From the Earth to the Moon direct in ninety-seven hours and twenty minutes, and a trip round it . ,sical and geological questions until then insoluble ? This waSthe question, and the only one, which occupied the minds of thesebold travellers. As to the fate in store for themselves, they didnot even dream of it. But what would become of them amid these infinite solitudes,tlieso who would soon want air ? A few more days, and theywould full stifled in this wandering projectile. But some daysto these intrepid fellows was a century; and they devoted alltheir time to observe that moon which they no
From the Earth to the Moon direct in ninety-seven hours and twenty minutes, and a trip round it . ,sical and geological questions until then insoluble ? This waSthe question, and the only one, which occupied the minds of thesebold travellers. As to the fate in store for themselves, they didnot even dream of it. But what would become of them amid these infinite solitudes,tlieso who would soon want air ? A few more days, and theywould full stifled in this wandering projectile. But some daysto these intrepid fellows was a century; and they devoted alltheir time to observe that moon which they no longer hoped toreach. The distance which then separated the projectile from thesatellite was estimated at about 200 leagues. Under these , as regards the visibility of the details of the disc, thetravellers were farther from the moon than are the inhabitants ofthe earth with their powerful telescopes. Indeed, we know that the instrumeut mounted by Lord Rosseat , which magnifies 6500 times, brings the moon towithin an ai)parcnt distance of sixteen leagues. And more than. THE TELESCOPE AT PARSONTOWN. [p. 228.] THE OBSERVERS OF THE MOON. 229 that, Avilh the powerful one set up at Longs Peak, the orb ofnight, maguified 48,000 times, is brought to within less than twoleagues, and objects having a diameter of thirty feet are seenvery distinctly. So that, at this distance, the topographicaldetails of the moon, observed without glasses, could not bedetermined with precision. The eye caught the vast outline ofthose immense depressions inappropriately called seas, but theycould not recognize their nature. The prominence of the moun-tains disappeared under the splendid irradiation produced by thereflection of the solar rays. The eye, dazzled as if it was leainingover a bath of molten silver, turned from it involuntarily ; butthe oblong form of the orb was quite clear. It appeared like agigantic egg, with the small end turned towards the the moon, liqui
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1874
