held out at arm's length : 
so that your head is nearly between the lamp and 

Bri?ht Worlds. C 



66 THE STARRY SKIES. 

the ball. Not- quite between, so as to shade the 
ball. Hold the ball just a little higher than 
your head : and the lamplight will fall upon 
that side of it which is towards your face. 

Then you have Full Moon. The lamp is the 
Sun : your head is our Earth : the ball is the 
Moon. You see how the lamp lights up the half 
of the ball which is towards yourself. 

Next turn round with your face to the lamp, 
and hold the ball at arm's length between your 
head and the lamp, only a little higher or lower — 
not quite in the line between so as to hide the 
lamp from you. The lamp-light now falls on 
the other side of the ball ; and the dull unlighted 
side is towards your face. 

This is New Moon. Once again the lamp is 
the Sun, your head is the Earth, and the ball is 
the Moon. You see how the lamp lights that 
half of the ball which is turned aw^ay from you. 

The real New Moon in the sky is invisible. 
Here you can see the dark side of the ball be- 
cause the lamplight creeps round it. Still even 
here you will find a difference between the 
bright and the shaded parts. 

Then, if you hold the ball at arm's length 
half-way round on one side of your head, you 
will see how matters are at the Quarters. The 
lamp still shines full on one side of the ball, but 
only half of the brighter side is towards you, 




The Moon. Third quarter. \&/ x days old. 



THE MOONS CHANGES. 6j 

and half of the darker side. In the real Moon 
the shaded quarter would be hidden, and only 
the bright quarter would be visible. 

This " quarter " we call "a Half Moon." It 
is a quarter of the whole Moon, taking the Moon 
all round ; but it is a half of the bright side, 
which makes our Full Moon. 

All that we really know about the Moon's 
surface is what we see on one side of her. The 
other side is never turned towards us. No man 
on this Earth has ever seen it. 

A man living on that side of the Moon which 
we can see might look at all parts of the Earth 
in turn. As the Earth spins on her axis she 
turns each side towards the Moon, one after an- 
other, in only twenty-four hours. But, although 
the moon spins, we see only and always one 
side of her. 

If somebody should make his home on the 
farther side of the Moon, and should never 
come round to the nearer side, he would not 
have a glimpse of the Earth. He would see the 
Sun, because the Sun shines on each part of the 
Moon in turn : but no Earth would be on his 
sky. One side of the Moon has a magnificent 
Moon in the Earth, more than a dozen times as 
large as our Moon. But the opposite side of the 
Moon has only starlight when the sun sets. 

The reason for this is that the Moon takes 



68 THE STARRY SKIES. 

just exactly the same length of time to spin 
once round on her axis that she takes to travel 
once round the world : twenty-eight days for the 
one and twenty-eight days for the other. 

Suppose now that you choose to walk round 
and round a table with a lamp in the middle. 
You may do it in three different ways. 

First : you may spin fast on your feet, like a 
teetotum, as you go. Each spin of your body 
may perhaps take a second ; and passing slowly 
round the table may last half-a-minute. As you 
thus move, each side of your head in turn is to- 
wards the lamp with every spin. 

Secondly, you may pass slowly round the 
table in the same manner; not spinning at all 
but keeping your face fixed on one direction — 
let us say, towards the fireplace end of the room. 
Then again, as you move, each part of your head 
in turn will be towards the lamp. 

Thirdly : you may pass round the table turn- 
ing very gradually indeed upon your feet as you 
go, turning so slowly that a single spin will last 
exactly as long as one journey round the table. 
If you start with your face towards the lamp 
you will continue to face it all the while, and the 
back of your head will all the while be away 
from the lamp, in shadow. In fact, the lamp 
will never once have a glimpse of the back of 
your head. 




The Moon. Last quarter. 23% days old. 



THE MOON'S CHANGES. 69 

The last of these three is the manner in 
which the Moon spins on her axis and travels 
round our Earth. 

Such a slow spin brings about a curious state 
of things. We on the Earth have day and night 
in every twenty-four hours ; but the Moon's day 
and night come only once in every twenty-eight 
days. The day there is a whole fortnight in 
length of our Earth-time : and the night is an- 
other whole fortnight. 

Fourteen days of blazing sunshine : then 
fourteen days of pitchy darkness — except for 
the brightness of the Stars, and except also, on 
one side, for the beautiful radiance of the Earth. 

QUESTIONS. 

1 . What is meant by the Moon's Phases ? 

The different shapes of the Moon as we see 
her in the sky. 

2. What kind of shapes ? 

As Full Moon ; as Half Moon ; as Crescent 
Moon. 

3. Which part of the Moon shines ? 

That side which is turned towards the Sun. 

4. Do we ever see her dark side ? 

Sometimes, not far from New Moon, we have 
a glimpse of it, lighted up by Earth-shine very 
dimly. 



JO THE STARRY SKIES. 

5. Does the Moon spin on her axis ? 

Yes ; but very slowly, only once in twenty- 
eight days. 

6. How long does it take the Moon to get once round the 
Earth ? 

Twenty-eight days ; the same length of time 
as her spin.. 

7. How long is the Moon's day t 
About one fortnight of Earth-time. 

8. How long is the Moon's night ? 
About another fortnight. 

9. Does the Sun shine on all parts of the Moon ? 

On all parts in turn, as the Moon slowly spins 
round. 

10. Do we see all parts of the Moon ? 

We see only one side, because, as the- Moon 
spins, she journeys round the Earth just so fast 
as to keep one face always in our direction. 

11. What is meant by Full Moon ? 

At Full Moon the Earth is between Sun and 
Moon, and we have our best view of the full 
round face of the Moon. 

1 2. Is the Earth exactly between ? 

Not quite, or she would cut off the sunlight 
from the Moon. 



THE MOONS CHANGES. 7 1 

13. What is New Moon ? 

At New Moon the Moon is between Earth and 
Sun, so that her bright side is away from us and 
we cannot see her at all. 

14. Tell me about the First and Third Quarters. 

The Moon is then at the side of the Earth, 
half-way between New and Full. Half only of 
her bright side is towards us and we see her as 
11 Half Moon." 

15. What is a Lunar Month ? 

A month of four weeks — the time of the Moon's 
changes. 



72 THE STARRY SKIES. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE MOON THROUGH A TELESCOPE. 

You know how the Moon looks, seen only 
with our own eyes — a bright round ball, some 
would say a bright round plate, with odd gray 
markings which might mean anything. This is 
about all that can be learned without the help 
of a telescope. But with the help of a telescope 
much more can be found out as to our little sister- 
world. 

For a very long while there were no tele- 
scopes. Galileo, a famous man, who lived nearly 
three hundred years ago, was the first who ever 
made a telescope. Since his time men have 
learned to make far bigger and better ones ; but 
it was he who discovered how to make one at all. 

The Moon, as you know, is really about 240,- 
000 miles away. A good telescope, such as one 
may often See, lessens that distance to only one 
thousand or perhaps to five hundred miles. One 
enormous telescope in California brings the Moon 
to less than one hundred miles off — some even 
say to not much more than fifty miles. 

You must not suppose this to mean that the 
telescope pulls the Moon herself nearer. A tube 



THE MOON THROUGH A TELESCOPE. 73 

on earth cannot reach forth and drag towards us 
a far-off world in the sky. 

Did you ever hear of the Irishman who was 
allowed to look through a telescope at a church 
in the distance, and who declared afterwards that 
the church had been brought so near he could 
hear the organ play ! 

But this is just what a telescope is not able to 
do. It does not bring a church nearer. It does 
not bring the Moon nearer. It only makes our 
eyes able to see as if the church or the Moon 
were nearer. That is all. 

It gathers up a great deal more moonlight 
than our eyes could collect, and so it gives us a 
larger and clearer view of the Moon from which 
the light comes. 

Yet even at the very best, when the moon is 
brought, as one may say, within perhaps a hun- 
dred miles of the Earth, even then one can only 
see large things on her surface, not small things. 
A man who climbs a high mountain gets a wide 
view all round from the top. He may see per- 
haps a hundred miles in one direction. But at 
that distance, and at a good deal less than that 
distance, he cannot make out much. A mountain 
or a high hill is pretty clear, perhaps, or the glim- 
mer of a big lake, and a large town would be just 
visible as a tiny patch or spot. A single house 
could not be seen at all ; far less a horse or a man. 



74 THE STARRY SKIES. 

However, though we could not possibly see 
such small things as these upon the Moon if 
they were there, we are very sure that no houses 
are there, and no horses, and no men. 

And the reason why we are so sure is that 
the Moon has no air. 

A man cannot live without air, because he 
cannot breathe. Try holding your breath for 
a little while and you will find how soon you 
must begin breathing again. If there were no 
air in your room you would soon die of suffoca- 
tion. Animals cannot live without air. Even 
fishes need air in the water to keep them alive. 
And it seems that there is neither air nor water 
in the Moon. 

No air : or almost none ; if any at all, it is so 
very thin that no living creature on earth could 
breathe it. No water ; no seas or oceans ; no 
rivers and streams. No clouds ; for clouds are 
made of water and float in air. No grass, or 
plants, or trees ; for they too must have air and 
water. No towns or villages ; for they are built 
by man, and no men can be on the Moon, or 
women or children. What a dreary place the 
Moon must be ! 

It looks dreary seen through a big telescope. 
It looks dreary also in a photograph. Many 
photographs are now taken of the Moon. 

Such a wild lonely scene we find ! Flat deso- 



THE MOON THROUGH A TELESCOPE. 75 

late plains, and mountains with sharp black sha- 
dows and clefts and streaks, and a great number 
of craters in all directions. 

You have heard of volcanoes on the Earth. 
A volcano is a mountain, shaped usually some- 
thing like a sugar-loaf, with a cup-like hollow 
near the top. This hollow is called a crater : 
and now and then fire pours from it, with melted 
burning rocks, or boiling mud, or hot cinders." 

In parts of the world there are old used-up 
volcanoes, which once were very active indeed 
but which now have no outbreaks. We call 
these dead volcanoes. 

The Moon seems to be half covered with the 
craters of volcanoes. That side which we always 
see is pitted over with round holes, big ,and lit- 
tle — looking in parts almost like a face badly 
marked with small-pox. 

If all these holes really are craters they must 
belong to dead volcanoes ; because not a sign is 
ever observed of any fiery outburst on the Moon. 
That could easily be seen through a large tele- 
scope. 

These craters are of all sizes : and many of 
them have been measured from the earth. 

The largest volcano - crater known on the 
earth is perhaps not more than eight or ten 
miles across. On the moon there are numbers 
and numbers of little craters about that size, too 



j6 THE STARRY SKIES. 

many to count. But there are also many huge 
craters, far bigger than anything of the kind 
ever seen here. 

Some of the Moon mountains are very high, 
a good deal higher than Mont Blanc in Switzer- 
land ; and they often lie in vast rocky heights 
around some enormous crater. Such craters are 
to be seen fifty miles across from edge to edge, 
and some a hundred miles across, and even more. 
These monster craters make our little Earth 
craters seem very small ; do they not ? 

In a photograph of the Moon's surface, taken 
when she is at her First or Last Quarter, the 
steep mountains and great craters often stand 
out very clearly. Of course they do not look 
large to us at this distance, but quite small. 

If there were air on the moon her sharp out- 
line and the mountain edges would, be much 
softer than they are now. 

The Moon must be a very, very cold world. 

True, she is no farther off from the Sun than 
we are, so his bright rays have the same strength 
there as here. But she has no thick coverlet 
of air wrapped round her, to act as a blanket 
and to keep in the heat which the Sun gives. 
That is what our air does for us: and that is 
what the Moon lacks. 

Through the long fortnight of darkness, on 
the side of the Moon which is turned away from 



THE MOON THROUGH A TELESCOPE. 77 

the Sun, the cold must be perfectly awful. But 
even during the long fortnight of day-time fol- 
lowing, when that part of the Moon which has 
been in darkness gets round into sunlight, 
things are not much better. 

The Sun indeed beats down upon the Moon 
with frightful power, and with a desperate glare 
such as we never know on the Earth. For the 
same air which keeps prisoner the warmth of 
the sunbeams for our use also softens their 
glare. But in spite of all this it is likely that 
the Moon's surface never gets warm — that in 
the noon of her long day the ground is far more 
than ice-cold. 

On a high mountain-top of the Earth, where 
the air is thin, although the glare of the Sun 
becomes fierce yet the ice and snow are not 
melted. A little thawing of the outermost snow 
takes place, but often no more than this. When 
the sun shines through air which is too thin to 
capture and store up his heat, then he is quite 
overmatched by the grip of King Frost. 

If this is so on the Earth how much more 
is it likely to be so on the Moon. At the top 
of the highest Earth mountain there is still a 
good deal of air, enough for a man to breathe. 
But on the Moon there is no air at all worth 
speaking of ; not enough to keep alive any crea- 
ture of which we know. 



78 THE STARRY SKIES. 

So, though the Sun does his best, though he 
floods the Moon with his warmth, all the heat is 
poured out again just as fast as he pours it in. 
For want of a sheltering air-coverlet the ground 
there may remain, and doubtless does remain, 
ice-cold through all the long Moon-day, 

We do not on the Earth see the Stars in day- 
light. The same thick air which keeps us warm 
also spreads the sunlight about, and softens 
black shadows into gray, and turns the sky into 
a blue depth, and shuts off from our sight the 
feeble glimmer of stars, and carries to and fro 
the clouds and mists. 

But on the Moon there is no air to form a 
veil of light ; no air to cause a blue sky ; no air 
to spread the sunlight about ; no air to make 
inky shadows gray ; no air to carry clouds or 
mists ; no air to hide the stars. 

There, in the day-time, in a cloudless deep- 
black sky shines a dazzling Sun. Not only a 
Sun, but also a magnificent Earth, hanging like 
an enormous Moon always in one spot. And 
not only Sun and Earth, but also countless bril- 
liant Stars, steadfast and untwinkling. 

This is a view which a man might have if he 
could stand on the nearer side of the Moon. 

The Sun which he would see would be our 
Sun. The stars would be the same stars upon 
which we gaze. The Earth in his sky would be 



THE MOON THROUGH A TELESCOPE. 79 

this world upon which we live. He would see 
a glorious sight ; of that we may be sure. But 
though our thick moist air does hide the stars 
by day, and make them twinkle and grow dim 
by night, think how one would miss the blue 
sky, and all the pretty changeful clouds which 
come and go ! 

Think, too, how dismal a scene it would be 
around a man standing there ! Nothing but dead 
craters, and bare rocks, and plains without any 
grass or water, and mountains without any trees. 
Nothing green, nothing blue, nothing soft or 
fair, no breaking waves, no trickling streams, no 
passing showers, no colors, no sounds ! 

Do you think you would like such a world to 
live in, even if you could live there without any 
air to breathe ? I am very sure that you would 
soon wish to be back again on our beautiful Earth. 

If you were there, you would find one more 
thing different from what it is here : you would 
become all at once a great deal lighter in your 
body. 

Just as the Earth pulls everything towards 
herself so does the Moon also. The mountains 
and rocks on the moon are dragged moonwards, 
just as mountains and rocks on the Earth are 
dragged earthwards. But the pulling there is 
much less than here, because the Moon is so 
much smaller than the Earth. 



So THE STARRY SKIES. 

On the surface of the Moon, downwards is al- 
ways towards the centre of the Moon and upwards 
is always towards the sky. All round the" Moon 
it is the same ; just as it is on the Earth. 

The Moon in our sky is upwards to us who live 
on the Earth. But the Earth in the Moon's sky 
would be upwards to anybody living on the Moon. 

QUESTIONS. 
i . Who made the first telescope ? 
Galileo. 

2. How long ago ? 

Nearly three hundred years ago. 

3. How near does the biggest telescope seem to bring the 
Moon ? 

Perhaps to less than one hundred miles. 

4. Could a man live on the Moon ? 

No ; because there is neither air nor water. 

5. No air at all ? 

There may be a very, very little ; but much 
too little for men or animals to breathe. 

6. What can be seen of the Moon through a telescope ? 
Mountains and plains ; and a great number 

of hollows or craters. 

7. How high are the mountains ? 

Some are higher than Mont Blanc. 



THE MOON THROUGH A TELESCOPE. 8 1 

8. What are the craters ? 

They are thought to be most likely the craters 
of dead volcanoes. 

9. What shape are they ? 
Generally more or less round. 

10. Are they large or small ? 

Some are small, only a few miles across. 
Others are very big. 

11. How big are the larger ones ? 

Some are even a hundred miles across. 

12. Is the surface of the Moon hot, or cold ? 
It is believed to be very cold. 

13. In the night, or in the day ? 

In the day as well as in the night ; because 
there is no air to keep in the Sun's heat, as on 
the Earth. 

14. What other difference would the want of air make ? 
The sky must be black instead of blue, and 

the stars must be visible in daylight, and the 
shadows of the mountains must be very black, 
not gray, like shadows on the Earth. 

15. Are things heavy on the Moon ? 

Yes ; but not so heavy as on the Earth. 
Though the Moon pulls, she pulls less strongly 
than the Earth, because she is so much smaller. 

Bright Worlds. 6 



82 THE STARRY SKIES. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE SUN BY DAY. 

If you look at the Sun in our sky before he 
sets, and then, a little later, at the Moon when she 
has risen, it might seem that the two are very 
much of the same size and very much at the 
same distance. 

To be sure, the Sun is the brightest ; a great 
deal the brightest. He has such a dazzling face 
that you cannot look at him steadily. But cer- 
tainly he does not look larger than the Moon. 

What do you think the size of the Sun really 
and truly is ? 

Once upon a time people supposed him to be 
about as big as he looked. And afterwards they 
fancied that perhaps he might be even as large 
as a little country called Greece, a much smaller 
country than England. 

But the Sun is bigger than England, bigger 
than America, bigger than all the oceans of the 
Earth heaped together ; bigger than the Moon, 
bigger than the whole Earth, bigger than Earth 
and Moon rolled into one — oh, we are a long way 
off yet from the truth ! 

The Sun is a round globe in shape, like the 



THE SUN BY DAY. 83 

Earth and the Moon. But he is ever so much 
larger. 

Our Moon, as you know, is about two thou- 
sand miles through from side to side, Our 
Earth is nearly eight thousand miles through. 
But that enormous globe, the Sun, is — how* 
much do you guess ? — is about eight hundred and . 
fifty thousand miles through ! 

Can you picture to yourself what this means ? 
Rather hard, is it not ! 

The Earth seems so big to us who live upon 
its surface, and yet she is so small beside the 
great Sun ! 

Suppose you had a huge hollow ball the size 
of the Sun. And suppose you wished to run 
through that hollow ball a very, very long 
knitting-needle — eight hundred and fifty thou- 
sand miles long — so as just to go from side to 
side of the huge bail. And suppose upon that 
big knitting-needle you wished to string a great 
many Earths or Moons, exactly like our Earth 
or our Moon, as large beads might be strung 
close together upon a wire. 

How many worlds, the size of our Earth, do 
you think you would need to reach all through 
the Sun from side to side ? And how many 
worlds the size of our Moon ? 

You would want more than one hundred 
Earths. And if, instead of Earths, you chose to 



84 THE STARRY SKIES. 

string Moons on the big needle, you would need 
more than four hundred Moons. 

These would not fill up the enormous hollow 
ball. They would only reach through in one 
straight line from side to side, showing the 
diameter of the Sun. 

Now try again to think of the Moon as a tiny 
ball, softly bright on one side, only one inch 
through ; and of the Earth as another ball, shin- 
ing on one side, four inches through. Think of 
them, if you like, as a large grape and a small 
cocoa-nut made of silver. 

Then take the same measure for the Sun, 
letting one little inch do duty always for two 
thousand miles. The Sun must dwindle and 
dwindle in size till every two thousand miles in 
him has become a single inch. 

We shall then have a huge ball, or balloon, 
four hundred and twenty-six inches, or some 
thirty-five feet, through, from side to side. 

Thirty-five feet is a great deal more than 
four inches. One foot is twelve inches long. 

You have seen many a tall man close upon 
six feet in height. This balloon, to picture the 
Sun, must be so large that six tall men might 
be put inside it, one upon the head of another. 
The whole string of six tall men would about 
make the through measure of the globe. 

So we have a Moon the size of a large' grape, 



THE SUN BY DAY. 85 

an Earth the size of a small cocoa-nut, and a Sun 
the size of a balloon big enough to contain six 
men in a long row, one upon another. The two 
little balls would shine softly, on one side only ; 
but the large balloon should be exceedingly 
brilliant and dazzling all round. 

If the Moon is so tiny and the Sun is so huge, 
how is it that they seem to be the same size in 
our sky ? 

Because of the very great difference in their 
distance from us. The Moon is near ; the Sun 
is far away. 

Suppose you are looking at a man near at 
hand and at a house miles away ; which seems 
to you the bigger ? Of course the man, because 
he is so close. Yet really the house is much the 
larger of the two. 

The Moon is only about two hundred and 
forty thousand miles off ; but the Sun is about 
ninety-two millions of miles away. 

Think what a difference ! Two hundred and 
forty thousands are only a small part of a single 
million ; for a million is a thousand thousands. 
If you have one thousand beads in a heap, you 
would need one thousand of those heaps to make 
a million beads. And when you get to the idea 
of what is meant by a million, you have to 
remember that the Sun's distance is ninety-two 
times that number of miles. 



86 THE STARRY SKIES. 

After all, we cannot comprehend these fig- 
ures; they are too bewildering. We may talk 
of thousands and millions of miles, but we do 
not see them in our minds. 

The chief thing to do is to gain some notion 
of one distance side by side with another : and 
here the three balls all help us again. 

Picture to yourself the tiny Moon-ball, as big 
as a large grape, and the Earth-ball, as big as a 
small cocoa-nut ; and in your mind put the two 
ten feet apart. There you have the sizes and the 
distance of the Earth and the Moon brought 
down from thousands of miles to inches. 

Then picture to yourself the Sun, as big as a 
balloon — the length of six tall men through its 
middle — and in your mind put that balloon three 
quarters of a mile away from the small Earth and 
Moon. Somebody will tell you of a house or a 
place about three-quarters of a mile away from 
your house, if you ask. 

Now do you see how great the difference is 
between the distance of the Sun from us and the 
distance of the Moon ? 

Close upon four thousand feet off, instead of 
only ten feet off! Almost thirteen hundred 
yards, instead of a little over three yards! 
Ninety-two millions of miles, instead of two 
hundred and forty thousand miles ! 

The kind or quantity of difference between 



THE SUN BY DAY. 87 

the two is the same, whether we reckon it in 
inches or feet, in yards or miles, in hundreds, or 
thousands, or millions of miles. 

The Moon and Sun are quite unlike in their 
way of shining. 

Our little Moon has no brightness of her 
own. She only shines when and. where the Sun 
shines upon her. 

But the radiance of the Sun is his own ; it is 
a part of himself. He shines because it is in 
him to shine ; it is his nature to shine. He is 
brilliant all round, not on one side only. If 
the Sun were destroyed the Moon would shine 
no longer But if the Moon and the Earth 
and all the Planets came to an end it would 
make no difference in the brightness of the 
Sun. 

The Sun's shining is like the shining of the 
Stars, not like that of the Earth and the Moon : 
for the Sun himself is a Star ; one Star among 
millions of Stars. He only looks so much larger 
and brighter than other Stars because he is so 
much nearer than they are. 

Our Earth and Moon are not stars ; they are 
planets, or worlds, travelling round the Sun, and 
belonging to him. They are not hot bodies, 
glowing with their own light ; but cool and dark 
bodies, bright only when the Sun shines on 
them. Moonlight, and also Earthlight — which 



88 THE STARRY SKIES. 

we, living on the Earth, cannot see— are both 
really reflected Sunlight. 

There are other planets also, besides the 
Earth and the Moon, belonging to the Sun : 
such as Venus, and Mars, and Jupiter. None of 
these planets are Stars. They are all Worlds. 

QUESTIONS. 

i . What shape is the Sun ? 

Like the Earth and the Moon, a globe or 
sphere in shape. 

2. What is the Sun's diameter? 

The Sun is about 850,000 miles through. 

3. Why do the Sun and. Moon seem about the same size 
in our sky ? 

Because the Moon is very near, and the Sun 
very distant. 

4. How far off is the Sun ? 
About 92 millions of miles. 

5. What would be the sizes of these three globes, if we let 
one inch stand for 2,000 miles ? 

The Moon would be a ball one inch in diam- 
eter ; the Earth a ball four inches in diameter ; 
the Sun a ball thirty -five feet in diameter. 

6. What would be their distances, brought down thus ? 
The Moon would be about ten feet off from 



THE SUN BY DAY. 89 

the Earth, and the Sun would be about three- 
quarters of a mile from them both. 

7. How many thousands of miles make a million miles ? 
A thousand thousands. 

8. How does the Moon shine ? 

By reflecting Sunlight. 

9. How does the Sun shine ? 
By his own brightness. 

10. Which part of Moon and Sun are bright ? 

The Moon, like the Earth, is bright only on 
that side which faces the Sun ; but the Sun is 
brilliant all round. 

11. Is the Sun a World? 
No, the Sun is a Star. 

12. Are the Planets Stars? 

No ; the Planets, like Earth and Moon, are 
Worlds. 



9° THE STARRY SKIES. 



CHAPTER IX. 

STORMS ON THE SUN. 

The Sun does not seem to change his shape 
as the Moon does. 

Looking upon him from our Earth, we see 
always a round shining body. Except when 
part of him is hidden because it has sunk below 
the horizon we never have a "half-Sun," or a 
" quarter-Sun." 

Sometimes he is high and sometimes low in 
the sky ; but this is brought about by the Earth's 
movements, not by any alteration in himself. 
Sometimes clouds drift between and hide him 
from us ; yet behind the clouds he shines still. 
Sometimes mists arise and dim his radiance ; but 
beyond the mist his glory is the same. When 
clouds move on and mists fade, the dazzling 
globe of light is found unchanged. 

There are no shadows on the Sun, like those 
dull markings which we all know so well upon 
the Moon. 

No shadows, only spots. Yes, the Sun actu- 
ally has little black spots upon his face, not so 
very unlike the tiny patches with which - ladies 
used to adorn themselves. 



STORMS ON THE SUN. 9 1 

A word of warning here ! It is not safe to 
gaze straight at the Sun, trying to find these 
spots. When he is low down in the horizon, just 
before setting, he is not so dazzling, but at other 
times one ought to be very careful. If you want 
to look steadily at the Sun you should always 
use a piece of smoked or tinted glass to soften 
the glare. Without this you might hurt your 
eyes, or even in time make yourself blind. When 
looking through a telescope the danger and the 
need for care are doubly great. 

Dark spots on the Sun are very often to be 
seen ; sometimes only through a telescope, but 
now and then one is large enough to be seen 
with no such help — by the eye alone. 

It was by means of these spots that the Sun 
was first found to spin upon its axis, just as our 
Earth does. 

A black spot would be noticed upon one side 
of the Sun's face. It would be seen slowly to 
cross over, and to disappear on the other side. 
Nearly a fortnight would be needed for the 
journey across, and for another fortnight, or 
nearly so, the spot would be hidden behind the 
Sun. After which it would turn up again, on the 
same side as at first, and in the very same place. 
Then once more it would travel across and dis- 
appear, and in another fortnight it would come 
round over to its starting-point. 



92 THE STARRY SKIES. 

If only a single spot had behaved in this 
way it might have meant little. But when 
numbers of spots did the very same thing, time 
after time, it became clear that the great body 
of the sun was whirling round, carrying the 
spots with it. 

The Sun, like the Earth, has a north pole, 
and a south pole, and an equator. 

We give the name " north pole " to one end 
of the axis or line on which he spins, and the 
name " south pole " to the other end of that 
axis. And we give the name " equator " to a 
line exactly round the middle of the Sun, half- 
way between his two poles. 

Most of the spots which we see are some- 
where near the Sun's equator, not very near to 
his north pole or to his south pole. 

They come and go and change their shapes, 
and get bigger or smaller— sometimes slowly, 
sometimes very fast. A spot may appear and 
grow and vanish again in one day, or it may 
stay on for days and weeks, and even months, 
hardly altering at all, only journeying round 
and round the Sun. 

These things show us that the great Sun 
spins round upon his axis : and that for each 
spin he takes about twenty -five or twenty-six 
days. 

But the whirling round of the Sun means no 



STORMS ON THE SUN. 93 

Day and Night by turns to him, for the whole 
of the Sun is always light — bright with his own 
radiance. 

Once upon a time it used to be thought that 
the Sun spots were perhaps raised things — dark 
objects standing high, like mountains. And I 
will tell you why this idea was given up. 

Take an empty cup, and hold it before your 
eyes, with the open part turned full towards you. 
The cup must be held as if lying on its side — 
not with the mouth upwards, as it would stand 
on a table. You can see, thus, the full circle of 
the opening, and the whole empty inside. 

Next, move it a little way to the right from 
before your face, turning it slightly away, and 
you will then see no longer the whole inside, 
but only a part : and the round opening will 
have an oval look. 

Turn it still further, and you will see a very 
narrow oval opening, and hardly any of the in- 
side. 

Now this is just how the spots seem to be- 
have as they cross the Sun. 

When first seen, coming round on one side, 
they are in shape, more or less, of narrow ovals, 
and very little of the inside can be seen. As 
they travel on with the spinning Sun, and get 
near the middle of the Suns face, the oval open- 
ings widen and grow round, while more of the 



94 THE STARRY SKIES. 

dark depths can be seen. Then, passing to the 
farther edge, they again grow narrow, as at 
first. 

So we feel sure that the spots are hollows or 
caves, not mountains. 

I do not mean such hollows and caves as are 
found on the earth, but more like the holes that 
may be seen in a mass of stormy clouds. They 
seem to be huge rents in glowing Sun-clouds. 
Usually they have a black centre, with a gray 
border round the blackness. Now and then, as 
in the picture of a sun-spot given in this book, 
the gray part is wanting. 

Sun-spots are sometimes larger, sometimes 
smaller ; but none that we see at this distance 
can be really small.. Fifty or sixty thousand 
miles across is a very common size. Once in a 
while a spot is more than a hundred thousand 
miles from edge to edge. 

So, though we talk of little black spots on the 
Sun's face, they are not really little, but exceed- 
ingly big. And if we were near they would 
not look black, but fiery. 

The Moon's craters seemed big when we 
first thought of them — fifty or one hundred 
miles across ; very huge beside our tiny Earth 
craters. These crater-like hollows, however, in 
the Sun's cloudy surface are fifty or one hun- 
dred thousand miles across ! The whole Moon 



STORMS ON THE SUN. 95 

dropped into such a hole as this would be a 
mere little ball in a corner. 

The Sun is enormously heavier than our 
Earth, because enormously bigger. Yet in ac- 
tual make the Sun is light. Instead of being 
all through as solid as our little Earth, he only 
weighs as much as if made of something not 
much heavier than water. 

We do not know whether any part of the Sun 
is really solid and firm. Perhaps not even the 
innermost parts of that vast globe, certainly not 
any of the outermost parts. For the heat must 
be so awful as to turn everything there into 
gases. Not cool gases, but raging fiery gases, 
rushing furiously to and fro. 

Over the whole brilliant body of the Sun is 
spread a mighty ocean— not of cool water, like 
our seas, but of crimson fiery gas-waves. And 
out of this ocean spring crimson mountains of 
fiery gas. And beyond these jagged moun- 
tains — little, as seen from the Earth, but really 
of great height — lies a beautiful and wide- 
spreading wreath of pearly light, called " The 
Corona," or, " The Crown." 

The bright face of the Sun and its tiny black 
spots can be easily seen from the Earth. But 
the crimson sea, showing as a red border round 
the edge, and the fiery mountains, and the crown 
of light, are very seldom to be seen. 



96 THE STARRY SKIES. 

When an eclipse of the Sun happens, then 
for a few seconds they are clearly visible to peo- 
ple with telescopes. 

Besides the black spots and the red mountains, 
bright white spots are sometimes noticed. 

Also another curious sight is often seen, in a 
telescope. Countless little long narrow objects, 
something like willow leaves or grains of rice, 
seem to lie scattered closely over the sun. They 
are either side by side or crossing one another. 
Look at the picture of the sun-spot, and you will 
see the " willow leaves " there. Perhaps they 
are shining sun-clouds. 

Awful storms are common on the Sun, and 
terrific outbreaks are often taking place. Wild 
rushes of blazing gases can be seen, even from 
this great distance. The black spots are most 
likely caused by vast whirlwinds tearing open 
the Sun's bright envelope of clouds; and the 
white spots may be another kind of tornado. 

Doubtless the crimson fire-mountains are also 
some sort of storm. They come and go, change 
and disappear, in a longer or a shorter time. 
Fifty thousand miles of height is common for 
one of them, and a hundred thousand miles is 
not unusual, and often they are still more. 

Our very highest mountain on the Earth is 
only about seven miles high. Think what a dif- 
ference ! 



STORMS ON THE SUN. 97 

But you must not picture to yourself solid 
mountains of rock on the Sun. All rock there is 
not melted only, but turned to gases, by the tre- 
mendous heat. These crimson heights are of 
gases, glowing and brilliant. 

It is pretty safe to say of the Sun, as of the 
Moon, that people such as we are could not pos- 
sibly live there. If the Moon is too cold, the Sun 
is infinitely too hot. If the Moon has no air, the 
Sun has certainly none of the right kind for men 
and animals to breathe. Besides, how could they 
exist on a globe of fiery gases ? 

We know pretty well what the burning power 
of the Sun is, even here, on a hot summer's day, 
as he shines out of a cloudless sky. But this is 
ninety -two millions of miles off ! 

Imagine what the desperate heat and glare 
must be at a distance of only a few thousand 
miles ; not to speak of close to the Sun ! 

If our Earth were to journey to a place in the 
sky as far away from the Sun as our Moon is 
now from us, one of those fiery mountain-tongues 
of crimson gas might leap out and wrap itself 
round the whole Earth. But long before she 
could get so near she would have become a tomb 
of death— scorched, and dried up, and withered. 
The seas would all have turned into hot steam, 
and not a blade of grass would be left. 

Yet, although, if we could venture near, we 
7 



98 THE STARRY SKIES. 

should be destroyed, on the other hand we owe 
much to the Sun. Did you ever think what a 
dark and cold and lifeless globe our Earth would 
be without him ? 

All our light, except a few star-glimmers, 
comes from the Sun. Even moonlight is really 
reflected sunlight. 

Almost all our heat comes from him. Once 
upon a time the Earth was hot and glowing, and 
some heat still remains deep underground even 
now. But this heat could do little for us if the 
Sun were absent. You know how icy-cold the 
ground becomes in winter. 

Still, you may say, we have fires to warm us, 
and lamps and candles to give us light. 

But how could we have either without the 
Sun ? His rays cause the trees to grow from 
which we obtain our wood. His warmth in the 
long past made those forests grow which were 
afterwards buried under ground and became coal. 
When we burn coal and wood they give out again 
the heat which once they borrowed from the Sun. 

Without the Sun there could be no oil for 
lamps, no tallow or wax for candles. Nothing 
would live, nothing would grow. Our Earth 
would be a dead world like the Moon, fixed and 
changeless. 

True, the Sun shines upon the Moon as upon 
us ; and there he can do little, because air and 



STORMS ON THE SUN. 99 

water are wanting. With air and water for his 
useful servants he can do much. But air and 
water without the Sun could do nothing at 
all — in fact they would be air and water no 
longer. 

So we can trace gratefully to the Sun all the 
heat, the glow, the light, the life, the growth, 
that we find on Earth. And one step farther 
brings us to the thought of our father in 
heaven, who created the Sun, and who ap- 
pointed it to be our storehouse of Heat and 
Light. 

QUESTIONS. . 

1. Has the Sun phases like the moon ? 

No, he always appears round in shape. 

2. Has the Sun gray markings ? 
No, but he has dark spots. 

3. Are the spots large, or small ? 

They seem small to us at this distance, but 
they are really large. 

4. What size are they ? 

Fifty thousand miles across, or a hundred 
thousand miles across, are not uncommon. 

5. How was the Sun first found to spin round ? 

By the movement of spots across his face, 
from one side to the other. 



100 THE STARRY SKIES. 

6. What is the length of the Sun's spin ? 

He spins on his axis once in about 25 or 26 
days. 

7. Where are spots more often seen ? 
Not far from the Sun's equator. 

8. Do the spots remain long? 

A spot sometimes comes and goes in one 
day. Other spots stay for weeks, and even 
months. 

9. What are the spots believed to be ? 

Holes torn by storms in the Sun's covering 
of bright clouds. 

10. Is any other kind of storm seen on the Sun ? 
Sometimes white spots are seen. 

11. Is the Sun heavy in make, or light ? 
Not much heavier than water. 

12. What can be seen in an eclipse which is not seen 
usually ? 

A crimson ocean of gases, mountains of fiery 
gases, and the " Corona," or Crown of light. 

13. How high are the gas-mountains ? 
Sometimes fifty thousand or a hundred thou- 
sand miles high. 



STORMS ON THE SUN. IOI 

14. Are they always the same? 

No ; they come and go and change, like the 
black spots. 

15. Is it likely that men could live on the Sun? 

It seems quite impossible, the sun being in a 
state of raging heat. 

16. Do we owe much to the Sun? 

All our light and heat. Without the Sun 
our world would be a dead world. 



102 THE STARRY SKIES. 



CHAPTER X. 



HOW THE WORLD JOURNEYS. 

You see now how it is that on the Earth we 
have day and night. The whole Earth spins 
round and round, and so each part of her in 
turn comes into sunlight. 

This is not the only way in which our Earth 
moves. She also journeys round and round the 
Sun, revolving always on her axis every day as 
she goes. 

A year on the Earth is about three hundred 
and sixty -five days long, or twelve months. 
Our "year" means just that time in which the 
Earth travels once round the Sun. And in that 
year, as she journeys, she turns right round 
upon her axis three hundred and sixty -five 
times. 

So there are two separate movements of the 
Earth. A boy may, if he likes, stand still, and 
spin round like a top. Or he may walk round 
the table without spinning. Or he may do the 
two things together: he may walk round the 
table, and as he goes he may keep spinning like 
a top. That is how the Earth goes round the 
Sun. 



HOW THE WORLD JOURNEYS. 103 

As she moves she is always at much the 
same distance from the Sun — about 92 millions 
of miles off. In one part of her pathway she is 
a little farther, and in another part a little 
nearer ; but there is never very much differ- 
ence. 

Sometimes she is on one side of the Sun, 
sometimes on another side. Always, day after 
day, and year after year, she keeps steadily 
journeying round and round the Sun. 

This is how we get our seasons upon Earth. 
Spring is followed by summer, summer by au- 
tumn, autumn by winter, winter by spring 
again. It is on and on, the same thing, year 
after year. 

In an earlier chapter you heard about the Equi- 
noxes and the Solstices. There is an Equinox 
in the spring, a Solstice in the summer, an Equi- 
nox in the autumn, and a Solstice in the winter. 
At each of these times the Earth is in a different 
part of her pathway round the Sun. Also she 
is differently//^^. 

It is of course quite clear to you by this time 
that our Earth is a round solid globe in the sky. 
Also that the axis of the Earth is a straight line 
from her north to her south pole, right through 
the middle of her. 

Now I want you to understand that, as the 
Earth goes round the Sun, her axis leans over a 



104 THE STARRY SKIES. 

little in one direction, and always in the same 
direction. 

Have you a good-sized soft ball to picture 
the Earth? Stick a big bonnet -pin right 
through the middle of it ; that pin is the Earth's 
axis. The pin's head shows the north pole, and 
the pin's point shows the south pole. 

Properly, of course, if this little Earth is 
about four inches through in size, it ought to 
travel round and round a huge shining balloon, 
three-quarters of a mile off, to show how the 
Earth goes round the Sun. 

But this, I am afraid, you will hardly be able 
to manage. So you must let distances alone, 
and just have a candle or a lamp on a table, and 
learn with that how we get our summer and 
winter. 

First, now, hold the ball on one side of the 
candle. Let its north pole — the pin's head — 
point in a sloping way over the candle-flame ; 
not exactly towards the candle, and not up 
straight towards the ceiling, but in a slant. 

This means Summer for the northern half of 
your little world, and Winter for the southern 
half. You must notice carefully how the north 
pole is towards the candle and the south pole is 
away from it. So, at the same time, we in the 
north have our Summer Solstice and people in 
the south have their Winter Solstice. 



HOW THE WORLD JOURNEYS. 105 

Next, carry round your ball to the other side 
of the candle, just opposite to where you have 
been ; but do not turn it in your hand as you go. 
The slant or lean of the pin must be the same ; 
and the pin's head must point still just where it 
pointed before. You will see now that the south 
pole is towards the candle, and the north pole is 
away from it. 

This means Summer for the southern half of 
your little world, and Winter for the northern 
half. So we in the north have our Winter Sol- 
stice while friends in the south have their Sum- 
mer Solstice. 

Between Summer and Winter lie the Spring 
and the Autumn Equinoxes. 

For either of these you must carry your ball 
to one side of the candle, half-way between the 
summer place and the winter place. Your pin 
must still slant exactly as it did before, with no 
change in the direction of its head. 

You will then find neither north pole nor 
south pole towards the candle. The pin lies 
sideways to it, and the candle-light falls on both 
poles alike. So here, as the Earth spins, days 
and nights are of just the same length ; and this 
is one of the Equinoxes. 

Over the greater part of the Earth days and 
nights are always altering in length between 
the Spring Equinox and the Autumn Equinox. 



106 THE STARRY SKIES. 

Days are getting longer and nights shorter ; or 
nights are getting longer and days shorter. 

In the very far north, and in the very far 
south, near the poles, things are different. 
There, when the pole is turned towards the 
Sun, one full day lasts for months, with no sun- 
set. And there, when the pole is turned away 
from the Sun, one full night lasts for months, 
with no sunrise. 

Some chapters back we were thinking about 
our Earth as she floats in the sky, with stars all 
around her everywhere. You heard how the 
stars seem to travel every night across the sky, 
and how this seeming journey of theirs is 
brought about by our own Earth's daily spin- 
ning on her axis. 

The stars which we see in our sky are not 
exactly the same all the year round. Some are 
the same, but some are different. Fresh star- 
groups come into view in the evening at one 
time of the year, and vanish again at another 
time. 

This is because we can only see those stars 
which lie in a direction away from the Sun. It is 
impossible for us to see those which lie beyond 
the Sun ; for they are above the horizon when 
he is above it, and their faint glimmers are quite 
hidden by his radiance. 

As we go round the Sun, we see him month 



HOW THE WORLD JOURNEYS. 107 

by month in a fresh part of the sky, and be- 
hind him lie fresh star-groups. So our journey 
makes the Sun seem to move among the stars, 
and the Sun's seeming pathway we call the 
Ecliptic. 

As the Earth travels, her north pole always 
points exactly in one direction — always towards 
the Pole-star. 

If a man were standing at the north pole and 
looking upwards, he would see the Pole-star 
always, at any hour of the night, in just the 
very same spot. 

When we think of our Earth as a globe float- 
ing in the sky, we must try to remember that in 
the Sky there is no real " up " or " down." This 
you have heard before. 

Our " up " is always towards the sky, and 
away from the ground. But as the Earth turns 
round and round our "up" is every hour in a 
fresh direction. 

For the blue heaven is all around us, and 
from every part of the Earth we look up into the 
depths of the sky. 

We speak of some stars being in the " north- 
ern sky," and of other stars being in the u south- 
ern sky." For our own use we have given the 
name " northern sky " to one part of the heav- 
ens, and the name " southern sky " to another 
part. 



108 THE STARRY SKIES. 

Only " north " does not mean up," and south 
does not mean "down." The only true "up" 
for us is from any part of the Earth where we 
may be towards the sky over our heads, and the 
only true " down " is towards the middle of our 
Earth, under our feet. 

QUESTIONS. 
i. What is a Year? 

The time that our Earth takes to journey 
round the Sun. 

2. How long is the Earth's Year ? 
Twelve months, or about 365 days. 

3. How many times does the Earth turn round on her 
axis in one Year ? 

Three hundred and sixty-five times. 

4. What is meant by the Seasons ? 

Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. 

5. How are the Seasons caused? 

The Earth travels round the Sun with her 
axis slanting. 

6. How does it slant ? 

Always in one direction, with her north pole 
pointing to the Pole-star. 

7. What brings summer to us in the north ? 

When the Earth is on one side of the Sun 



HOW THE WORLD JOURNEYS. IO9 

her north pole is towards the Sun, and the 
northern half of the Earth gets most of his heat 
and light. 

8. What brings winter to us ? 

When the Earth gets round to the other side 
of the Sun her north pole is turned away from 
him, and so we in the north have less heat and 
light. 

9. Do they have summer and winter in the south of the 
world ? 

The southern half of the world has summer 
when we have winter in the north, and winter 
when we have summer in the north. 

10. How is this? 

When the north pole is towards the Sun the 
south pole is turned away, and when the north 
pole is away from the Sun the south pole is 
towards him. 

11. When are the Equinoxes ? 

In Spring and Autumn, half-way between 
Summer and Winter. 

12. In which part of the world is the Equinox ? 
All over the world at once. 

1 3. Which pole is then turned towards the Sun ? 
Neither pole. The Earth's axis is then side- 



IIO THE STARRY SKIES. 

ways to the Sun, and his light falls on north and 
south pole alike. 

14. What is the Ecliptic ? 

The path which the Sun seems to take in the 
sky through one year. 

15. Where would a man at the north pole see the Pole- 
star? 

Always exactly overhead. 



OTHER WORLDS. Ill 

CHAPTER XI. 

OTHER WORLDS. 

Now for the Planets, or Worlds, which jour- 
ney as our Earth journeys, round and round 
the Sun, each in its own particular pathway. 
And — to begin with — a few words as to what 
keeps them in their pathways. 

Two things working together do this. There 
is an inward pull, and there is also an outward 
pull. 

The inward pull is the pull of Attraction, 
known also as Gravitation. You have heard a 
little about Attraction before. You know how 
the Earth pulls, with a steady downward drag, 
everything upon her surface. And in just the 
very same manner the Sun pulls towards him- 
self all the worlds, little or big, which float 
around him in the sky. 

When you try to jump up from the Earth 
you drop back. It is impossible for you to get 
right away, merely by jumping, because of the 
Earth's strong pull. 

And if our Earth tries to get away from the 
Sun, she cannot do so either ; because of the 
Sun's strong pull. In fact she is always trying 
and never succeeds. 



112 THE STARRY SKIES. 

She is always trying to get away because 
she is always on the rush ; always hastening at 
a great speed, and struggling to go straight for- 
ward in her rush, while the pull of the Sun 
keeps drawing her out of a straight line and 
making her travel in a bent path round the Sun. 

If it were not for the Earth's rapid onward 
movement she would soon fall down upon the 
Sun ; and if it were not for the Sun's pull she 
would soon wander away from him. These two 
things — the inward pull of the Sun's attraction 
and the outward pull of our Earth's own quick 
rush — keep her at her present distance from the 
Sun. 

It is the same with the other Planets. They 
too journey round the Sun in oval pathways. 
Those worlds which are nearer to him are 
pulled more strongly ; and they have to fly 
along at a great speed, to escape from falling 
down upon his fiery surface. Those which are 
farther off are pulled more feebly ; and they 
move at a much slower pace. 

When " attraction " is spoken of, remember 
that it is always a pull on both sides. The 
Earth attracts the Sun, as well as the Sun at- 
tracting the Earth ; and all the Planets attract 
one another. But the pull of the Sun is so pow- 
erful that other pullings seem small by com- 
parison. 



OTHER WORLDS. 113 

Our world is only one little planet in the 
great Kingdom of the Sun. That kingdom is 
commonly called "The Solar System." 

A "system" means something which is ar- 
ranged, or which is made up of different parts 
put together in an orderly manner. The word 
" solar " is from the Latin for " Sun." So, by 
the Solar System we mean that great System or 
Arrangement of Worlds which is governed by 
the Sun. 

No two worlds are at the same distance from 
the Sun ; but all the larger planets travel on 
very much the same plane — that is, on the same 
level, or the same flat, in the sky. 

Also, they all go the same way. They jour- 
ney round the Sun from west to east ; not from 
east to west. 

Astronomers have sometimes fancied that 
they could catch a glimpse of one small world 
very near to the Sun, which they named Vul- 
can. But it is very doubtful whether there 
really is any such planet at all. If there is, he 
is almost lost in the glare of the Sun. 

The nearest to the Sun of which we know 
positively is named Mercury. 

He is much smaller than our world, though 
larger than our Moon ; and he whirls along at a 
dizzy speed. 

Outside the pathway of Mercury, like a large 

8 



114 THE STARRY SKIES. 

hoop round a little one, only at a good distance 
off, lies the oval-shaped pathway of Venus. 

Though we often speak carelessly of this 
lovely world as " The Evening Star," Venus is 
no star, but a planet like the Earth, shining 
only in the Sun's light. And, although per- 
haps not really brighter in herself than all 
other worlds, Venus is by far the brightest in 
our sky. 

Mercury's pathway lies too close to the Sun 
to give us often very good views of him. Be- 
sides, Mercury is not only much smaller than 
Venus, but much farther away from us. 

That is to say, Mercury at his nearest is far- 
ther off from us than Venus at her nearest. 
When Mercury happens to be between the Sun 
and us, while Venus happens to be far away on 
the other side of the Sun, just then, of course, 
Mercury for a little while is the closer to us of 
the two. 

If you have three hoops of different sizes 
you will be able to see quite easily how this 
comes about, 

Lay the hoops on the floor, one within an- 
other, and place a ball in the middle for the Sun. 
Then lay one marble, for the Earth, close to the 
outermost and largest hoop, and another marble 
for Mercury, close to the innermost and smallest 
hoop, on the same side as the Earth-marble. 



OTHER WORLDS. 1 1 5 

Then put a marble, for Venus, close to the mid- 
dle-sized hoop, still on the same side. 

So the three worlds are all together on the 
same side, as near as they ever can come one to 
another. And you will see that Mercury can 
never get so close to the Earth as Venus can. 

But now, leaving the Earth and Mercury 
alone, move the Venus-marble half-way round 
its hoop, to just the opposite side of the Sun. 
You will then understand how sometimes, for a 
little while, Venus may be actually much farther 
off than Mercury from our Earth. 

These worlds all travel on different pathways 
at different speeds, and the pathways are not of 
the same length. So the worlds never keep 
long side by side. For a little while they may 
journey in company ; then one gets ahead and 
the other drops behind. By-and-by they are on 
opposite sides of the Sun ; and then in time 
they draw near one to another again. 

Both Mercury and Venus have phases, or 
seeming changes of shape, like our Moon. They 
shine only on one side, that side which is to- 
wards the Sun ; and sometimes we see only part 
of the bright side, not the whole of it. But the 
changes are too small at such a distance to be 
seen without a telescope. 

Venus is very nearly the same size as our 
Earth. She lies farther from the Sun than Mer- 



Il6 .THE STARRY SKIES. 

cury, and nearer the Earth. This means that 
she has more light and more heat than we have, 
but less light and less heat than Mercury has. 
From Venus the Sun looks very much larger 
and more brilliant than we see him, yet much 
smaller and less brilliant than as seen from 
Mercury. 

Also, the Sun pulls Venus more strongly than 
he pulls the Earth, but less strongly than he 
pulls Mercury. Venus does not journey so fast 
as Mercury, but she goes farther than our Earth 
goes. 

You see how perfectly these things are all 
planned, so as just to fit in one with another. 
We may well talk of our Sun's kingdom in the 
sky as a System, when we find its wonderful ar- 
rangements and note the order and beauty of 
the whole. 

The two inner worlds, Mercury and Venus, 
are called " Inferior Planets," because they lie 
between the Earth and the Sum All other worlds, 
having pathways outside our Earth's pathway, 
are called " Superior Planets." 

The next oval hoop which surrounds the path- 
way of Venus is that of The Earth. 

Outside the pathway of our Earth lies that of 
Mars : another world, a good deal smaller than 
the Earth or Venus, but larger than Mercury. 

Both Mercury and Venus can only be seen in 



OTHER WORLDS. 117 

the sky near to the Sun, either a short time be- 
fore he rises in the morning, or not long after he 
sets in the evening — either towards the east in 
the morning, or towards the west in the evening. 
But Mars and all the other outer planets may be 
seen in various parts of the sky at different times. 

Of these four small Worlds our Earth is the 
largest, being nearly 8,000 miles straight through 
from side to side. 

Venus is the next in size, being nearly as 
large as Earth. 

Mars is the next, being about 4,000 miles 
through. 

Mercury is the smallest, being less than 3,000 
miles through. 

And our Moon, as you know, is smaller still, 
being only 2,000 miles through. 

Suppose we look upon these worlds, as we 
have done earlier, in a lessened size ; letting one 
inch stand for 2,000 miles. 

Then to picture our Moon we should want a 
very large grape, or a small walnut, one inch 
through. 

Our Earth would be a very big apple, or a 
small cocoa-nut, four inches through. 

Venus would be another big apple, almost as 
large as the Earth. 

Mars might be a small orange, two inches 
through. 



Il8 THE STARRY SKIES. 

Mercury might be a crab-apple, only one inch 
and a half straight through. 

If you can manage to find five balls of the 
right sizes, and put them all in a row, you will 
get a very fair idea of the sizes of these worlds, 
as compared one with another. 

Try also to fix the names firmly in your 
memory, by saying them often over and over — 
" Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars." 

Remember that " Earth " is the name of our 
world, just as "Venus" is the name of another 
world. All the planets are "worlds," but only 
one of them is " Earth." 

After Mars comes a wide space in the heavens, 
which for a long while was thought to be quite 
empty of worlds. But it is not empty. Instead 
of one big planet a great many tiny ones are 
there, journeying round the Sun in company. 
Nearly three hundred and fifty are known to us, 
and fresh ones are still often found. 

When first discovered, about one hundred 
years ago, these small worlds were named As- 
teroids, or Little Stars. Now they are known 
as Planetoids, or Little Planets. This is the 
right name for them, since they are not stars 
but planets, or worlds. 

Only they are very, very tiny worlds. The 
biggest of them all is under 400 miles through ; 
and most of them are much less. So if the Moon 



OTHER WORLDS. II9 

is pictured by a large grape, a pea would be far 
too big for most of the Planetoids. 

This belt of Planetoids comes after a broad 
gap of space, between it and Mars ; and it is fol- 
lowed by another wide gap. 

Then we get to the pathway of Jupiter. 

Here indeed is a contrast. The Planetoids 
are the smallest worlds in the whole Polar Sys- 
tem, and Jupiter is the largest. He is very, very 
far away ; yet, as he shines in our sky, he is of- 
ten the most splendid object we can see there, 
second only to Venus. 

Venus is very much smaller than Jupiter ; but 
Venus is also very much nearer than Jupiter. 

Not one of all the other planets is as big 
as Jupiter. While our Earth is only eight 
thousand miles through, Jupiter is eighty-five 
thousand miles through. This makes a won- 
derful difference. Jupiter is very small beside 
the Sun, but he is very huge beside our little 
Earth. 

Jupiter's speed is far slower than that of the 
inner planets. At his vast distance the pull of 
the Sun is much weaker, and so he does not go 
so fast. 

If Jupiter whirled round the Sun as fast as 
Mars does the Sun could not hold him in, and 
he would wander away and be lost. But if Mer- 
cury were to journey at Jupiter's pace he could 



120 THE STARRY SKIES.: 

not keep away from the Sun, and he would, most 
likely, soon be destroyed. 

Jupiter does not travel alone. He has a family 
of moons ; not one only, like our Earth, but five 
moons, the nearest of which has been quite lately 
found. These moons all journey with Jupiter 
round the Sun ; and they also go round Jupiter 
as our Moon goes round the Earth. 

Beyond Jupiter, at a great distance, is an- 
other giant world, Saturn. Not quite so big as 
Jupiter, but not very far behind him in size. 

Saturn too has a family, not of five moons 
only but of eight moons. He also has three very 
wonderful rings, which shine in the sunlight. 
Neither rings nor moons can be seen without a 
very good telescope. 

Outside the pathway of Saturn lies that of 
Uranus, another huge world, though a good 
deal smaller than Saturn. 

Outside the pathway of Uranus travels the 
dim and distant Neptune — so far as we know, 
the outermost world of the whole Solar System. 
Neptune is rather larger than Uranus. 

So there are first the four smaller or Lesser 
Planets — Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars ; then the 
Planetoids ; and then the four big Outer Planets — 
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. 

Nov/ look again at your little balls which 
picture the sizes of the smaller planets. The 



OTHER WORLDS. 121 

biofg:est of them is our Earth — a ball or a cocoa- 
nut four inches through. 

But when we turn to Jupiter, still letting one 
inch stand for 2,000 miles, we shall want a ball 
or globe no less than three feet and a /W/" through, 
from side to side. 

And for Saturn we must find a globe three 
feet through. 

And for Uranus a globe less than one foot and 
a /^//"through. 

And for Neptune a globe quite one foot and 
a half through. 

Then, to finish up, we shall want a big bal- 
loon, for the Sun, thirty-five feet through. 

QUESTIONS. 

1 . What is the Solar System ? 

The Sun's Kingdom of Worlds in the Sky. 

2. What is a System ? 

An orderly arrangement. 

3. What is a Planet ? 

A planet is a world which shines by borrowed 
light. 

4. What is an Orbit ? 

A planet's pathway. 

5. How do the pathways of the planets lie rcund the Sun ? 
One outside another, and all of them very 

nearly on the same level, 



122 THE STARRY SKIES. 

6. Which are the four Lesser Planets — nearest to the 
Sun? 

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars. 

7. What comes next ? 

The belt of tiny Planetoids. 

8. Which are the four Outer Planets ? 
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. 

9. Which is the largest planet of all ? 
Jupiter. 

10. If our Earth were only four inches through how big 
should Jupiter be ? 

Three feet and a half through. 

11. How many moons has Jupiter? 
Five moons. 

12. How many moons has Saturn? 
Eight moons, and three rings. 

13. Which planet is nearest to the Sun? 
Mercury. 

14. Is this quite sure ? 

An inner planet, Vulcan, may be there ; but 
this is very uncertain. 

15. W T hich is the farthest off planet known to us? 
Neptune. 



OTHER WORLDS. 1 23 

16. How many Planetoids do we know of ? 

Nearly 350 ; and new ones are often found. 

1 9. Which planets travel fastest ? 
Those nearest to the Sun. 

20. Why do they travel faster ? 

Because the pull of the Sun is so much 



stronger. 



21. In what direction do the planets travel? 
All of them from west to east. 

22. Which way do they spin ? 

All of them from west to east. 



124 THE STARRY SKIES. 



CHAPTER XII. 

WHAT IS MEANT BY AN ECLIPSE. 

Before telling you more about the other 
worlds in the Sun's kingdom I should like you 
to understand what is meant by an Eclipse. 

The word " Eclipse " really means " a fail- 
ure" — as when something fails to shine because 
its light is somehow hidden or shadowed. 

First, we will think about an Eclipse of the 
Sun. 

For this we will forget all other worlds, and 
fix our minds only on the Earth, the Moon, and 
the Sun. 

The Sun is in the centre, or, as a child 
would say, "in the middle." The Earth jour- 
neys round him. The Moon also journeys 
round the Sun ; and, as she goes, she curves 
backwards and forwards, so as to be on each 
side of the Earth in turn. 

Sometimes she is outside the Earth, away 
from the Sun ; and then we see her as Full 
Moon. Sometimes she is between the Earth 
and the Sun — only a little higher or lower, and 
not exactly between — and then she is New Moon, 
with her bright face turned from us, so that we 
cannot see her. 



WHAT IS MEANT BY AN ECLIPSE. 1 25 

Suppose the Moon, instead of being at " New 
Moon " a little higher or lower, were to pass just 
exactly between the Sun and us ; what would 
happen ? 

We should see her as a dark round body, 
creeping over the face of the Sun, and hiding 
him from us. 

And this is precisely what we do see, from 
time to time. Once in a while the Moon does 
come into the line between ; and then we have 
an Eclipse of the Sun : we see the moon's dark 
body covering or partly covering his face. 

You must not think that the Moon is at such 
times any darker than usual. She always has a 
■dark side and a bright side. At New Moon the 
dark side is towards us, and so we cannot see it 
at all — unless she happens to be just between the 
Sun and us. 

But you must not suppose for a moment 
that she really touches the face of the Sun. 
The Moon is no nearer to the Sun than usual. 
She is only between him and us. 

If you are in a room with a lamp on the 
table, and somebody holds a big ball just be- 
tween your eyes and the lamp, what happens ? 

The lamp is eclipsed. It does not leave off 
shining, but to you it is eclipsed, or hidden. 
You see the dark ball, not the bright globe of 
the lamp beyond it. 



126 THE STARRY SKIES. 

That is how we have an eclipse of the Sun. 
Now and then, at New Moon, our Moon glides 
exactly between, just as the ball came between 
your eyes and the lamp. And then the light of 
the Sun is cut off from part of the Earth. 

An eclipse of the Sun is always known about 
beforehand. The Moon's pathway and the 
Earth's pathway are so well understood by 
astronomers that they can tell when she will 
pass a little higher, or a little lower, and when 
she will go just between, so as to eclipse the 
Sun. 

Then, when the moment comes, we look 
earnestly at the Sun, perhaps with telescopes, 
perhaps only with pieces of smoked glass to* 
protect our eyes ; and we see — 

A dark round body touching the bright side 
of the Sun, then slowly crossing his face and 
blotting out his radiance. 

Not that the Sun is dimmed, or that for a 
moment he leaves off shining. Other worlds 
see him still, as brilliant as ever. But to us, for 
a short space, his light is hidden by the solid 
Moon floating between. 

For a few seconds, and no more, we have al- 
most darkness. Then, on the side of the Sun 
where the moon seemed first to touch him, a 
line of light is seen. This widens fast, as the 
dark round moon draws away to the opposite 



WHAT IS MEANT BY AN ECLIPSE. \2J 

edge and then vanishes, and the whole Sun 
shines out as usual. 

Even when an eclipse can be seen it is often 
only a Partial eclipse, not Total. Only part of 
the Sun is hidden, not all of him. The Moon 
creeps over one edge, or perhaps over half of 
the Sun's face, but she does not cover him quite. 

Now and then we have what is called an 
Annular eclipse. The found dark body of the 
Moon is seen upon the face of the Sun, and a 
bright rim of the Sun is all round the Moon. 

It seems odd that at one time the Moon 
should quite hide the Sun, and that at another 
time the Moon should be too small to hide him. 

The reason is that the Moon is sometimes a 
little nearer to us, sometimes a little farther 
away ; and the Sun too is the same — sometimes 
a little nearer, sometimes a little farther. 

If an eclipse happens just when the Moon is 
at her farthest from us, and so seems her small- 
est, while the Sun is at his nearest to us, and so 
seems his biggest, then she is not large enough 
to cover his whole face. But if the Sun is at 
his farthest, and the Moon at her nearest, she 
can hide him entirely. 

When a Total Eclipse is foretold, astrono- 
mers are eager to make the most of it. Teles- 
copes are pointed at him, and photographs are 
taken. Much can be seen during a total eclipse 



128 THE STARRY SKIES. 

which is hidden from us at other times, because 
the dazzling brilliance of the Sun's body is for a 
few seconds cut off from our eyes. 

The ocean of fire round the Sun is seen at 
his edge, outside the dark body of the Moon, by 
those who look through telescopes; also the 
sharp mountains of fiery gases, and the soft 
broad crown of light spreading away on all 
sides. 

But the very utmost has to be made of each 
moment. Hardly has the Moon's body covered 
the whole face of the Sun before she begins to 
move away from the side which first she seemed 
to touch ; and as a bright line of light appears 
there, these wonderful sights vanish. 

Remember, an Eclipse of the Sun never hap- 
pens except at the time of New Moon. It is 
only then that the Moon can possibly be just 
between the Sun and our Earth. 

Another kind of Eclipse, however, may hap- 
pen at Full Moon ; and that is an eclipse of the 
Moon herself. 

An Eclipse of the Moon is partly like and 
partly unlike an Eclipse of the Sun. 

In an Eclipse of the Sun we have the solid 
body of the Moon gliding in between, and hid^ 
ing his light from us though all the time the 
Sun shines on just the same, behind the 
Moon. 




At 9 : 32. 




At 9 : 37. 
Eclipse of the Moon. January 



WHAT IS MEANT BY AN ECLIPSE. 1 29 

In an eclipse of the Moon we, on the Earth, 
have no solid body between us and the Moon. 
Her brightness is not simply hidden, it is for 
the moment quenched by a shadow. For the 
shadow of our Earth falls upon her. 

The Moon is bright only when the sunshine 
makes her bright. When the solid body of the 
Earth, gliding in between, cuts off the sunlight 
from her, then the Moon shines no longer. So 
long as she is plunged in the Earth's shadow 
she is all dark. 

You have seen with a lamp and a big ball 
how the Sun can be eclipsed by the Moon. 

Now, instead of letting some one hold the 
ball between your head and the lamp, you must 
get some one to hold the ball farther off while 
you move with your head between the lamp and the 
ball. Place your head exactly between, so that 
its shadow covers the ball. 

Then you have a picture of a Moon-Eclipse. 

So once in a while, when the Earth goes ex- 
actly between Sun and Moon, the Moon for a 
very short time is not a bright world at all. 
She is quite a dull one. But the very moment 
she catches a glimpse of the Sun's radiant face 
she begins to shine again. 

There is, you see, a great likeness, as well as 
some difference, between an Eclipse of the Sun 
and an Eclipse of the Moon. 

9 



130 THE STARRY SKIES. 

In an Eclipse of the Moon the Earth glides 
between Sun and Moon, and the Moon passes 
into the Earth's shadow. In an Eclipse of the 
Sun, the Moon glides between Sun and Earth, 
and a part of our Earth passes into the Moon's 
shadow. The Earth's shadow is large, and the 
Moon's shadow is small ; yet so far the two kinds 
of Eclipse are really alike. 

If you and I were standing on the Sun we 
should see the Earth eclipse the Moon, and the 
Moon eclipse part of the Earth, by turns, and in 
the same way. The Earth would slip in front 
of the Moon, hiding the Moon from us ; or the 
Moon would slip in front of the Earth, hiding 
part of the Earth from us. 

But looking upon the two sights from the 
Earth, and not from the Sun, they seem to us a 
little different in kind. 

Other Eclipses take place in the kingdom of 
the Sun besides these two. 

There are many other moons besides our 
Moon. You should always remember that 
Moon is the name of our particular moon, just 
as Earth is the name of our particular world. 
Other little worlds travelling with big ones are 
spoken of as " moons ;" but more rightly they 
ought to be called "satellites." Each one has 
its own separate name ; whereas our " satellite " 
has no other name except " The Moon." 




At 10. 




At to : 15. 
Eclipse of the Moon. January 28, 



WHAT IS MEANT BY AN ECLIPSE. 131 

Mars has two tiny moons, and Mars often 
eclipses his moons. Jupiter has five moons, and 
they often pass into his vast shadow. The eight 
moons of Saturn, the four moons of Uranus, the 
moon of Neptune, are all in turn eclipsed. Also, 
in turn, they all pass between the Sun and the 
Planet to which they belong, casting a small 
shadow on the Planet, and making an Eclipse of 
the Sun for that part where the shadow falls. 

One or two other things often seen are much 
like Eclipses, though known by other names. 

For instance, as the Moon journeys at night 
across the sky — seems to journey, I mean— she 
blots out star after star on her way. 

Does she really blot each star out, as you 
might snuff out a candle ? 

No, indeed. She only comes between our 
eyes and the star. The Moon is still as near as 
usual, and the star beyond is as far off as usual. 
But, for a little while, the Moon, being exactly 
in the line between, hides the star from us. 

We do not speak of this as an eclipse, but 
really it is an Eclipse of the stars by the Moon. 

They are hidden by the solid body of the 
Moon, just exactly as the Sun is hidden during a 
Total Eclipse. The chief difference is that we 
look upon the bright side of the Moon, instead of 
the dark side. 

Again, you will sometimes hear of a Con- 



132 THE STARRY SKIES. 

junction of two planets, or of a planet and a 
very bright star. 

A " Conjunction " means " a joining to- 
gether." 

Jupiter is seen, in the sky, to come very close 
indeed to Saturn. We are told that it is " a 
Conjunction " of Jupiter and Saturn. 

Still you must not for a moment think that 
Jupiter is any closer than usual to Saturn. They 
are divided, as always, by a great gulf of millions 
upon millions of miles. The two only happen 
to be for a while in nearly the same line of sight, 
as looked upon from the Earth. Saturn is very 
much farther off, but he is almost behind Ju- 
piter. 

Instead of Jupiter and Saturn seeming to 
draw near together, it may be Jupiter and Venus ; 
or perhaps Jupiter and Mars ; or Saturn and the 
bright star Sirius. 

But in each case it is only a seeming near- 
ness. They are not really near together. It is 
only a matter of the one being seen beyond the 
other — very greatly beyond it — in almost the 
same line of sight. 

Suppose you stood on the sea-shore and saw 
a ship one or two miles off sail just between you 
and another ship ten or twenty miles off. If the 
near one hid the farther one it would be like an 
Eclipse. If the near one only appeared to be 



WHAT IS MEANT BY AN ECLIPSE. 1 33 

side by side with the farther one it would be like 
a Conjunction. 

There is still one more sight, which is also 
like an Eclipse in its nature. Sometimes one of 
the planets whose pathway lies nearer to the 
Sun than the Earth's pathway glides exactly 
between the Sun and ourselves. 

This is just what the Moon does at an Eclipse 
of the Sun. But the planet is too far away from 
us to hide the Sun. We can only see a tiny dark 
body creeping across the Sun's face ; and we call 
this a " Transit," or a " passing over." 

You will hear more about " Transits" in the 
next chapter. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is an Eclipse ? 
A hiding of light. 

2. Tell me what causes an Eclipse of the Sun. 

The round body of the Moon comes exactly 
between the Earth and the Sun, and hides the 
Sun from us. 

3. Tell me what causes an Eclipse of the Moon. 

The round body of the Earth comes exactly 
between Sun and Moon ; and the Earth's shadow 
falling on the Moon makes her dark. 

4. How far are the two alike ? 

In an Eclipse of the Sun, the Moon is be- 



134 THE STARRY SKIES. 

tween Sun and Earth. In an Eclipse of the 
Moon, the Earth is between Sun and Moon. 

5. Do they seem just alike to us ? 

Not as seen from Earth. In an Eclipse of 
the Sun we see the Moon's solid body against 
the Sun. In an Eclipse of the Moon we see 
Earth's shadow crossing the Moon's face. 

6. Does the Moon get nearer to the Sun than usual in an 
Eclipse of the Sun ? 

No nearer at all. She only passes between 
the Sun and Earth. 

7. Are there any other eclipses ? 

Other planets with moons have eclipses in 
the same way. 

8. Tell me another name for " moons." 
Satellites. 

9. What is a Conjunction of Planets ? 

When two planets happen to be seen near 
together in the sky we call that a Conjunction. 

10. Are they really near together ? 

No nearer than usual. They only happen to 
lie in almost the same line of sight. 

1 1 . What is a Transit of a Planet ? 

Very much like an eclipse. One of the 
planets, nearer to the Sun than our Earth, gets 
exactly between the Sun and Earth. 



WHAT IS MEANT BY AN ECLIPSE. 1 35 

12. Is the Sun's face hidden ? 

No ; because the planet is too far away. We 
only see a small body crossing his face. 

13. At what time is an Eclipse of the Sun ? 
Never at any other time than New Moon. 

14. When do we have an Eclipse of the Moon ? 
Never at any other time than Full Moon. 

15. What is a Total Eclipse of Sun or Moon? 

When the whole face of the Sun or Moon is 

hidden. 

16. What is a Partial Eclipse ? 

When only part of the face of Sun or Moon is 

hidden. 

17. What is an Annular Eclipse of the Sun ? 

When a bright rim of the Sun is seen all 
round the dark body of the Moon. 



136 THE STARRY SKIES. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

MERCURY AND VENUS. 

Now let us take a flight through the Sun's 
great kingdom, paying a visit to one bright 
world after another on our way. We will start 
from near the Sun himself, stopping first to look 
at the two innermost of the Four Lesser Planets. 
We might name them The Sun's Body-Guard. 

Mercury has a pathway round the Sun 
much more oval in its shape than our Earth's 
pathway. And the Sun is a good deal to one 
side of the exact middle of that oval. So Mer- 
cury, at one time of his year, is many millions 
of miles closer to the Sun than at another time. 

You must remember that a Planet's Year 
means just the length of time that the Planet 
takes to go once round the Sun. Our Earth's 
yearly journey takes 365 days ; but other worlds 
have years either longer or shorter. No two 
are exactly alike. 

The length of Mercury's year is about 88 of 
our days, or three months of Earth -time. So 
four years of Mercury go to one of our years. If 
a little boy on Mercury had lived just as long 
as ten of our years, he would be forty years old ! 



MERCURY AND VENUS. I 37 

When closest to the Sun, Mercury cannot 
easily be seen by us, he is so lost in the Sun's 
radiance. And although perhaps the brightest 
of the worlds, because so much the nearest, he 
often seems dim to us. 

At his farthest off point from the Sun we 
have our best view of him, because he then 
stays longer above the horizon after the sun- 
light sinks away. 

We never see Mercury high up in the sky, 
for when Mercury is high the Sun is up also ; 
and when the Sun can be seen Mercury cannot 
be seen without a telescope. 

The distance of Mercury from the Sun is 
commonly said to be about thirty-six millions 
of miles. That may be called his " middle- 
distance." He draws sometimes as near to the 
Sun as twenty-eight millions of miles, and goes 
as far off as forty-three millions of miles — a very 
great difference. 

Even at his farthest Mercury has to endure 
an awful blaze of heat and glare ; and at his 
nearest the most scorching mid-day ever known 
on the hottest parts of the Earth would be icy 
by comparison. 

Mercury does not always go at the same pace 
through the sky. When near he travels faster, 
because the Sun's pull is stronger. When far- 
ther off he slackens his speed. 



I38 THE STARRY SKIES. 

At his quickest he whirls onward at the rate 
of about thirty-five miles each second! Think 
of that ! A railway train does pretty well if it 
gets over about thirty-five miles of ground each 
hour, and sixty or seventy miles an hour we 
count very fast travelling. But Mercury's speed 
is more than two thousand miles an hour. This 
quite puts our express trains to the blush. 

It is impossible for us to see much of a planet 
so bathed in sunlight glory. 

We do not know whether the axis of Mer- 
cury does or does not slant, like the Earth's axis. 
Nor are we at all sure how long it takes Mer- 
cury to spin upon his axis. 

Wonderful as it sounds, Mercury has been 
weighed by man — and not only Mercury, but 
the Moon, and the Sun, and the other planets, 
and even some of the Stars. I cannot try, in a 
book such as this, to explain how the heavenly 
bodies are weighed from our little Earth. I can 
only tell you that it is really and truly done. 

Mercury is a far heavier body than our 
Earth ; not actually more heavy as a whole, 
because so much smaller, but heavier in make. 

Do you see what this means ? Iron is heavier 
than tin in its make. A large quantity of tin 
may weigh more than a small lump of iron ; yet 
in actual make the iron is heavier. If Mercury 
were as big as our Earth, Mercury would be 



MERCURY AND VENUS. 1 39 

very much the heavier of the two. Our Earth 
is less heavy in make than Mercury, but she 
comes next after Mercury. Other worlds are 
still lighter. 

Mercury shines less brightly than Venus, as 
seen from the Earth. We have to allow for 
the greater distance of Mercury ; but even then 
Venus seems to be more brilliant than one 
would expect, while Mercury is less brilliant. 

Although the Sun pours his beams upon all 
things alike, those beams are not always re- 
ceived alike. Some worlds make more of the 
light which they have than do others, and they 
give out more shining in return. We see that 
even on the Earth. If a sheet of polished silver 
and a sheet of unpolished lead are held side by 
side in the sunlight, what a difference we find ! 
The silver flashes brilliantly, while the lead 
shows only a dull sort of brightness. 

Of these two worlds, so near to the Sun, 
Mercury, the nearer, is said to shine only like 
lead, while Venus, the farther, shines like silver. 

Once in a while the tiny body of Mercury is 
seen to creep, as a little black dot, across the 
face of the Sun : though this is only visible in a 
telescope. Then we have a " Transit of Mer- 
cury." In the last chapter you were told what 
is meant by a Transit. 

If Mercury were as near to us as our Moon 



140 THE STARRY SKIES. 

is, he would hide the Sun from us in his tran- 
sit just as the Moon does in an eclipse — only 
more fully, because Mercury is bigger than our 
Moon. 

In a Transit, as in an Eclipse, there is no 
real drawing together of Sun and Planet. Be 
very clear in your mind about this. Mercury 
glides between our Earth and the Sun, but he is 
just as far as usual from the Earth on one side 
and from the Sun on the other side. 

If you are gazing at a church-tower a great 
many miles away, and a bird near at hand flies 
between, hiding for a moment that tower from 
you, the bird may be said to " eclipse " the 
tower. But he does not go nearer to the church. 
He only moves into the straight line between 
you and the tower. 

And if, instead of this, a bird some distance 
off flies between — then you have a " transit." 
The more distant bird cannot hide the church- 
tower, but you see his little body pass across it, 
as a dark spot. 

A transit of Mercury is not common. For 
though Mercury often passes between the Earth 
and the Sun he is not often exactly between. 
His oval pathway is not quite on the same level 
as the Earth's pathway. So he is usually a little 
too high or a little too low for us to see him 
against the Sun. 



MERCURY AND VENUS. I4I 

Leaving" Mercury behind we come next to 
the pathway of the planet Venus. 

Mercury was a good deal smaller than our 
Earth ; but Venus is almost the same size. In- 
stead of being, like Mercury, only some thirty- 
six millions of miles away from the Sun, Venus 
is about sixty-five millions of miles off. She 
journeys round him at a rate of some twenty- 
two miles each second, and her year lasts about 
seven months and a half of Earth-time. In 
make she is not quite so solid and heavy as our 
Earth. 

Venus in her journey round the Sun, as our 
Moon travels round the Earth, is now believed 
to turn on her axis so very slowly that the same 
side is always towards the Sun, and the other 
side is always turned away. If this really is so, 
one half of Venus has an endless day, and the 
other half an endless night. 

The same state of things may possibly be 
also true of Mercury. 

Both these worlds are believed to have air 
around them, and Venus seems to be enwrapped 
in thick clouds. This helps to explain the great 
brilliancy of Venus. Nothing lights up so well 
in sunshine as masses of cloud, though of course 
we on Earth more generally see the dark under- 
sides of clouds. 

So far as we know, Venus is a lonely world. 



142 THE STARRY SKIES. 

She seems to have no little moon-friend to jour- 
ney with her in the sky. 

She has, however, a far more splendid Sun 
than ours — the very same Sun only much nearer, 
and bigger and more dazzling. She also has in 
her sky a very exquisite little shining Earth, far 
lovelier than Venus at her best ever appears to 
us. And I will tell you why. 

Venus comes at times nearer to our Earth 
than any other world in all the sky, except our 
Moon. If the Moon is our little Sister-World 
Venus is our Next-Door Neighbor. 

When the Earth happens to be on one side 
of the Sun and Venus on the other side the 
two then are widely parted. When both are on 
the same side of the Sun at once they are quite 
near — divided by only about twenty-six millions 
of miles. 

Of course twenty-six millions of miles sound 
a good deal to you and me. We think so much 
of even one thousand miles on the Earth, and 
one million is a thousand thousand. But in talk- 
ing of sky-distances twenty-six millions of miles 
are merely a matter of next-door neighbors ! 

Unfortunately, when Venus is at her nearest 
to us we cannot see her. She is then, like our 
Moon at New-Moon, between us and the Sun, 
so that her dark side is toward us, and her bright 
side is away from us. 



MERCURY AND VENUS. 143 

This is a great pity, because she would be a 
lovely sight then, so near and brilliant. Our 
best sight of her is when she is away to one 
side, and then it is really only " Half- Venus " 
that we see. Even that half is the brightest of 
all heavenly bodies to us, after the Sun and 
Moon ; but you can fancy how much more 
beautiful the whole would be. 

We do see the whole of her when she gets 
right beyond the Sun ; but then she is so very, 
very far away that she becomes much more 
small and dim. 

However, when Venus is New- Venus to us — 
like the Moon being New-Moon — our Earth is 
Full-Earth to Venus. Then indeed our Earth 
must be a splendid sight, if only there were any- 
body on Venus to admire her ! 

When Venus comes between us and the Sun 
she is more commonly not exactly between. 
Now and then, however, instead of being a little 
higher or lower, she is just precisely between, 
and so we have a Transit of Venus. It is much 
the same as a Transit of Mercury. Only the 
round black dot is bigger, and can be seen more 
easily ; sometimes even without a telescope. 

Two transits of Venus come near together, 
within a few years. Then for more than a hun- 
dred years there is no transit ; after which two 
more come again. 



144 THE STARRY SKIES. 

Venus can never see a transit or passing of 
our Earth over the Sun, because the pathway of 
the Earth lies outside the pathway of Venus. 
So our Earth can never pass between Venus and 
the Sun. 

But Venus can see a transit of Mercury ; 
and we on Earth can see transits of Mercury 
and Venus. And Mars doubtless can see transits 
of Mercury, Venus and Earth, though the Earth 
can never see a transit of Mars. 

It is always an outer planet which sees an 
inner planet seem to pass across the Sun's face. 

In all these cases, if the worlds were very 
near together — as near as our Moon is to the 
Earth — the Transits would be Eclipses. 

QUESTIONS. 
i. How far is Mercury from the Sun ? 

Sometimes nearer, sometimes farther ; but, 
roughly, about 36 millions of miles. 

2. How fast does Mercury journey ? 

At his fastest, about 35 miles each second. 

3. How long is Mercury's year ? 

About 88 days, or three months, of Earth- 



time. 



4. Can we see much of Mercury ? 

No ; because it is too near to the Sun. 



MERCURY AND VENUS. 1 45 

5. Is Mercury heavy or light in make ? 

Much heavier in make than our Earth is. 

6. Which is brighter, Mercury or Venus ? 

Mercury gets most sunlight, but Venus re- 
flects sunlight best. 

7. What is a Transit of Mercury or Venus ? 

The planet passes exactly between Earth and 
Sun, and is seen against the Sun, crossing his 
face. 

8. What distance is Venus from the Sun ? 
About 66 millions of miles. 

9. How fast does Venus journey ? 
About 22 miles each second. 

10. Why is Venus slower than Mercury? 

Because Venus is farther off than Mercury 
from the Sun, and so the pull of the Sun is less. 

1 1 . How long is the year of Venus ? 

About seven months and a half of Earth-time. 

12. Is any other planet in our sky brighter than Venus ? 

No planet or star — only the Sun and the 
Moon. 

13. How near to us does Venus come ? 

At her nearest she is about 26 millions of 
miles off. 

10 



I46 THE STARRY SKIES. 

14. Is she very bright then ? 

Her bright side is turned away from us then, 
and we cannot see her at all. 

15. When is our best view of Venus ? 

When we see her as really Half- Venus. 



THE PLANET MARS. 1 47 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE PLANET MARS. 

Next outside the pathway of Venus comes 
the pathway of another planet, named Earth — 
this same globe on which we live. From it, as 
from a little boat on the great ocean, we look 
out upon other floating worlds, and upon the 
countless stars. 

We can see the worlds and stars, but we can- 
not get to them. All of us are prisoners upon 
this little Earth-boat, during our earthly lives. 

As a Planet our Earth is one of the smaller 
worlds. She is nearly 8,000 miles through, and 
about 25,000 miles round. She has a north pole 
and a south pole, and an equator. She has many 
continents and oceans, part of her surface being 
Land, and a larger part being Water. 

The Earth spins on her axis once in twenty- 
four hours ; and she travels round the Sun once 
in twelve months, going at a rate of about nine- 
teen miles each second. 

This is not so fast as Venus, and not nearly 
so fast as Mercury ; yet it is seventy times faster 
than the speed of a cannon-ball. 

Think of our whole big Earth, with all of us 



143 THE STARRY SKIES. 

on board, rushing wildly through the sky more 
than seventy times as fast as a cannon-ball 
rushes through the air. Only it is not " wildly ;" 
the movements of the worlds, though very rapid, 
are calm and quiet. 

Our Earth, like Mercury, goes sometimes a 
little faster and sometimes a little more slowly. 
When nearer to the Sun she travels faster, and 
when farther off from him she travels more 
slowly. But the differences in her speed are 
much less than in Mercury's, because her path- 
way is not so oval in shape, and so she is always 
more nearly at one distance from the Sun. 

Outside Earth's pathway is that of Mars, the 
last of the Four Lesser Worlds. 

His untwinkling red gleam is easily seen. 
Not always in the east or west, like that of Mer- 
cury and Venus ; but, like all the outer planets, 
in different parts of the sky at different times. 

Mars is much smaller than our Earth. He is 
only some 4,000 miles straight through. A big 
knitting-needle which might run just through 
him would have to be twice as long as one for 
the Moon, but only half as long as one for the 
Earth. 

It takes Mars about twenty-four hours and a 
half to spin once on his axis ; so days and nights 
are much the same in length there as with us. 
His axis, too, seems to lean over very much as 



THE PLANET MARS. I49 

our Earth's axis does, and that would give Mars 
seasons a good deal like ours. 

Only, as the year of Mars is almost as long 
as two Earthly years, his seasons would last 
much longer. Spring and summer, autumn and 
winter, would be each about five or six Earthly 
months in length. 

The distance of Mars from the Sun is about 
140 millions of miles. 

So Venus is somewhere about twice as far off 
from the Sun as Mercury. The Earth is about 
three times as far as Mercury. Mars is mere 
than four times as far as Mercury. 

Mars is a very interesting little world. Not 
so brilliant or lovely as Venus, but really more 
easy for us to study and examine. Venus seems 
to be so covered with masses of white clouds 
that we can see very little of the planet itself ; 
but Mars is not covered w T ith clouds. 

Mars never comes so near to us as Venus 
does. Only, unfortunately, Venus at her nearest 
cannot be seen at all, because her bright side is 
turned away from the Earth and towards the 
Sun. While Mars at his nearest, being outside 
the Earth, can be looked upon nicely, for the 
Sun then shines full upon that side of Mars 
which is towards us. 

When we talk of " studying and examining " 
a world which never by any chance comes closer 



1$0 THE STARRY SKIES. 

than 35 millions of miles away, we have to be 
careful. It does not do to guess at things, or to 
be in a hurry to settle what cannot be truly 
known. 

Even with the Moon we found that the big- 
gest of telescopes cannot make her look very 
much less than one hundred miles away. But 
Mars is a great deal farther off than the Moon. 

Just think of the difference ! The 240 thou- 
sands of Moon-distance are changed into 35 mil- 
lions of miles for the distance of Mars. And 
the most powerful telescope cannot bring down 
those 35 millions of miles to less than about 35 
thousands of miles. 

So when people talk about Mars, and about 
what may be seen on Mars, remember this — that 
at the very best we can only see Mars as we should 
see a world 35 thousands of miles away ! 

On the Earth even a hundred miles seems a 
long distance. From the top of a mountain one 
can see to a hundred miles no doubt, in clear 
weather ; but very little can be made out at such 
a distance. Yet a hundred miles would be only 
a small piece of one country. It takes ten hun- 
dreds to make a thousand, and a thousand miles 
off seems to us very far indeed. 

Nobody on the Earth can ever be farther 
from us than about 8,000 or about 12,006 miles 
off, that is, through the middle of the Earth 8,000 



THE PLANET MARS. 15 1 

miles, or reckoning round the outside rather 
over 12,000. You know how distant Australia 
seems from us. 

But Mars at his nearest, and looked at through 
the largest of telescopes, is still only seen as a 
world three times farther aivay than the very far- 
thest off country upon this whole Earth from 
you or me. 

Of course it is very wonderful that a planet 
thirty-five millions of miles away can be actu- 
ally seen through a telescope as if it were only 
thirty-five thousands of miles away. Still, at the 
best, thirty-five thousands of miles is a pretty 
good distance. 

Although we cannot find out half or a quar- 
ter of what we want to know about Mars, still 
we do know a good deal. The big telescopes 
tell us much, and another instrument, called a 
" spectroscope," tells us yet more. But in this 
small book I cannot even try to explain to you 
what a "spectroscope" is* 

We know that Mars has some sort of air, per- 
haps rather like our Earth air, only more thin. 
We know that water floats in that air, as water 
floats unseen in our air. 

As for climates, one might expect Mars to be 
terribly cold at such a distance from the Sun. 
He cannot have half the quantity of light or 
* See " Sun, Moon, and Stars," page 307. 



152 THE STARRY SKIES. 

heat that we have. Yet, somehow, there seem 
to be signs that Mars is not a very much colder 
world than our Earth is. 

At the north pole and the south pole of Mars 
tiny white caps, or patches, are seen ; and these 
are most likely made of ice and snow. We on 
the Earth have always ice and snow at our two 
poles ; and people on another world, a long way 
off, might perhaps see our polar ice and snow as 
white caps, or patches. 

Sometimes clouds are seen to flit across Mars, 
white clouds, like the white clouds which cover 
Venus. This only means that they are white 
outside, on the upper surface, where the Sun 
shines. They may be gray below, like so many 
of our gray Earth clouds, though we also often 
see clouds white and shining in sunlight. And 
when a man gets up a high mountain above the 
clouds, and looks down upon them, he sees their 
upper surface, white as snow and beautifully 
bright. 

Mars commonly looks red, when seen without 
a telescope. If seen through a telescope, green- 
ish and purplish patches are found. It is very 
likely that the one color shows land and the 
other water. Since Mars has water-vapor in the 
air, and probably snow and ice at the poles, he is 
pretty sure to have oceans also. But the- conti- 
nents and oceans of Mars are differently shaped 





Mars. August 22 and 29, 1892. 



THE PLANET MARS. I 53 

from ours. There seems to be more of land and 
less of sea. 

Thus in a good many ways Mars is not so 
very unlike our Earth, his next-door neighbor. 
Day and night seem to be much the same in 
both worlds, also summer and winter. We 
think, too, that we find there air and water, snow 
and ice, lands and seas, changes of weather and 
differences of climate, more or less like those of 
the Earth. 

But if you ask me whether animals and men 
and women and children live on Mars, I can 
only say that nobody knows. It may not be im- 
possible, so far as we are able to judge. We feel 
pretty sure that no living creatures such as we 
ever see on the Earth could exist on the Moon 
or the Sun. And with Mercury, if not also with 
Venus, we are hardly less sure, when we think 
of the intense glare and awful heat in which 
those two worlds travel. 

With Mars there is some difference. Know- 
ing the little we do know, it certainly seems a 
thing by no means out of the question that liv- 
ing creatures might find a home on Mars — crea- 
tures not utterly unlike those upon the Earth. 
But we cannot for a moment say that they do. 

One difference between Mars and the Earth 
which would make life there very unlike life on 
the Earth is its small size. 



154 THE STARRY SKIES. 

On Mars, as on the Earth, there is the " pull " 
of attraction. " Downward " all round the planet 
is towards the centre of Mars, and " upward " all 
round is towards the sky of Mars ; and every- 
thing in Mars is heavy towards the centre of the 
planet. 

But the pull there is much less than here, be- 
cause Mars is so small ; and the less pull means 
less weight. A lump of iron which weighs ten 
pounds on the Earth would weigh less than five 
pounds on Mars. If a man went to Mars he 
would be as light there as a boy on the Earth ; 
and if a boy went there he would weigh as little 
as a baby on the Earth. 

The two moons which travel with Mars are 
very tiny, perhaps only about eight or ten miles 
through. 

Between the planet Mars and the planet Ju- 
piter lies an enormous gap of millions of miles 
empty of all large worlds, even of worlds as big 
as our Moon. 

Somewhere about the middle of that vast 
gap, about half-way between Mars and Jupiter, is 
the belt of Planetoids. 

Less than four hundred of them are as yet 
actually known to us ; but perhaps thousands of 
them may be there. Each of these tiny planets 
has its own pathway round the Sun, and their 
pathways do not keep nearly to the level of 



THE PLANET MARS. I 55 

the Earth's pathway, like those of the bigger 
worlds. 

Vesta, the largest of them all, is perhaps over 
three hundred miles through, and three others 
come rather near Vesta in size. The greater 
number are under one hundred miles through ; 
some being mere balls, about the size of Mars' 
moons. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. Which is the next planet outside Venus ? 
The Earth on which we live. 

2. How far is the Earth from the Sun ? 
About 92 millions of miles. 

3. How fast does our Earth travel ? 
About 19 miles each second. 

4. How long is the Earth's year ? 
About 365 days, or 12 months. 

5. Which is the next planet outside the Earth ? » 
Mars. 

6. What is the diameter of Mars ? 

About 4,000 miles, or half that of our Earth. 

7. How far is Mars from the Sun ? 
About 140 millions of miles. 



156 THE STARRY SKIES. 

8. How long is Mars' year ? 

Nearly twice as long as our year. 

9. Does Mars spin on his axis ? 

He is believed to do so, in twenty-four hours 
and a half. 

10. How near does Mars come to us ? 

Never closer than 35 millions of miles off. 

11. But how much nearer does the most powerful tele- 
scope seem to bring Mars ? 

Perhaps to about 35 thousands of miles off. 

12. Are air and water found on Mars? 

Some kind of air, and water also, and ice 
and snow. 

13. Are there oceans on Mars? 

There are patches of color which may be 
continents and oceans. 

14. Where are ice and snow perhaps seen on Mars? 
White caps are seen at the two poles. 

15. Is Mars inhabited? 

Nobody can tell. It does not seem to be 
quite impossible, so far as we understand what 
Mars is like. 

16. Which planet comes next after Mars ? 
Hundreds of Planetoids come next. 



THE PLANET MARS. I S7 

1 7. Are they close to Mars ? 

No; there is a great space between Mars' 
pathway and Jupiter's pathway ; and the Ring 
of Planetoids lies somewhere about the middle 
of that great space. 

18. What is the name of the biggest Planetoid ? 

Vesta. 



158 THE STARRY SKIES. 



CHAPTER XV. 



THE PLANET JUPITER. 

Now we pass on to Jupiter, chief in size of 
all the worlds in the kingdom of the Sun. 

The four inner planets are all small together. 
The four outer planets are all large together, 
Jupiter and Saturn being the twin giants of the 
Solar System. 

You now know that the distance of Mercury 
from the Sun is about 35 millions of miles, and 
that the distance of Mars is about four times 
that of Mercury. But the distance of Jupiter 
from the Sun is nearly fourteen times that of 
Mercury. Think what an enormous gap this 
means between the pathway of Mars and the 
pathway of Jupiter. 

And, distant as Jupiter is from the Sun, he 
is quite as far from his next neighbor on the 
other side, Saturn. So Jupiter lies just about 
half-way between the Sun and Saturn. 

Yet Saturn is nearer to Jupiter than to his 
other neighbor, Uranus. The gap between the 
pathway of Saturn and the pathway of Uranus 
is twice as broad as the gap between Jupiter and 
Saturn. 



THE PLANET JUPITER. I 59 

Outside Uranus stretches another vast empty 
space : and then we get to the last known planet, 
far-away Neptune ! 

Jupiter whirls with such speed upon his axis, 
that it takes him less than ten hours to spin 
once round. A day of only five hours, and a 
night of only five hours ! How should we like 
that? 

But with the short day he has a very long 
year. Jupiter gets once round the Sun in 
twelve of our earthly years. So a man who on 
Earth is nearly forty years old would on Jupiter 
be just over three years old : and an old Earthly 
gentleman of seventy would there be under the 
age of six. Our little boys and girls would 
hardly like only one birthday in twelve 
years. 

We have seen how, with greater distance 
from the Sun, each planet goes more and more 
slowly, as the Sun's pulling becomes weaker. 
Jupiter rolls through the skies at a rate of only 
about eiofht miles each second. 

A beautiful world is Jupiter, looked upon 
from the Earth : the brightest in our sky after 
Venus. No other planet, except Venus, and no 
Star in the heavens can outshine Jupiter. This 
is because of two things — his great size and his 
nearness to us. Not nearness compared with 
that of the smaller worlds, but nearness com- 



l6o THE STARRY SKIES. 

pared with, that of Saturn and Uranus and 
Neptune. 

Saturn, though almost as big as Jupiter, is 
very much farther off. And while Jupiter can 
hardly be so bright actually as Mars, because 
very much farther from the Sun, yet his huge 
size makes him greatly outshine Mars, which is 
so much nearer to us than he is. 

Seen through a pretty good telescope, Jupi- 
ter grows into a broad, soft, moon-like world, 
very flat at the north and south poles, with col- 
ored bands round him, on and near his equator. 
Four small bright moons are also to be noticed. 
Sometimes all four can be seen at once ; some- 
times one or two are hidden behind him, or the 
shadow of one creeps like a black dot over his 
face. The fifth little moon, found lately, can 
seldom be seen. 

Through a bigger telescope, Jupiter shows 
exquisite colors — rich reds, and browns, and 
greens, and purples. But these markings do 
not mean continents and oceans, as they per- 
haps mean on Mars. They are believed to be- 
long to a very stormy Cloudland. 

Jupiter seems to be wrapped in thick masses 
of clouds ; and these clouds are ever on the 
move, always changing their shapes. It may be 
that we now and then get a tiny glimpse through 
them of the more solid world within, but this we 



THE PLANET JUPITER. l6l 

cannot be sure of. It may be that the clouds 
never part so far as to let us see through. It may 
be that there is nothing solid within at all. 

Anyhow, the solid part is very much smaller 
than the size of the Jupiter we see. For, like 
other planets, Jupiter has been weighed, and he 
is found to be very light in make. He is not 
nearly so heavy as one would expect with a globe 
of that size. 

The inner part may or may not be solid ; 
some say it is most likely not. At any rate, it is 
enfolded by an enormous thickness of heated 
and tempestuous clouds. 

When you look up into the sky from the 
Earth you see the clouds moving and changing 
their shapes slowly. But if you could go quite 
near you would find their changes to be really 
very quick. 

And just so — only very much more so — at 
the vast distance of Jupiter we see movements 
which to us seem tiny and slow, yet which we 
believe to mean there, on the spot, the wildest 
rushings of heated clouds hither and thither. 
No storms on the Earth can be spoken of in 
the same breath with the terrific storms on Ju- 
piter. 

And the question is — what brings this about ? 
Our earthly tempests are caused by the heat of 
the Sun, but the Sun is so very far from Jupiter 

ii 



1 62 THE STARRY SKIES. 

and yet the storms there are much more violent 
than any here. 

Do you remember being told that once upon 
a time, long, long ago, our Earth, now so cold 
and quiet a globe, was most likely a dazzling 
little Sun, and that she slowly cooled down from 
a Sun to a world ? 

When she was a Sun she was fiercely hot 
and glowing gases played over her ; and instead 
of solid ground and liquid seas there were only 
raging vapors, bright with their own heat. The 
Earth was larger then than now, for gases take 
up much more room than water and rocks and 
earth. 

Between those days and these our Earth must 
have passed through a half-way stage. 

Suppose you have a lump of ice, and you wish 
to turn it into hot steam — how can you do it ? Of 
course you must heat the ice, and then it will 
melt — not into steam, but into water. And when 
you have the water you can heat that again till 
it boils and goes off in steam— or, as we say, " it 
boils away." 

Again, if you had steam and wished to turn 
it into ice, it would have to go through being 
water between the steam-state and the ice-state. 

So the water is a kind of half-way stage be- 
tween ice and steam — between great cold and 
great heat. 



THE PLANET JUPITER. 1 63 

No doubt, our Earth, as she cooled, passed 
through a " half-way stage " too. She did not all 
at once become firm and cool. First she was a 
bright Sun, made of glowing gases. Then she 
was a half -sun, half- world : no longer shining, 
yet very hot indeed ; no longer made of gases, 
but by no means solid. Then lastly she cooled 
down, as we now see her. 

These are, we suppose, three chief parts in the 
story or life of a heavenly body. Our Sun is in 
the early part — made of gases, exceedingly hot 
and bright. Our Earth is in the later part, cold 
and firm, and not shining ! 

But Jupiter seems to be still in the middle 
part, in the half-way stage. He is very, very hot, 
yet not so hot as to give forth light of his own, 
for he shines by the Sun's light. He is not any 
longer a great mass of gases, yet he seems to be 
very far from being solid and firm. The clouds 
which cover Jupiter, though not like the fiercely- 
glowing Sun-clouds, are yet very unlike our cool 
Earthly mists, and perhaps they may be at least 
as hot as the steam which pours from a boiling 
kettle. 

So the furious hurricanes on Jupiter are 
brought about, partly, at all events, by Ju- 
piter's own heat, and not by the Sun's power 
alone. 

On the whole, we can hardly look upon Jupiter 



1 64 THE STARRY SKIES. 

as a nice and fit place for either animals or men 
to live in. That does not mean that he can never 
become nice and fit. Our Earth was a very, 
very long time being made ready to serve as a 
home for men. Perhaps Jupiter is being made 
ready also for some such use. As he is so large 
he cannot cool down nearly so fast as our Earth. 

Jupiter's moons all shine as our moon shines, 
by borrowed sunlight. 

The smallest of his four chief moons — which 
can easily be seen from the Earth — is about the 
same size as our Moon, and the biggest is larger 
than Mercury. 

QUESTIONS. 

1 . Which is the largest "of the planets ? 
Jupiter. 

2. How far is Jupiter from the Sun ? 

Nearly fourteen times as far as Mercury is. 

3. How much farther still is Saturn ? 

Saturn is as far from Jupiter as Jupiter is from 
the Sun. So the distance of Saturn is twice the 
distance of Jupiter. 

4. How far is Uranus ? 

Uranus is twice as far from Saturn as Saturn 
is from Jupiter. 

5. Does Jupiter spin on his axis ? 

Yes, in less than ten of our hours. 



THE PLANET JUPITER. 165 

6. How long is Jupiter's year ? 

About twelve of our years in length. 

7. How fast does Jupiter travel ? 
About eight miles each second. 

8. Does Jupiter shine in our sky as brightly as Venus ? 
No, but he is the next brightest planet in our 

sky after Venus. 

9. How many moons has Jupiter ? 

Five moons, four of which can be seen easily. 
The fifth was only discovered a little while ago. 

10. Has Jupiter any markings ? 

He has bands and beautiful coloring when 
seen in a telescope. 

11. Is Jupiter light or heavy ? 

Very light in make ; so light that he is thought 
to be far from solid, and to be wrapped in very 
thick masses of clouds. 

12. Is Jupiter a cooled world like the Earth ? 
Jupiter seems to be only a half-cooled world. 

13. Is he hot enough to shine ? 

Jupiter is too cool to shine with his own light ; 
but he seems to be in a very heated and stormy 
state. 

14. How do Jupiter's moons shine ? 

Like Jupiter himself, by reflected sunlight. 



1 66 THE STARRY SKIES. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

SATURN, URANUS AND NEPTUNE. 

Saturn is only a little smaller than Jupiter, 
and very light indeed in weight. Not at all like 
our firm and solid Earth. He actually weighs 
less than water ; which means that if we could 
make a huge globe, all of water, the same size 
as Saturn, this water-globe would be heavier 
than Saturn. 

This does not look as if Saturn were a very 
cold or solid globe, does it ? A solid globe would 
surely weigh a great deal more than water. 

Saturn whirls round on his axis once in ten 
hours, like Jupiter. But his year is much longer 
than Jupiter's year : partly because he is twice 
as far away from the Sun, which means a very 
much longer journey, and partly because at that 
distance he goes much more slowly. So one 
year of Saturn is as long as nearly thirty of our 
years. A man who on the Earth is seventy 
would on Saturn be only a little over two yeartf 
old. 

In shape Saturn is very flat at the north and 
south poles, the same as Jupiter. Also on Saturn 
can be seen dimly-colored bands and mark- 




Jupiter. 




Saturn. 



SATURN, URANUS AND NEPTUNE. 167 

ings. But these are much less clear than on 
Jupiter. 

However Saturn has something- which Jupi- 
ter has not : Saturn has his Rings. 

Until telescopes were made these rings could 
not be seen ; and when first noticed they were a 
great puzzle. 

They lie round the vast globe of Saturn, one 
outside another, stretching far away up into Sat- 
urn's sky. If you were on Saturn, standing just 
underneath the rings, the most you could see 
would be a narrow rim, or line, far over your 
head. But if you walked some distance off, in 
the right direction, you would have a lovely view 
of the rings, as wide bands, one above another, 
shining in the sunlight. 

For the rings of Saturn, like the eight moons 
of Saturn, have no brightness of their own. They 
shine when the Sun shines on them. 

And the Sun, as seen from Saturn, is very 
far off, and very small, compared with the big 
round orb which we see in our sky. Those rings 
and moons must shine but dimly, compared with 
the shining of our bright Moon. 

Yet, since we can see them and find them 
lovely, even across all this great width of dis- 
tance, they must surely be beautiful seen from 
Saturn. 

But to talk of anybody walking about on Sa- 



1 63 THE STARRY SKIES. 

turn, to gaze at the rings, is really only non- 
sense, 

For Saturn, like Jupiter, seems to be only a 
half-cooled world — in fact, even less cooled, less 
solid, than Jupiter. Nobody could very well 
walk across great masses of heated and seething 
clouds in a perpetual turmoil of storms. 

I think we may safely say that Saturn at pres- 
ent would not offer a very comfortable home, at 
all events, for any such living creatures as we 
know upon the Earth. 

Uranus, the next planet outside Saturn, was 
seen first, rather more than a hundred years 
ago, by a famous English astronomer named 
Herschel. 

It takes Uranus 84 Earthly years to travel 
once round the Sun, at a rate of about four miles 
each second. So a man of 84 on Earth would be 
only just one year old on Uranus. 

Four moons journey with Uranus ; and some 
glimpses have been caught of very faint band- 
markings on the planet, like those of Jupiter 
and Saturn. Little can be seen or known of 
worlds so far away : but it is most likely that 
Uranus and Neptune are both more or less in 
the half -hot state of the two big twin planets. 
Both Uranus and Neptune are light in make, 
weighing about the same as water. 

Neptune, the very farthest off world of all 



SATURN, URANUS AND NEPTUNE. 169 

known to us, journeys round the Sun at a dis- 
tance of about 2,800 millions of miles, or eighty 
times as far off as Mercury. It is not very easy 
to see in our minds what this means. We must 
climb up to the thought, step by step. 

Think first of a rope one hundred miles long. 
Perhaps you have gone in the train from New 
York to Philadelphia. A rope one hundred 
miles in length would reach all the way and 
ten miles farther. 

Next, think of ten such ropes joined togeth- 
er, making a single rope one thousand miles 
long. 

Then think of twenty-five of those ropes 
joined into one rope, 25,000 miles long. 

This rope would just about go round the 
Earth, lying on the equator like a girdle. 

It would take ten such Earth-girdles to reach 
straight from the Earth to the Moon. 

But we have to get the thought of one mil- 
lion miles. Well, you would need about forty 
Earth-girdles — forty ropes, each one being 25,- 
000 miles long — to make a rope one million 
miles in length. 

And when we get so far it is still only one 
million. Mercury is thirty-five millions of miles 
away from the Sun. 

So, for the distance of Mercury, you would 
need — first, forty Earth-girdles joined into a 



170 THE STARRY SKIES. 

one-million mile rope, and then thirty-five of 
those million-mile ropes, to stretch all the great 
way from the Sun to his nearest planet, Mer- 
cury. 

When you have in mind that enormously 
long rope, reaching from the Sun to Mercury, 
the rest is easier. 

Two such ropes would about reach from the 
Sun to Venus. Three such ropes would about 
reach from the Sun to our Earth. Four such 
ropes would about reach from the Sun to Mars. 

But to reach from the Sun to Jupiter no less 
than fourteen such ropes would be needed. 

And to reach all the way to the distant Nep- 
tune, from the Sun, eighty such ropes would be 
needed ! 

There indeed we find ourselves in a region 
of dimness and fearful cold. We can hardly 
fancy any human beings like ourselves living 
at so enormous a distance from the storehouse 
of light and heat. 

Our bright and glorious Sun, seen from Nep- 
tune, looks no larger than the planet Venus 
looks to us here. You and I on Earth have 
nine hundred times as much light, and nine hun- 
dred tunes as much heat, from the Sun, as a man 
on Neptune would have. Of course, if Neptune 
is only partly cooled, there may be plenty of 
heat from the planet itself. 



SATURN, URANUS AND NEPTUNE. 171 

However, you must not think that the Sun 
even there looks only like Venus or Jupiter in 
our sky. Though small in size, he shines daz- 
zlingly still. But after what we enjoy on Earth 
Neptune would indeed to us be a world of dark- 
ness. 

Travelling at the rate of three miles in a 
second, Neptune gets once round the Sun in 
165 of our years. 

This planet was not discovered by accident, 
but through careful searching. Some day you 
will read with interest the story of how and 
why it was hunted for in the sky— and found.* 

Speaking of the distance of one planet from 
another we mean usually their nearest distances, 
when they are both on one side of the Sun 
together. When they are on opposite sides of 
the Sun they are very much farther apart. 

The moons belonging to these planets are 
really like planets, or worlds, travelling with the 
bigger worlds. Some of them are not so very 
little, either. Mars' moons are most tiny; but 
one of Jupiter's moons, as you heard, is larger 
than Mercury. Mercury, however, being the 
nearest planet to the Sun, is a much more im- 
portant world than a far-off moon of Jupiter 
can be. 

Each moon, whether of Jupiter, of Saturn, 
* See " Sun, Moon and Stars," pp. 227-234. 



172 THE STARRY SKIES. 

or of any other planet, travels, like our Moon, 
in a pathway of its own round the Sun. And 
as it goes it curves backwards and forwards, so 
as to face in turn each side of the large world 
with which it journeys. 

The pull of a great body like Jupiter is very 
strong ; and the moons in consequence travel 
very fast round Jupiter — the nearest going most 
rapidly, the farthest off most slowly. It is the 
same again with Saturn's eight moons. 

QUESTIONS. 

i. What is the size of Saturn? 
Almost as large as Jupiter. 

2. Does Saturn spin on his axis ? 

Yes, in about ten hours, like Jupiter. 

3. How long is Saturn's year ? 
Nearly thirty of our years. 

4. Is Saturn like Jupiter in make ? 

Saturn is very light, even lighter than Jupi- 
ter; not so heavy as water. Saturn, too, has 
faint bands of color. 

5. What is Saturn's state believed to be? 

Half -cooled, and very stormy, with great 
masses of cloud. 



SATURN, URANUS, AND NEPTUNE. 1 73 

6. How many moons has Saturn ? 
Eight moons, and also three rings. 

7. How do the rings shine ? 

Like the moons, on one side, by reflected 
sunlight. 

8. When was Uranus discovered ? 
About one hundred years ago. 

9. By whom ? 
By Herschel. 

10. How long is the year of Uranus? 
Eighty-four of our years. 

1 1 . How many moons has Uranus ? 
Four moons are known. 

12. What size are these two outer planets, Uranus and 
Neptune ? 

Much larger than Venus or the Earth, much 
smaller than Jupiter or Saturn. 

13. How far is Neptune from the Sun ? 

Eighty times the distance of Mercury, or 
twenty-eight hundred millions of miles. 

14. How fast does Neptune travel ? 
Some three miles each second. 



174 THE STARRY SKIES. 

15. What is the length of Neptune's year? 

About one hundred and sixty-five of our 
years. 

16. How many moons has Neptune? 
Only one has been seen. 

17. Are Uranus and Neptune light or heavy in make ? 
About as light in make as water. 



LONG-TAILED COMETS. 1 75 

CHAPTER XVII. 

LONG-TAILED COMETS. 

A good deal has been said about empty gaps 
in the sky between and around the pathways 
of the worlds. But those gaps are at least not 
always quite empty. 

Comets, with long bright tails, flash through 
the darkness by hundreds, perhaps thousands. 
Meteors travel in vast swarms, by millions of 
millions. Each comet gives forth a radiant shi- 
ning, and each little meteor is bright in the sun- 
light. I am going to tell you about Comets first, 
and then about Meteors. 

The word " comet " means " a hairy star." 

But comets are not stars really, though they 
have often been ' mistaken for stars, especially 
when first seen without any tail. 

There may be any number of comets as far 
away as the stars, millions of them in each direc- 
tion. But those we cannot possibly see. We 
only see such comets as belong to our Sun and 
travel about in his kingdom, or else those which 
come to pay him a visit from far away. 

No comet that is outside the Solar System 
can be visible to us on the Earth. The distance 



176 THE STARRY SKIES. 

becomes too great. For the light of a comet is 
not like the light of a star, and it cannot reach 
through billions of miles, as the light of a star 
can. 

Once in a while a splendid comet makes its 
appearance, with a tail reaching half across our 
sky. But this is not at all common. Most of 
those seen are small and faint, and the greater 
number can only be seen at all in telescopes. 

Almost every year some fresh ones are found 
in the sky, and hardly a day passes in which at 
least one may not be noticed; in some part of 
the heavens, with a good telescope. 

Each comet, like each world, has its own 
pathway in the sky round the Sun. But a comet- 
pathway is much more oval in shape than a 
planet-pathway. Sometimes it is a very long 
and very narrow oval indeed, with the Sun 
almost close to one end of the long oval. 

To get round such a pathway as this takes a 
good while. At one part the comet gets quite 
near to the Sun, and then rushes at a tremen- 
dous speed. After which he wanders far away 
from the Sun, and creeps along more and more 
slowly. 

There are comets belonging to the Solar Sys- 
tem which draw closer to the Sun than Mercury 
and go farther away than Neptune. 

Comet-pathways do not keep to the level of 



LONG-TAILED COMETS. 1 77 

the chief planet-pathways. They slope about in 
all manner of ways, like the paths of the little 
Planetoids. 

Very many comets belong to the Sun's king- 
dom. They journey round and round the Sun, 
and appear again and again from time to time. 
Some take only a few years for their journey, 
while others come back only once in the life of 
a man ; and others again may be hundreds of 
years absent. 

And some comets never return. They do 
not belong to our Sun, but only pay him a single 
visit. These are strangers to our kingdom of 
worlds, travelling from the kingdom of some 
other far-off sun, perhaps one of the twinkling 
stars in our sky. 

A stranger comet comes, like other comets, 
slowly from the distance, quickening his speed 
day by day as he gets nearer to the Sun. Then 
he rushes at a mad rate round the Sun and flies 
off in a new direction, to quite another part of 
the heavens. 

What wonderful stories these bright visitors 
might tell us, if they could speak, of the skies 
from which they arrive ! 

A comet is made of three parts : the nucleus, 
or the thickest portion of the head ; the coma, 
or the bright fog round the nucleus ; and the 
train or tail. 

12 



i;8 THE STARRY SKIES. 

Sometimes there is no nucleus, and some- 
times there is no tail ; but there is always a 
coma — a soft hazy cloud of light, perhaps small 
enough to look like a dim star at first, 

But a comet watched from the Earth can 
never be so far off as the stars. Even the very 
largest comets are seldom to be seen farther 
away than Jupiter. 

There are comets of all sizes, from the huge 
to the tiny. Perhaps one would find as much 
difference between comets in the sky as between 
a whale and a minnow in water. 

Under a certain size they are hidden from 
us ; but tinier comets than we can see may float 
in the sky by myriads. 

Of those which we can see, the thickest 
and heaviest part of the whole — the " nucleus " — 
may be only about fifty or a hundred miles 
through, or it may be some thousands of miles. 
The coma, or bright fog surrounding this thick- 
est part of the comet, is generally as much as 
ten thousand miles across ; and Sometimes it is 
a hundred thousand miles. As for the bright 
train, it is, when fully formed, seldom less than 
ten millions of miles long, and sometimes it is 
a hundred millions of miles. Such a tail as this 
would reach the whole way from our Earth to 
the Sun. 

Yet a comet is not heavy. Its make is most 



LONG-TAILED COMETS. 1/9 

wonderfully light ; far more so than the very 
lightest world in the Sun's kingdom. Saturn is 
not so solid or so heavy as water ; but a comet 
really almost seems to be less solid and heavy 
than a mist. 

Very faint stars can be seen shining through 
thousands of miles of comet-thickness ; while it 
does not take much of an earth-mist to hide the 
light of even the brightest star. 

Not long ago people were much frightened at 
comets. If a big one appeared in the sky it was 
thought to be a sign of something dreadful about 
to happen. Nobody then had any idea what im- 
mense numbers of comets are always in the sky. 

It was feared that, if a comet should run 
against our Earth, the whole world would be 
destroyed. Nobody knew how very light and 
delicate in its make a comet is. 

If such a thing ever did happen, which is 
most unlikely, one cannot say that no harm 
would be done ; but certainly our Earth would 
not be destroyed. 

These comets seem to shine partly in the 
sunlight, and partly by their own brightness. . 

You must not think that a comet always has 
a tail. More often, when one is first seen in the 
distance, it is only as a little hazy patch, or like 
a dim star, with no train of light at all. 

But as it comes hastening out of cold and 



l80 THE STARRY SKIES. 

darkness into the warmth and glare of the Sun 
great changes take place in its shape. 

The nucleus very often gets a little smaller ; 
and why this should be I cannot tell you. But 
the coma gets larger, and takes to throwing out 
bright jets. Then the tail begins to grow ; and 
day by day it becomes larger and larger. 

A comet drawing nearer to the Sun travels 
head-foremost, with the tail following after the 
head. This is only what one would expect. 

But as the comet swings round the Sun with 
a mighty rush its tail is sent round also in a 
great outward sweep, pointing all the time away 
from the Sun. 

Lastly, as the comet on the other side of its 
pathway goes away from the Sun, its tail travels 
first, end-foremost, and the head follows after 
the tail. 

So the head of a comet always points towards 
the Sun, and the tail of a comet always points 
away from the Sun. 

We know little as to the true nature of com- 
ets. They are, however, believed to be made 
partly of shining gases, and partly perhaps of 
small masses or lumps of more solid substance — 
in short, of little meteors. 

Bielas Comet was once a comet belonging 
to the Sun's kingdom ; but its story is rather 
curious. In 1846 it broke into two separate com- 



LONG-TAILED COMETS. l8l 

ets. These two kept company for a while, and 
then parted. One went ahead, and one dropped 
behind. After this both vanished, and in their 
stead our Earth in her journeying came across 
a shower of meteors. So perhaps the meteors 
are the remains of those two comets — the broken 
up bits, if one may so speak. 

The Great Comet of 1882 was often to be seen 
in full daylight. When passing away, after its 
rapid whirl round the Sun, it could be perceived 
in telescopes at a distance greater than that of 
Jupiter — a very unusual thing. 

In the picture of a Sun -Eclipse you will 
notice a tiny comet quite near the Sun. This 
little comet had been hidden by the Sun's glare 
and nobody knew it to be there at all. But 
when the moon glided between, hiding the 
Sun's great brightness, and a photograph was 
taken — then the tiny comet had its picture 
taken also, side by side with the dark body of 
the Moon and the light edge of the Sun, with 
the fiery sea and sharp mountains. 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What does the word " comet " mean ? 
It means " a hairy star." 

2. What is a comet like ? 

A star-like body, with a hazy kind of fog 
round it, and a long tail. 



1 82 THE STARRY SKIES. 

3. Do comets always have tails ? 

No ; the tail generally appears when the 
comet comes near to the Sun. 

4. Tell me the three parts of a comet. 

The Nucleus, or thickest part ; the Coma, or 
hazy part round the Nucleus ; and the long Tail 
or Train. 

5. Which of these is always found in a comet? 

Only the coma. The nucleus and tail may 
be wanting. 

6. What shape is a comet's pathway ? 

A long oval : sometimes very long and nar- 
row indeed, with the Sun close to one end of it. 

7. How long is a comet's year ? 

All lengths, from three or four of our years 
up to hundreds of our years. 

8. Do all comets belong to the Solar System ? 

No ; only a certain number seem to do so. 

9. Where do others come from ? 

They seem to come from far-distant stars, 
paying one visit to our Sun, and then going off, 
never to return. 

10. How does a comet carry its tail ? 
Always pointing away from the Sun. 



LONG-TAILED COMETS. 183 

11. Which goes first, head or tail? 

When a comet is coming towards the Sun 
its head journeys first. But when a comet is 
going away from the Sun, its tail journeys first. 

12. What is a comet made of? 

It is believed to be made partly of gases, 
and perhaps partly of meteors. 

13. Is a comet heavy, or light? 

Very light indeed, compared with its great 
size. 



1 84 THE STARRY SKIES. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

LITTLE METEORS. 

Meteors are the .very smallest bodies of 
which we know, that float and rush about in 
the sky. 

Besides being the smallest they are also the 
most abundant. Their numbers are not only 
past counting, but past our power to imagine. 

We cannot see them as they speed hither 
and thither through the skies, travelling either 
alone or in tens of millions. 

Each one indeed gives forth its tiny light, 
borrowed from the Sun. But those dim gleams 
are far too weak to reach us here on Earth. The 
only time when they can be seen by us is when 
they come by accident into our air. 

Then indeed we do see them — not by the 
gentle shining which they catch from the Sun, 
but by one brilliant flash of light as they are 
destroyed. 

It is the rush through our thick air which 
destroys the meteors. The air always tries to 
hold back anything moving fast through it. 

A meteor far away in the sky is a hard and 
cold little body — very cold indeed, out in the 



LITTLE METEORS. 1 85 

terrible cold of Space. It has no light of its 
own to give forth. 

And in the sky a meteor goes very fast, 
rushing round the Sun. When it first gets into 
our air it keeps up that great speed. The air 
tries to hold it back ; and the rubbing of the air 
against it heats the outside of the little meteor 
so intensely that it glows with bright light. 

It becomes in fact "white-hot." The outside 
melts and pours away in a stream of shining 
dust, which to us looks like a tail of light. The 
dust soon cools, and drops gently down upon 
the ground. 

Before the meteor has rushed twenty or 
thirty miles it is generally done for. All of it 
has gone off in bright dust, and nothing is left 
of the tiny heavenly body except that dust. 

This is what you see when you look at a 
" shooting star " after dark. Of course you have 
seen shooting stars very often. If not, you 
should begin to look out for them as soon as 
possible. 

A shooting star is no star at all, really. It is 
only a little meteor, or meteorite, which has 
travelled for ages in the skies, and which has 
at last happened to come too near to our Earth. 
The strong pull of the Earth's attraction has 
dragged it into the air, and so it has perished. 

Hundreds and thousands of meteors are ever 



186 . THE STARRY SKIES. 

dropping earthward. If it were not for our soft 
protecting air we should be under a regular 
cannonade from the sky ; but happily most of 
the cannon-balls are used up long before they 
can reach the ground. 

On the Moon, where there is no protecting 
air, one would have to undergo a fearful bat- 
tering. 

Now and again a meteor is large enough not 
to be all destroyed in its rush downwards. A 
good part is melted, and runs away as a little 
tail of brightness, but both speed and heat grow 
less before the whole is gone. 

So then part falls to the ground as a solid 
stone, or as a lump of iron and other metals. 
We call the fallen lump an " aerolite " or a " me- 
teorite," or a "meteoric stone." But it is com- 
monly just a meteor which has come to us out 
of the sky. 

Some very large aerolites have been known 
to burst in the air with a great noise, and to 
scatter hot stones over the land below. This 
sort of thing happens very seldom. 

There are wonderful Rings of Meteors jour- 
neying round the Sun — enormous companies of 
millions upon millions of little dark cold bodies, 
lighted up by the Sun's rays. 

Every August and November our Earth in 
her journeying touches one such Ring. In those 



LITTLE METEORS. 1 87 

months a great many more "shooting stars" 
may be seen in the sky than at other times of 
the year. So, when you want to see shooting 
stars, remember that the best times are August 
and November. If then you watch the sky 
steadily after dark for half an hour you will 
hardly fail to see at least two or three. 

About once in every thirty-three years our 
Earth plunges into the very thick of one of these 
Meteor- Rings. And then indeed we may have 
a splendid sight ! 

Tens of thousands of meteors can be seen 
flashing through the air, each with its little train 
of light behind. Fast as they appear and vanish 
tens of thousands more follow ; and for hours 
this goes on. 

Yet even then the number of meteors which 
can be seen is as nothing compared with the 
vast hosts which cannot be seen because they do 
not come into our air. 

Sometimes comets and meteor-rings are found 
together, journeying in company. That is to 
say, the comet journeys with the meteors, in the 
same ring or pathway round the Sun. This 
really seems to show that the one may belong 
to the other. 

I have told you already that comets, or at 
least comets' heads, are believed to be made 
partly of little meteors. If things are so, one 



1 88 THE STARRY SKIES. 

would not be surprised to find a very close tie 
between comets and rings of meteors. 

You will remember Biela's Comet, spoken of 
in the last chapter, which some people think has 
actually broken up into separate meteors. 

It is thought very likely that the wonderful 
Rings of Saturn are entirely made of meteors. 
Not of bright dying meteors, as we see them in 
our air, but of countless millions of tiny hard 
bodies, all whirling together round and round 
the huge planet, and giving forth such light as 
they can borrow from the Sun. 

Sometimes on the Earth a faint light is seen, 
of a sugar-loaf shape, in the eastern sky, before 
dawn, or in the western sky after sunset. It is 
called the Zodiacal Light, and it plainly has to 
do with the Sun. It is always seen very near to 
the Sun, never anywhere else. 

We know little about this curious light, but 
it too may be caused by the shining of enormous 
numbers of meteors, all whirling round the Sun. 
No doubt countless multitudes are ever drop- 
ping down upon his fiery surface. 

Each little meteor that journeys round the 
Sun shines, like the worlds, on one side only — 
that side which is towards the Sun. 



LITTLE METEORS. 1 89 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What are Meteors? 

The smallest heavenly bodies known to us. 

2. How many meteors are there ? 

Immense multitudes in the sky, beyond cur 
power even to imagine. 

3. How do meteors shine when journeying in the sky ? 
They shine by borrowed sunlight. 

"4. Does a meteor shine all round ? 
No ; only on that side which is towards the 
Sun. 

5. Do we see meteors by means of that borrowed sun- 
light? 

No ; we only see them when they rush into 
our air. 

6. What makes them visible to us then ? 

They are so much heated by the rubbing of 
the air as to shine brightly for a moment with 
their own light. 

7. What becomes of such meteors ? 

The outside is melted and streams behind as 
shining dust. 

8. Does any part of them reach the ground ? 
Generally they are destroyed in their rush 

through the air, and only the dust drops down- 
wards. 



190 THE STARRY SKIES. 

9. Are they always quite destroyed ? 

Sometimes a part escapes, if the meteor is 
rather large, and then a solid lump of rock or 
metal comes to the ground. 

10. What is such a lump called ? 

A Meteorite, or an Aerolite, or a Meteoric 
Stone. 

11. What is it really? 

Part of a meteor from the sky. 

12. What do we call a meteor seen only by its last flash ? 
Either a " meteor " or " a shooting star." 

13. When are shooting-stars most common? 
In August and November. 

14. Why? 

Because our Earth then touches meteor rings, 
and so a great many come into our air. 

15. When does our Earth plunge deep into a meteor- 
ring? 

About once in every thirty-three years. 

16. What is seen then ? 

A most wonderful display of tens of thou- J 
sands of meteors. 



THE SUN S KINGDOM. 191 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE SUN'S KINGDOM. 

By this time you have a pretty fair idea of 
what is meant by " The Solar System." 

First you had to think about our Earth's 
pathway in the sky, and then about other path- 
ways, nearer and farther, like vast oval hoops 
lying within and without the Earth's pathways. 
Lying, all of them, very nearly on the same 
level. 

But the Planetoids' paths do not keep at all 
nearly to that level, rings of Meteors slope 
about in different ways, and Comets come and 
go, with no known rule, from any part of the 
heavens. 

When we talk of a" level " in the sky — a 
" plane " is the better word — you must not think 
of a solid flat surface any more than you have to 
picture real pathways for the planets. No sign- 
posts mark the pathways, and the level or plane 
cannot be seen, except by the way in which the 
worlds journey. 

How far the Solar System reaches, and where 
it stops, I cannot tell you. 

'The Sun's power goes out beyond his own 



I92 THE STARRY SKIES. 

kingdom : for the distant Stars feel his pull. 
Only that gentle pull is very much weaker than 
the strong hold which he has over all his own 
worlds. 

Neptune is the most distant world known to 
us ; and Neptune, as you have heard, is some 
2,800 millions of miles away from the Sun. 

He is all that way off on one side of the Sun 
and when he gets round to the other side he is 
just as far off in the other direction. So the 
breadth of Neptune's whole pathway, from side 
to side, is not much less than six thousand millions 
of miles. 

All the other worlds or planets are within 
that enormous- circle, nearer to the Sun. 

But there are comets belonging to the Sun 
which journey farther off than Neptune and 
yet come back from time to time, being held 
captive by the Sun. 

Whether our Solar System as a whole is six 
or ten or twenty thousands of millions of miles 
across, matters very little. In any case, it is 
enormous. And yet, though so enormous, the 
whole Solar System is but one little spot in the 
great Universe of Stars which God has created. 

The one Star in our System is the Sun him- 
self. All other Stars are far away, outside his 
kingdom and away from it. 

Once upon a time, indeed, the worlds may all 



THE SUNS KINGDOM. 193 

have been stars ; and the larger planets seem to 
be still only half-way out of their starry state. 
Still they are all either cooled or partly-cooled 
worlds ; not stars. 

A Star is a Sun : and a Sun is a Star. A 
world, whether cold or hot, if it does not shine 
by its own light cannot be called a star. We 
see abundance of stars in the sky, but they are 
so distant that our Sun, compared with them, is 
very near us indeed. 

A wide, wide gulf of cold and darkness, of 
emptiness and desolation, spreads far on every 
side around our Sun's kingdom. 

That is to say, a wide gulf of what would 
be cold to our earthly bodies, of what would be 
darkness to our human eyes, of what looks like 
emptiness and desolation to our little knowledge. 
But after all, we cannot see much, we do not 
really know much ! 

The distance of our Sun has been found out, 
and the distances of a few Stars have been 
roughly measured. But what may lie between 
us and them, who can tell ? 

We are here on our little Earth, down at the 
bottom of a deep Ocean of Air, tied and bound 
and unable to get away. What man has seen 
and learned from the bottom of his air-ocean 
is indeed very wonderful ; but more wonderful 
by far are the things which he does not know. 

13 



194 THE STARRY SKIES. 

In earlier chapters we have talked about the 
worlds in smaller sizes, letting one inch stand 
always for 2,000 miles. 

Now, keeping to exactly that same plan, let 
us try to picture the Solar System on a little 
scale, with not only sizes but distances thus 
brought down. 

The actual distances you know by this time, 
perhaps, pretty well. You know that Mercury 
is about 35 millions of miles from the Sun, the 
Earth about 92 millions, and so on. But it is not 
easy to see what these figures really mean, mil- 
lions and billions sound so much alike. 

So now we will fancy the whole big System 
shrinking and getting smaller till in every part 
of it each 2,000 miles has become one tiny inch. 
Our small moon, being 2,000 miles through, is 
thus a minute ball one inch through. 

Bring before your mind the thought of a 
large shining balloon, for the Sun, about 35 feet 
through. This would be in the centre. 

Mercury, a crab-apple one inch and a half 
through, will float round the Sun at a distance of 
one quarter of a mile. 

Venus, a very large apple, nearly four inches 
through, will float round it at a distance from 
the Sun of about half a mile. 

Earth, another very big apple, rather bigger 
than Venus, has her pathway all round at a dis- 



THE SUNS KINGDOM. 195 

tance of three quarters of a mile. Ten feet off 
from the Earth floats her tiny Moon. 

Mars, another very small apple, two inches 
through, is more than one mile off from the Sun, 
with two tiny moons. 

Jupiter, a large globe three feet and a half 
through, travels with his five moons at a dis- 
tance of about three miles and three quarters — the 
Planetoids lying between him and Mars. 

Saturn, a globe three feet through, goes round 
with his moons and rings at a distance of about 
seven miles. 

Uranus, a ball less than one foot and a half 
through, floats with his four moons in a pathway 
over fourteen miles off from the Sun. 

Neptune, the outer planet, a rather bigger 
ball than Uranus, with one moon, travels at a 
distance of over twenty-one miles. 

So, on this little scale, the whole pathway of 
Neptune would be somewhere about forty-two 
miles across. 

All the other worlds would have their jour- 
neys inside that circle. Only comets would go 
farther off than Neptune's pathway. 

Where now must we put the very nearest 
star known to us in all the sky ? 

On this scale we must put it about two hun- 
dred THOUSAND MILES AWAY ! 

And every single inch in those two hundred 



19^ THE STARRY SKIES. 

thousand miles would stand for 2,000 miles of 
real star-distance. 

Now do you begin to see what an enormous 
gap divides us from the stars ? 

If we could bring down the whole of the great 
Solar System to so small a size that it could lie 
between New York and West Point then the very 
nearest star known to us would be nearly as far 
away as the Moon is from the Earth. The near- 
est star would be 200,000 miles off. Our Moon 
now is 240,000 miles off. 

And this great gap is around the Sun's king- 
dom on all sides, stretching away in every direc- 
tion. We have not found one single star nearer 
than that, though countless multitudes of stars 
are very, very much farther away. 

Can you picture to yourself a little Solar Sys- 
tem lying between New York and West Point— 
the whole of it there, unless perhaps a few 
comets might stray a short way beyond ; all 
the worlds, all the moons, all the meteors, 
nearly all the comets, doing their yearly jour- 
neys round and round in this space of forty-two 
miles ? 

And then, around that small kingdom of 
worlds, a great blank empty space, north and 
south, east and west, above and below, in every 
direction, nearly as far as the Moon in our sky 
before a single star could be reached ! 



THE SUNS KINGDOM. I97 

How very, very distant they are you begin 
now to see ; do you not ? 

At first the Moon seemed a long way off, com- 
pared with any country in our world ; till we be- 
gan to think of the Sun. And then, compared 
with the Sun, the Moon seemed near. 

And the Sun seemed a very long way off, 
compared with the Moon ; till we began to think 
of Neptune. And then, compared with Neptune, 
the Sun seemed near. 

And Neptune seemed a very, very long way 
off, compared with the Sun ; till we began to 
think of the nearest Star. And then, compared 
with that Star, Neptune seemed near. 

And even the very closest of the Stars, which, 
compared with Neptune, seems so desperately 
far away, would, as compared with yet more 
distant Stars, seem almost near ! 

QUESTIONS. 

1. How far does the Solar System reach? 

Nobody can say ; but at all events beyond 
Neptune's pathway. 

2. Has the Sun any power beyond his own kingdom ? 
He has power to attract other stars. 

3. Does he pull other stars as strongly as he pulls his 
worlds ? 

No : much more gently, because of their great 
distance. 



I98 THE STARRY SKIES. 

4. How many stars are in our Solar System ? 
Only one star, the Sun. 

5. What lies round our System, between us and all the 
stars ? 

A wide empty space of cold and darkness. 

6. Do we really know that it is empty ? 

We can only say that it seems empty to us. 
We know very little about the matter. 

7. If we let one inch stand for 2,000 miles, how large will 
the whole Solar System be ? 

Less than 50 miles across. It would lie be- 
tween New York and West Point. 

8. Does this mean the whole of it ? 

The whole of which we know. Some comets 
may wander a little farther. 

9. On that small scale, how near would Mercury be to the 
Sun? 

About a quarter of a mile off. 

10. And Venus ? 
About half a mile off. 

11. And the Earth ? 

About three quarters of a mile off. 

12. And Mars? 
Over one mile off. 

13. And Jupiter? 

About three miles and three quarters off. 



THE SUN'S KINGDOM. 199 

14 And Saturn ? 
About seven miles off. 

15. And Uranus ? 

Over fourteen miles off. 

16. And Neptune ? 

More than twenty-one miles off. 

17. And the nearest Star ? 

About two hundred thousand miles off. 



200 THE STARRY SKIES. 



CHAPTER XX 



A STARRY UNIVERSE. 



I wonder how many of the Stars you know- 
by sight, so as to be able to point them out one 
by one, and say, " That is Sirius," or " That is 
Arcturus," or " That is Capella," or " That is the 
Pole-star." 

We are not now thinking of Planets, but of 
Stars ; not of Worlds, but of Suns ; not of our 
little Solar System, but of the great Stellar Sys- 
tem, or Universe of Stars. 

Our Sun and all his worlds belong to that 
Starry Universe. And no doubt countless other 
worlds, as well as countless other suns, belong to 
it also. 

In long-past days the name of " fixed stars " 
was given to the greater number of shining 
points in the sky. They are called " fixed " to 
make a difference between them and the plan- 
ets, which are seen to be not fixed. 

Of course all the stars, like all the planets, 
seem to travel each night across the sky. We 
have explained this already, and you know quite 
well now that their nightly journey from east to 



A STARRY UNIVERSE. 201 

west is only a seeming journey — only caused by 
our Earth's spinning from west to east. 

But even thus the stars are " fixed " as they 
go ; for all move in the same direction and at 
the same speed. One star does not travel here 
and another there, in opposite ways. All travel 
the same way. Each group of stars keeps always 
its own shape. Each star has its own particular 
place among other stars. It is as if the whole 
sky moved round in one piece. 

The planets behave quite differently. A 
planet is seen to change its place from day to 
day, from month to month, among the stars. 
Now it is in this group, and now it is in that 
group. Now it goes forward, and now it seems 
to travel backward ; or again it appears to stop, 
and then starts off anew. 

These movements of the planets are a mix- 
ture of real movements and of seeming move- 
ments. They are partly brought about by our 
Earth's own journeying. 

With the stars no such changes are seen. 
They remain always the same, always fixed in 
the same groups. These groups are commonly 
called "Constellations." 

The Little Bear's tail-tip never wanders away 
from the Little Bear's body. The four chief 
body-stars of the Great Bear never part com- 
pany. Orion's sword never breaks up, and his 



202 THE STARRY SKIES. 

belt is always made of three stars in a row, and 
his feet keep ever at the same distance from his 
head. Therefore the stars are called " fixed." 

And yet they are not fixed. 

So far as we can tell, every single Star in the 
sky, like every Planet, has its own movement. 
Stars as well as worlds are on the rush. Although 
we cannot actually see all to be moving, we may 
safely say that all do move. 

It seems to us, indeed, as impossible for the 
stars to be at rest as it is for the planets to be at 
rest. 

You remember why the planets have to be 
always hastening along their pathways round 
the Sun. If one of the worlds came to a stop it 
would at once begin to fall towards the Sun, 
drawn by the Sun's great pull ; and perhaps it 
might end by dropping into the crimson fiery 
sea. 

And it is much the same with the stars. 

Just as the Sun and planets all pull or attract 
one another, so the stars all pull or attract one 
another. Each star draws all his neighbor-stars 
and is drawn by them. 

If there were nothing to meet this perpetual 
pull of every star for every other star, then all 
the stars in the universe would surely in time 
rush together and become one enormous heap 
of Suns. 



A STARRY UNIVERSE. 203 

But there is something to meet and overcome 
this pull. The stars, too, are in motion. Each 
radiant Sun, by his own swift rush through the 
sky, so overcomes the pull of other stars that he 
can keep apart from them as he journeys. 

Some go only a few miles each second, like 
the planets Jupiter and Saturn. Some go as fast 
as Mars or the Earth. Some rival the flight of 
Mercury. Others far surpass any of the worlds 
in speed. There are stars hastening through the 
sky at a rate of over one hundred, and over two 
two hundred, and even over three hundred miles 
each second. 

Yet, despite all these journey ings, the stars 
remain fixed. Century after century we see 
them overhead in changeless groups. 

How can it be so ? If each star is taking its 
own onward journey along its own separate 
pathway at a rate of at least tens of thousands 
of miles every day, surely we ought to see them 
moving. Surely a star ought to get nearer to 
its neighbor on one side, and farther from its 
neighbor on the other side. How can it be 
otherwise if all the stars move, and if no two 
move at just the same speed ? 

That is exactly what the stars are doing ; 
Each star gets daily nearer or farther away from 
each of its neighbor stars. 

And yet they seem to us to remain fixed. 



204 THE STARRY SKIES. 

The star-groups are still the same in shape as 
when our forefathers looked upon them. 

No : we cannot see such changes commonly. 
And I will tell you why we cannot. It is be- 
cause our lives are not long enough. 

Think once more about the movement of 
clouds as seen from the ground. A small cloud, 
low down, will appear to hurry across the sky at 
a great pace. But you may look for perhaps 
half-an-hour at far-away clouds, very high up, 
and notice no change in them. 

This does not mean that the clouds high up 
do not stir. They may be actually moving 
quite as fast as the little cloud down below. 
Only, they are so far distant that the movement 
seems very slow — too slow to be seen at all, it 
may be, in one short half-hour. 

The stars are enormously more distant than 
the very highest cloud ever seen. However 
fast they really move those movements are very 
small, very tiny, as watched from the Earth ; 
so small and tiny that the lives of many men, 
one after another, are, all together, too short 
a time for the seeing of star-journey ings from 
the Earth. Only a very few can be found out 
thus, by most careful watching. 

Among the hosts of travelling stars is our 
own Sun. 

We have spoken so far of the Sun as if he 



A STARRY UNIVERSE. 205 

were fixed in one place, always at rest in the 
midst of his worlds. 

And so far as he has to do with the planets 
he is at rest. That is to say, he is always in 
one place for them. He is always about the 
same distance from Mercury, from the Earth, 
from Jupiter, and from Neptune. He is always 
just in the middle of the Solar System. 

Yet he is not really at rest. He too travels 
as the other stars travel. He too is on the 
move — going somewhere in the skies ; where, 
I cannot tell you. 

And as he speeds onward he carries with 
him all his company of worlds and moons, of 
comets and meteors. They are no trouble at all 
to him. He carries them in the strong grasp of 
his attraction as easily as you in walking might 
bear along with you a muff or a hand-bag. 

If you were asked how many stars can be 
seen any clear night in the sky, you would very 
likely say — " Oh, thousands and thousands!" 
You might even reply, " Millions !" 

But nobody ever yet saw a million stars with- 
out the help of a telescope. Commonly we see 
at most only two or three thousand stars ; and 
not often so many at once. 

For convenience the stars are arranged in 
Classes, first, second, third, and so on, like the 
classes in a school. 



206 THE STARRY SKIES. 

These Classes are spoken of as Magnitudes, 
which means " Sizes." But the stars really are 
put into Classes according to their brightnesses : 
not according to their sizes. 

We know very little as yet about the true 
sizes of the stars. They all look to us, in even 
the biggest telescopes, as mere bright points, 
showing no size at all. Some of the brighter 
stars may be much smaller than others which 
seem to us more dim. 

The shining of a star in our sky depends 
upon two things. It depends partly on the size 
and brightness of the star. It depends partly on 
the nearness of that star to the Earth. 

All we are able to do is to arrange them in 
classes according to their brightness as seen from 
the Earth. 

Those which shine the most are called Stars 
of the First Magnitude ; those which come next 
in brightness are called Stars of the Second 
Magnitude ; and so on. 

In the whole sky all around the Earth there 
are only about twenty Stars of the First Mag- 
nitude. Those twenty stars are mere bright 
points in the sky ; none of them so bright as 
Venus and Jupiter look to us. 

Yet they are all Suns; radiant globes of heat 
and light more or less like our own great Sun ; 
not like a mere planet. 



A STARRY UNIVERSE. 207 

QUESTIONS. 

1. What is meant by the Stellar System? 

The Universe of Stars to which our Sun be- 
longs. 

2. How are Planets known from Stars ? 

The Stars remain fixed in groups, while 
Planets are always changing their places among 
the Stars. 

3. What is meant by " Fixed Stars ?" 

The Stars are so called because of their fixity 
in certain groups. 

4. Tell me the name commonly given to groups of Stars. 
They are called Constellations. 

5. Name two or three Constellations mentioned in this 
chapter. 

The Little Bear ; the Great Bear ; Orion. 

6. Are the Stars really fixed ? 

No ; they are believed to be all moving. 

7. If the Stars are moving why do we not see it ? 
Because of their immense distance from us. 

Our lives are not long enough for us to see most 
of the Stars change their places in our sky. 

8. Is the Sun at rest ? 

Our Sun journeys like other stars through 
the sky. 



208 THE STARRY SKIES. 

9. Does he ever leave his planets behind ? 
No ; he carries them all with him. 

10. How does he do so ? 

By means of his powerful attraction. 

11. What is the meaning of " Magnitude ?" 
The word " Magnitude " means " Size." 

12. What is meant by Star-Magnitudes? 

The Stars are divided into different classes, 
called Magnitudes— such as Stars of the First 
Magnitude, Stars of the Second Magnitude. 

13. Are all Stars of the First Magnitude larger than all 
other Stars ? 

No ; it is a question of brightness, and not of 
size. 

14. What do we really mean by Stars of the First Magni- 
tude? 

We mean those stars in our sky which shine 
more brightly, as seen from the Earth, than any 
other stars. 

15. Does not brighter shining show greater size ? 

It may sometimes show greater size, or it 
may only show greater nearness to the Earth. 

16. How many Stars of the First Magnitude are there ? 

About twenty altogether, round the whole 
sky. 



STAR-GROUPS. 209 



CHAPTER XXI. 

STAR-GROUPS. 

The names of different Star-Groups are very 
old indeed. On a map or globe of the heavens 
you may see them pictured, with the figure of 
an animal or a man from which the name of the 
Constellation is taken. 

These figures were no doubt a help, in very 
early times, when people wished to learn the 
different stars ; though the star-groups can hard- 
ly be said to bear any real likeness to the fig- 
ures. 

As we journey round the Sun, month by 
month, we see him against different Star-groups 
in the heavens — against one constellation after 
another. 

Actually, of course, we do not see the Sun 
against the stars, since all stars beyond the Sun 
are hidden by his brightness. But we see at 
night those stars which lie in the opposite direc- 
tion, and we know each month, without seeing, 
which group lies exactly behind the Sun. 

Suppose you are in a room with a lighted 
lamp on a table in the middle. And suppose 
you walk slowly round the table. 

14 



210 THE STARRY SKIES. 

As you go you will see the lamp against dif- 
ferent parts of the room in turn. First, per- 
haps, against a window, then against a wall, 
then against a fireplace, then against a door, 
then against another wall, then against a side- 
board or chiffonier, and so on. 

The lamp itself does not stir; but you, by 
moving onward, change its background and give 
it a sort of " seeming pathway " round the room. 
If it were very far away, instead of very close, it 
might really appear to you to be moving. 

This is how we see the Sun seem to travel 
among the different star-groups. He does not 
go any nearer to the stars than usual ; he only 
comes between them and us. In fact he does not 
really go or come ; but as we move on we make 
him lie between us and one star-group after an- 
other. 

Twelve constellations are behind this seem- 
ing pathway of the Sun, and they are called 
" The Signs of the Zodiac." It would be a good 
plan to learn them by heart some day. Here 
are the names of the twelve star-groups in Eng- 
lish and in Latin : 



The Ram 


- Aries. 


The Bull - 


Taurus. 


The Twins - 


- Gemini, 


The Crab - 


Cancer, 



STAR-GROUPS. 


The Lion 


Leo. 


The Virgin 


Virsfo. 


The Scales - 


Libra. 


The Scorpion 


Scorpio. 


The Archer - 


Sagittarius. 


The Goat - 


Capricornus, 


The Water-carrier - 


Aquarius. 


The Fishes 


Pisces. 



211 



In all these twelve groups we find only five 
stars of the first magnitude. 

Besides those particular star-groups which lie 
behind the Sun as we journey there are many 
other constellations in all parts of the sky. 

Certain stars in the southern half of the 
heavens can be seen by people living on the 
northern half of our Earth. And certain stars 
in the northern half of the heavens can be seen 
by people living on the southern half of our 
Earth. 

But the very far north stars, lying over, or 
very nearly over, our north pole, are never seen 
at all in the far south of the Earth. And the 
very south stars, lying over, or very nearly over, 
our south pole, are never seen at all in the far 
north of the Earth., 

People living, for instance, in South Austra- 
lia cannot get a glimpse of the Pole-star or the 
Great Bear ; and people living in England or in 



212 THE STARRY SKIES. 

New England cannot get a glimpse of the 
Southern Cross. 

Remember that, either way, whether from 
the north pole or from the south pole of the 
Earth, a man always looks up into the sky. The 
heavens are always upward. The sky above the 
south pole is no more downward than the sky 
above the north pole. All the " downward " of 
which we know is towards the centre or middle 
of our Earth. 

Nobody now need sit looking up at the sky 

and saying, 

11 Twinkle, twinkle, little star ; 
How I wonder what you are !" 

for we know what the stars are. 

I do not mean for a moment that we know 
all about them, or that we have not an immense 
amount still to learn. But we do certainly know 
what they are. They are Suns. 

The twinkling is not a part of the stars them- 
selves. It is brought about by the way in which 
the little rays of star-light travel through our 
air. If we could get away from the Earth, right 
outside the air, we should then see the stars to 
shine steadily, without any twinkling. 

Jupiter and Venus and other planets do not 
twinkle when we look upon them. You may 
usually know a planet from a star by its not 
twinkling. 



STAR-GROUPS. 213 

No planet can ever be seen by us, even 
through the very biggest of telescopes, at such 
an enormous distance as that of the nearest star. 
For the planets shine by borrowed light, as our 
Moon shines ; and you know how dim moon- 
light is, compared with sunlight. Only a sun, 
shining with the brilliance of its own great heat, 
can possibly be seen so very, very far away. 

Any number of worlds may be there : cooled 
worlds, like our Earth ; half-cooled worlds, like 
Jupiter and Saturn — such worlds journeying 
round distant stars as the planets of the Solar 
System journey round our Sun. Only if they 
are there we cannot know it ; our eyes cannot 
make them out. 

Suppose you and I could go for a long, long 
journey through the skies, straight from our 
Earth away to the star Alpha Centauri. That 
is the nearest star in all the heavens of which 
we yet know. 

Alpha Centauri is a very bright star, one of 
the First Magnitude. But you cannot see it in 
our northern skies. You would have to go much 
farther south to get a sight of Alpha Centauri. 

Suppose that we were to start on this vast 
journey, taking with us the great Lick telescope 
of California. And suppose that all the way we 
never once looked back in this direction until 
we reached the neighborhood of that bright 



214 THE STARRY SKIES. 

star — until we got near enough to see Alpha 
Centauri as a large radiant Sun. 

Then suppose that we turned round and 
gazed through the big telescope towards this 
little Earth left so far behind. 

What do you think we should see ? 

No Earth at all ! No Moon ! No Jupiter, no 
Venus, no Mars, no planets ! No great, warm, 
glowing Sun ! Only one little faint distant star 
sending forth its feeble glimmer ! 

All else would have vanished utterly. At 
the distance of the nearest star, nobody, looking 
in this direction, with man's eyes and with such 
telescopes as we have on Earth, could find out 
anything at all about the Solar System. All 
the worlds and their moons would be hidden. 
The very most that anyone could see would be 
our Sun, as one tiny star. 

Just so we on the Earth gaze at the far-off 
stars ; and we see them shining as lonely suns 
with no worlds travelling round them. Yet they 
may not be lonely. Any one of those stars may 
have its own great kingdom of worlds. Any 
number of planets may be there. Who can tell ? 
We are not able to know, because the gentle 
shining of borrowed or reflected light cannot 
possibly reach to such a distance. The most 
that we have any right to say is that we are not 
able to see any worlds belonging to the stars. 



STAR-GROUPS. 21 5 

QUESTIONS. 

i. What is meant by the Signs of the Zodiac ? 

The twelve constellations against which in 
turn the Sun is seen in the course of a year. 

2. How is the Sun seen against these constellations ? 

In consequence of our Earth's yearly jour- 
ney round the Sun. 

3. Do we actually see the stars beyond the Sun ? 

No ; for all stars in the same direction as the 
Sun are hidden by his brightness. 

4. Tell me the names of the twelve constellations. 

Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, 
Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aqua- 
rius, Pisces. 

5. How many very bright stars are in those constella- 
tions ? 

Five stars of the first magnitude. 

6. Can all stars in the sky be seen from all parts of the 

Earth ? 

No. Some stars to the far north are never 
seen in the far south ; and some stars to the 
far south are never seen in the far north. 

7. Tell me of a constellation never seen from Australia. 
The Great Bear. 



2l6 THE STARRY SKIES. 

8. Tell me of a star-group never seen from New England. 
The Southern Cross. 

9. What are Stars ? 
Stars are Suns. 

10. Why do Stars twinkle? 

Only because of the way in which their light 
travels through our air. 

11. Tell me of one way by which we may know planets 
from stars ? 

A star generally twinkles ; and a planet gen- 
erally does not twinkle. 

12. Do any planets belong to the distant stars? 

Any of the stars may have worlds belonging 
to them, but we cannot see such worlds. 

13. Why cannot we see them ? 
Because the distance is too great. 

14. Why should we see a star if we cannot see a planet 
at that distance ? 

A star shines by its own light. A planet 
shines only by reflected light, therefore much 
more dimly. 

15. If we could journey to the nearest known star, how 
much should we see of the Solar System ? 

No planets nor moon at all : nothing but the 
Sun as one dim star. 



GIANT-SUNS AND CLUSTERS. 217 

CHAPTER XXII. 

GIANT-SUNS AND CLUSTERS. 

All stars do not shine alike. They are dif- 
ferent in brightness, different in size, different 
in speed. 

There are -brilliant suns and dim suns, great 
suns and little suns, fast suns and slow suns, in the 
universe of stars, just as there are brilliant worlds 
and dim worlds, great worlds and little worlds, 
fast worlds and slow worlds, in our Solar System. 

But the brightest star is not always truly 
the biggest star ; just as the brightest planet in 
our sky is by no means always the largest world. 

You know how bright Venus is — a good 
deal brighter than Jupiter. Yet Venus is far, 
far smaller than Jupiter. Venus is brighter be- 
cause she is so much the nearer of the two, not 
at all because of greater size. 

The very brightest star in our whole sky is 
Sirius. Yet you must not suppose that Sirius 
is larger in himself than any other star. He is 
brighter partly because he is so much nearer 
than most other stars. 

I do not mean to say that Sirius is what 
one would call a very near star, if such a word 



2l8 THE STARRY SKIES. 

can be used about, any single star in the sky. 
Alpha Centauri, though the nearest of which 
we know, is not really near ; and Sirius is per- 
haps nearly twice as far off as Alpha. That, 
however, is not much, compared with the enor- 
mous distances of many stars. 

Sirius is no doubt a splendid Sun, most likely 
larger and brighter than our Sun. But our Sun 
is not so very particularly large as a star among 
stars. He is only large as a Sun among little 
worlds. Sirius may very well be bigger than 
our Sun and yet be by no means one of the big- 
gest stars in the sky. 

No one has yet been able to measure the 
actual size of Sirius, because he always looks to 
us like one point of light. But we know about 
how far off he is, and we know that our Sun at 
that same distance would not be so bright a star 
as Sirius is. This looks as though Sirius were 
the larger Sun of the two, only without any very 
startling difference. 

Matters are otherwise when we turn to Arc- 
turus. 

Sirius is in the southern half of the heavens, 
and Arcturus is perhaps the very brightest star 
in all the northern half of the heavens, though 
a good way behind Sirius in radiance. 

Arcturus seems to be a truly wonderful Sun. 
He is eleven millions of times farther away from 



GIANT-SUNS AND CLUSTERS. 2ig 

us than our Sun is. Imagine what this means ! 
If you had a rope 92 millions of miles long-, 
reaching from our Earth to the Sun, you would 
need eleven millions of such ropes, joined end to 
end, to reach from the Earth to Arcturus ! 

If our Sun were moved to where Arcturus is 
we should see him only as a very dim star in- 
deed. But Arcturus is one of the most brilliant 
stars in our sky. 

This seems to show that he must be an enor- 
mous Sun : a very giant among giants ; so huge 
that our great Sun would perhaps be but as a 
little ball by his side. 

Capella, one of our most beautiful northern 
stars, is believed to be another giant Sun. Our 
Sun, at the distance of Capella, would be only 
just visible without a telescope, while Capella is 
almost, if not quite, as bright as Arcturus. Since 
the radiance of Capella is certainly not caused by 
nearness it is most likely caused by great size. 

So, although Sirius may be to us " the mon- 
arch of the starry skies," he is monarch only in 
appearance. He is brightest because he is one 
of the nearer stars, not because he is really one 
of the very largest. Arcturus, Capella, and oth- 
ers also, are believed far to surpass him in size. 

In this little book I must not even try to tell 
you many of the wonders of the starry heavens. 
If you wish to learn more you will by-and-by 



220 THE STARRY SKIES. 

read in other books about the many-colored 
suns which are seen in telescopes, and the pairs 
of suns which journey through the skies in com- 
pany.* 

You will read also about the curious change- 
able stars, which get bright and dim by turns ; 
and about the extraordinary New Stars, which 
sometimes appear and last for a while, and then 
vanish again. f 

I am only going to tell you now a very little 
about Star-Clusters and Nebulae. 

A Star-Cluster is just what its name says it 
is — a Cluster of Stars very near together. Near, 
as seen by us at this distance ; not always really 
near. 

A great many star-clusters are known, and 
some can be seen without a telescope, while 
others are mere specks even in a fairly good 
telescope. 

In some clusters only about one or two hun- 
dred stars are seen. In others we find a count- 
less multitude of stats — thousands of suns seem- 
ingly packed together in a mass. 

The packed look comes from great distance. 
If we were near enough we should see the suns 
of such a cluster to be well apart — perhaps even 
very widely separated. You know how the trees 

* See " Sun, Moon and Stars," pp. 283-286. 
t Ibid, pp. 279-282. 




The Nebula in Andromeda. 



GIANT-SUNS AND CLUSTERS. 221 

of a forest, which close at hand stand apart, seem 
in the distance to shrink close together. That is 
how the stars do. 

One very important cluster you may easily 
see any clear winter evening — the cluster of the 
Pleiades. Most people can make out five or six 
dim stars ; and through a mere opera-glass a 
hundred may be counted. 

The word " nebula " means " a cloud." Neb- 
ulce is the plural, meaning clouds. 

But the Nebulas are not fleeting and watery 
clouds, like our Earth-clouds. They are pale 
patches of light in the sky, fixed as the stars 
themselves — in one spot century after century. 

Only two or three of the nebulas can be seen 
without a telescope. The brightest of them all 
is a faint patch in the star-group Andromeda ; 
and the next brightest is " The Great Nebulas " 
in the constellation Orion. 

Photographs are now taken of the nebula, 
and we thus see more of their true shapes than 
could ever be found out by simply gazing at 
them with our own eyes, which so soon get 
tired. 

It used once to be thought that a Nebula 
was only a very, very far off star-cluster — too far 
for the largest telescope ever to make us able to 
see the little separate star-points. 

But it has now been found that many of the 



222 THE STARRY SKIES. 

nebulae are not clusters of stars at all ; they are 
made of shining gases. 

Gases out there in the distant sky, it is sup- 
posed, do not burn away, like gas here on the 
Earth, because in the sky, far off, there is no air, 
and nothing can burn aivay without air. Only 
when the great masses of gas are very hot they 
shine with their own heat ; and instead of burn- 
ing away they go on shining, year after year. 
That is how we see them. 

Some nebulas are made partly of gases and 
partly of stars. And some star-clusters have a 
good deal of shining gas round about the 
stars. 

For a long while nobody knew that there was 
any bright gas round the stars of the Pleiades 
cluster. But lately, in some photographs taken 
of the Pleiades, a curious soft haze has come 
out round several of the stars, as you may see 
for yourself in a photograph which tells a truer 
tale than our eyes can tell. 

Do you remember hearing that a star is, most 
likely, a young world not yet cooled? Well, it 
may be that a nebula is a young sun, or cluster 
of suns, not yet shaped. 

These things we cannot know with certainty. 
We can only say what is believed to be most 
likely the right explanation. 

Perhaps you have sometimes noticed across 



GIANT-SUNS AND CLUSTERS. 223 

the sky at night a band of pale light, wider 
here, narrower there. 

In a clear evening, after dark, it may always 
be seen, and it is called The Milky Way. 

Stars lie scattered over and around the Milky 
Way. But beyond and behind all the brighter 
stars is spread that soft pale band, which in 
itself is made up of stars — multitudes upon 
multitudes of distant suns. They are either so 
very distant or so very small, or perhaps both 
together, that we cannot see them as separate 
stars. We only see the general shining of 
them all. 

Through a telescope great numbers of stars 
can be seen in the Milky Way, yet still the band 
of hazy light always lies beyond. 

The Milky Way belongs to the same vast 
Universe of Stars to which our Sun belongs. 
Indeed, our Sun, with all his planets, is actually 
in the Milky Way. 

When you are looking up into the sky, try- 
ing to learn about the countless suns of the 
great Universe, never forget one thing — that 
" our Father in Heaven " has made them all, 
and is King over them all. 

If we see a lovely picture, or a beautiful 
building, we naturally want to know more about 
the man who painted the picture or planned the 
building. 



224 THE STARRY SKIES. 

Then surely, while searching into the grand 
distances and glory of the skies, we ought to 
lift our thoughts in reverent adoration to our 
Father in Heaven, and to the Son of God, by 
whom " were all things created that are in 
heaven and that are in earth." For "without 
Him was not anything made that was made /" 

QUESTIONS. 

i . Are stars all of the same size ? 

No ; some are large and some are small. 

2. Are the brightest stars always the largest in size ? 

Not at all. A star may be brighter than an- 
other only because it is much nearer. 

3. Which is the brightest star in our heavens ? 
Sirius, the Dog-star. 

4. Is Sirius as bright as Venus ? 

No ; but Venus is a planet, not a star. 

5. Is Sirius one of the very largest stars? 

Sirius is perhaps bigger than our Sun, but 
not one of the biggest stars. 

6. Why, then, is Sirius the brightest ? 

Sirius is one of the nearer stars ; not actually 
near, but far nearer than many others. 



GIANT-SUNS AND CLUSTERS. 225 

7. Is our Sun one of the biggest stars ? 
No ; only a moderate-sized star. 

8. Tell the names of two giant suns. 
Arcturus and Capella. 

9. Why do we believe Arcturus and Capella to be larger 
than Sirius ? 

Because they are both very bright stars ; and 
yet they are very much farther away than 
Sirius. 

10. What are Star-Clusters? 

Clusters of hundreds or thousands of suns, so 
distant as to seem to us quite close together. 

11. What are Nebulae? 

Hazy clouds like patches in the sky. 

12. What are Nebulae made of? 

Some are only great masses of shining gas. 
Sometimes they are made of stars and gases 
together. 

13. Which are the two brightest Nebulae ? 

The Nebula in Andromeda and the Nebula 
in Orion. 

14. Tell me the name of a well-known Star-Cluster easily 
seen? 

The Pleiades. 

15. What do we learn from a photograph of the Pleiades ? 

That some of the stars of this cluster have 
nebula-gas round them. 
IJ5 



226 THE STARRY SKIES. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

HOW TO STUDY THE SKY. 

Now I want you to get just a tiny idea of 
how to begin to find out for yourself a few Plan- 
ets and Stars in the sky. In one way, the Plan- 
ets are the easier of the two to find, in another 
way they are the more difficult. 

They are easier because they are brighter; 
at least a few of them are. Also, they do not 
twinkle. That at once distinguishes them from 
the Stars. 

On the other hand they are a little more 
difficult, because they are always changing their 
places in the sky. If you learn to know some 
particular star by sight you will always find 
that star in the same place among other stars. 
It may be more to the east or to the west, ac- 
cording to the time of night and of the year ; 
but it will always be in the very same part of 
the very same star-group. But a planet never 
keeps long to any particular group of stars. 

However, after the Sun and Moon, the easiest 
heavenly bodies of all to find are, no doubt, 
Venus and Jupiter. 

Venus is at one time of the year a Morning 



HOW TO STUDY THE SKY. 22/ 

Planet, and at another time of the year an 
Evening Planet. 

You always see Venus either not very long 
before sunrise or not very long after sunset. 
Venus is so near to the Sun that you cannot 
possibly find her in any part of the sky very 
far away from the Sun. 

So if, in the evening, you see a bright planet 
away towards the east, you may be sure you are 
not looking at Venus. Since the Sun has lately 
set in the west Venus will not be anywhere 
towards the east. 

But if you see a very bright untwinkling 
planet in the west you may be pretty sure that 
you have found Venus. " Such a lovely star," 
people often call her. Venus is no star, how- 
ever. 

It is the same with Mercury as with Venus, 
only more so; because Mercury is still closer 
to the Sun. So Mercury rises a shorter time 
before the Sun than Venus, or sets a shorter 
time after the Sun. This makes Mercury not 
so easy to see as Venus ; and Mercury is never 
so brilliant as Venus, at his best. 

Sometimes, when you have found Venus as 
a shining planet towards the west, you will see 
another bright and beautiful planet, only a little 
less radiant, in quite another part of the sky ; 
and then you have most likely found Jupiter. 



228 THE STARRY SKIES, 

If you look through a good opera-glass you 
may perhaps get a glimpse of Jupiter's little 
moons. 

Mars is often not at all difficult to find, be- 
cause of his red color. He too, like Venus and 
Jupiter, does not twinkle. He is not, however, 
nearly so bright as Jupiter. 

When you begin to learn the Star-Groups it 
is wisest to start with those near the north pole. 

Ask somebody first to point out to you the 
Great Bear, with his seven chief stars, all fairly 
bright : four in the body, and three in the tail. 
Two of the body-stars are called The Pointers, 
because they point almost straight at the Pole- 
Star. 

The end star of the Little Bear's tail is the 
Pole-Star ; and it lies almost exactly over the 
north pole. As our Earth spins round and 
round, so that other stars in the sky seem to 
journey across from east to west, her north pole 
points always to the Pole-star, and the Pole-star 
remains always overhead at the north pole. 

But the body of the Little Bear seems to 
travel round and round his own fixed tail-tip. 
Seems to do so: for this is part of the great 
seeming whirl of the whole sky at night, caused 
by our Earth's real spinning movement. 

In shape the Little Bear is very like the 
Great Bear, being made of seven stars, four in 



HOW TO STUDY THE SKY. 229 

the body and three in the tail. Only its stars 
are a great deal more dim than the seven chief 
stars of the Great Bear. Two stars of the Little 
Bear are called " The Guardians of the Pole." 

So now you have to fix in your mind the little 
faint Pole-Star as a starting-point in your study 
of the heavens. 

Round about the Pole-Star are four impor- 
tant constellations which you ought to learn 
early. 

One of the four you know already ; and that 
is the Great Bear — sometimes named " The 
Plough," and " Charles' Wain." Perhaps the 
seven stars are in shape at least as much like 
to a plough, or to a wagon or a dipper, as they 
are to a bear. 

Away to quite the other side of the Pole- 
Star, and about opposite to the Great Bear, is a 
constellation named Cassiopeia. Here we find 
five bright stars shaped somewhat like an easy- 
chair seen sideways. There are no first-mag- 
nitude stars in either the Great Bear or Cassio- 
peia. 

The two other important constellations are 
on the two other sides of the Pole-Star ; making 
with the Great Bear and Cassiopeia a sort of 
rough square of four Star-Groups, having the 
Pole-Star in their centre. 

One of the two is the Constellation Lyra; 



23O THE STARRY SKIES. 

and in Lyra shines the beautiful first-magnitude 
star, Vega. 

Opposite to Lyra, on the other side of the 
Pole-Star, is the Constellation Auriga ; and here 
we come across another first-magnitude star, the 
giant-sun, Capella. 

A certain well-known constellation, Draco, or 
The Dragon, winds among these stars-groups, 
passing between the Great Bear and the Little 
Bear, and so lying very near the Pole- Star. 

From the above-named four principal star- 
groups you may work your way southward in all 
directions, learning one constellation after an- 
other. I can now only point out a very few 
more. 

At no great distance from the Great Bear and 
from Lyra is a constellation called Bootes ; and 
in this group is found the bright first-magnitude 
star, Arcturus ; that giant-sun of which you 
have heard before. 

At no great distance from Auriga — that 
is, right away in the opposite direction from 
Bootes — you may note in winter months the 
gentle shining of the Pleiades — a star-cluster 
in the constellation Taurus. 

During the winter, as you know, certain 
star-groups come into view which in summer 
we cannot see. No doubt you will remember 
that Taurus is one of those star-groups against 



HOW TO STUDY THE SKY. 23 1 

which the Sun is seen, seemingly, to pass in the 
course of the year. But when you can see the 
Pleiades you will be sure that the Sun is not 
then between us and Taurus. If he were, Tau- 
rus would be above the horizon at the same time 
as the Sun. And in that case, of course, we 
could not see Taurus at all, or the Pleiades. 

In this same star-group Taurus, is a bright 
first-magnitude star named Aldebaran. 

When you have found the Pleiades you are 
not far from the grandest star-group in the sky, 
the magnificent constellation of Orion. 

In Orion there are two first-magnitude stars, 
named Rigel and Betelgeuse, and many other 
bright stars also. 

The two feet-stars of Orion point in almost 
a straight line to the very brightest star in the 
whole sky, Sirius ; often called " The Dog-Star," 
because it is in the constellation Canis Major, 
or The Great Dog. 

Arcturus and Capella and Vega are brightest 
of all stars in the northern half of the sky ; for 
Sirius is in the southern half. But not one of 
them shines as Sirius shines. 

Two very brilliant southern stars, Canopus 
and Alpha Centauri, are never seen from far 
northern countries. Both of them are brighter 
than any other first-magnitude star except Sirius. 
They quite outshine Arcturus, 



232 THE STARRY SKIES. 

Alpha Centauri, as you have heard earlier, 
is the very nearest star to the Earth the dis- 
tance of which we know. 

But Canopus is one of the more distant stars. 
Since it is so very distant, and so very bright, 
we believe it to be another giant-sun. 

There are many more constellations besides 
these with which one ought to be acquainted. 
It is a good plan to look out the different star- 
groups in a map of the heavens, and then, on a 
clear night, to find them in the Sky. 

QUESTIONS. 

i. Which is the easiest heavenly body to find in the Sky, 
after the Sun and Moon ? 

The Planet Venus. 

2. Where must you look for Venus ? 
Always rather near the Sun. 

3. At what time of day ? 

Sometimes in the evening, sometimes in the 
morning. 

4. And in what direction ? 

The same direction as the Sun. If in the 
morning, Venus will be seen towards the east, 
before sunrise. If in the evening, towards the 
west after sunset. 



HOW TO STUDY THE SKY. 233 

5. Why is Venus the easiest to find ? 

Because she is brightest of all ; brighter than 
all stars and all other planets. 

6. Where is Mercury to be found ? 

Always near the Sun, like Venus; but Mer- 
cury is nearer still, and so is above the horizon 
a shorter time before or after the Sun. 

7. Which is the next brightest world in the sky after 
Venus ? 

The planet Jupiter. 

8. Where is Jupiter to be found ? 

In different parts of the sky at different times. 
He may be known by his brightness, second only 
to that of Venus. 

9. What is Mars like ? 

Reddish in color; and of course Mars, like 
other planets, does not twinkle. 

10. Which Star remains always in one spot, as seen from 
Earth ? 

The Pole-Star, over our North Pole. 

11. What constellation does the Pole-star belong to? 
The constellation of the Little Bear. 

12. Tell me four chief constellations grouped round the 
Pole-star. 

The Great Bear, and Cassiopeia ; Lyra and 
Auriga. 



234 THE STARRY SKIES. 

13. Are any first magnitude stars in these four groups ? 
The bright star Vega, in Lyra ; and the bright 

star Capella, in Auriga. 

14. Tell me of another constellation near the Pole-star. 
Draco, or the Dragon. 

15. Where is the bright star Arcturus ? 
Arcturus is in the constellation Bootes. 

16. Where is the Pleiades cluster ? 

The Pleiades cluster is in the constellation 
Taurus. 

17. Is there any first-magnitude star in Taurus ? 
Yes, the bright star Aldebaran. 

18. Tell me of a grand star-group near the Pleiades. 
The constellation Orion. 

19. How many stars of the first magnitude are m Orion? 
Two ; Rigel and Betelgeuse. 

20. Where is the brightest of stars, Sirius ? 

In the constellation Canis Major, or The 
Great Dog. 

21. How can you find Sirius when you know Orion ? 
The two feet-stars of Orion point towards 

Sirius. 

22. Tell me of two very brilliant southern stars. 
Canopus and Alpha Centauri. 



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SUN, MOON, AND STARS. 

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