Astronomy for amateurs . m-merce, and of thieves. One only sees him furtively,from time to time, at the periods of his greatest elonga-tions, either after the setting or before the rising of theradiant orb, when he presents the aspect of a somewhatreddish star. This planet, like the others, shines only by the re-flection of the Sun whose illumination he receives, andas he is in close juxtaposition with it, his light is brightenough, though his volume is inconsiderable. He issmaller than the Earth. His revolution round the Sunbeing accomplished in about three months, he passesrapidly, in a mont
Astronomy for amateurs . m-merce, and of thieves. One only sees him furtively,from time to time, at the periods of his greatest elonga-tions, either after the setting or before the rising of theradiant orb, when he presents the aspect of a somewhatreddish star. This planet, like the others, shines only by the re-flection of the Sun whose illumination he receives, andas he is in close juxtaposition with it, his light is brightenough, though his volume is inconsiderable. He issmaller than the Earth. His revolution round the Sunbeing accomplished in about three months, he passesrapidly, in a month and a half, from one side to theother of the orb of day, and is alternately a morningand an evening star. The ancients originally regardedit as two separate planets; but with attentive obser- 114 THE PLANETS vation, they soon perceived its identity. In our some-what foggy cHmates, it can only be discovered once ortwice a year, and then only by looking for it accordingto the indications given in the astronomic Co; days Fig. 32.—Orbits of the four Planets nearest to the Sun. Mercury courses round the Sun at a distance of57,000,000 kilometers (35,000,000 miles), and accom-plishes his revolution in 87 days, 23 hours, 15 minutes;t. e., 2 months, 27 days, 23 hours, or a little less thanthree of our months. If the conditions of life are the9 115 ASTRONOMY FOR AMATEURS same there as here, the existence of the Mercuriansmust be four times as short as our own. A youth oftwenty, awaking to the promise of the Hfe he is justbeginning in this world, is an octogenarian in Mercury. xjcars /Neptune
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