Chap. II A brief Description of the Solar System .
PLATE I. Fig. 1.
The Solar System.
17. The Planets and Comets which move round the Sun as their center, constitute the Solar System. Those Planets which are nearer the Sun not only finish their circuits sooner, but likewise move faster in their respective Orbits than those which are more remote from him. Their motions are all performed from west to east, in Orbits nearly circular. Their names, distances, bulks, and periodical revolutions, are as follows.
The Sun.
18. The Sun sun, an immense globe of fire, is placed near the common center, or rather in the lower[2] focus, of the Orbits of all the Planets and Comets[3]; and turns round his axis in 25 days 6 hours, as is evident by the motion of spots seen on his surface. His diameter is computed to be 763,000 miles; and, by the various attractions of the circumvolving Planets, he is agitated by a small motion round the center of gravity of the System. All the Planets, as seen from him, move the same way, and according to the order of Signs in the graduated Circle ♈ ♉ ♎ ♋ &c. which represents the great Ecliptic in the Heavens: but, as seen from any one Planet, the rest appear sometimes to go backward, sometimes forward, and sometimes to stand still; not in circles nor ellipses, but in[4] looped curves which never return into themselves. The Comets come from all parts of the Heavens, and move in all sorts of directions.
PLATE I. Fig. I. The Sun.
The Axes of the Planets, what.
19. Having mentioned the Sun’s turning round his axis, and as there will be frequent occasion to speak of the like motion of the Earth and other Planets, it is proper here to inform the young Tyro in Astronomy, that neither the Sun nor Planets have material axes to turn upon, and support them, as in the little imperfect Machines contrived to represent them. For the axis of a Planet is a line conceived to be drawn through it’s center, about which it revolves as on a real axis. The extremities of this line, terminating in opposite points of the Planet’s surface, are called its Poles. That which points towards the northern part of the Heavens is called the North Pole; and the other, pointing towards the southern part, is called the South Pole. A bowl whirled from one’s hand into the open air turns round such a line within itself, whilst it moves forward; and such are the lines we mean, when we speak of the Axes of the Heavenly bodies.
Their Orbits are not in the same plane with the Ecliptic.
PLATE I.
Their Nodes.
Where situated.
20. Let us suppose the Earth’s Orbit to be a thin, even, solid plane; cutting the Sun through the center, and extended out as far as the Starry Heavens, where it will mark the great Circle called the Ecliptic. This Circle we suppose to be divided into 12 equal parts, called Signs; each Sign into 30 equal parts, called Degrees; each Degree into 60 equal parts, called Minutes; and every Minute into 60 equal parts, called Seconds: so that a Second is the 60th part of a Minute; a Minute the 60th part of a Degree; and a Degree the 360th part of a Circle, or 30th part of a Sign. The Planes of the Orbits of all the other Planets likewise cut the Sun in halves; but extended to the Heavens, form Circles different from one another, and from the Ecliptic; one half of each being on the north side, and the other on the south side of it. Consequently the Orbit of each Planet crosses the Ecliptic in two opposite points, which are called the Planet’s Nodes. These Nodes are all in different parts of the Ecliptic; and therefore, if the planetary Tracks remained visible in the Heavens, they would in some measure resemble the different rutts of waggon-wheels crossing one another in different parts, but never going far asunder. That Node, or Intersection of the Orbit of any Planet with the Earth’s Orbit, from which the Planet ascends northward above the Ecliptic, is called the Ascending Node of the Planet; and the other, which is directly opposite thereto, is called it’s Descending Node. Saturn’s Ascending Node is in 21 deg. 13 min. of Cancer ♋, Jupiter’s in 7 deg. 29 min. of the same Sign, Mars’s in 17 deg. 17 min. of Taurus ♉, Venus’s in 13 deg. 59 min. of Gemini ♊, and Mercury’s in 14 deg. 43 min. of Taurus. Here we consider the Earth’s Orbit as the standard, and the Orbits of all the other Planets as oblique to it.
The Planets Orbits, what.
21. When we speak of the Planets Orbits, all that is meant is their Paths through the open and unresisting Space in which they move; and are kept in, by the attractive power of the Sun, and the projectile force impressed upon them at first: between which power and force there is so exact an adjustment, that without any solid Orbits to confine the Planets, they keep their courses, and at the end of every revolution find the points from whence they first set out, much more truly than can be imitated in the best machines made by human art.
Mercury.
Fig. I.
May be inhabited.
PLATE I.
22. Mercury, the nearest Planet to the Sun, goes round him (as in the circle marked ☿) in 87 days 23 hours of our time nearly; which is the length of his year. But, being seldom seen, and no spots appearing on his surface or disc, the time of his rotation on his axis, or the length of his days and nights, is as yet unknown. His distance from the Sun is computed to be 32 millions of miles, and his diameter 2600. In his course, round the Sun, he moves at the rate of 95 thousand miles every hour. His light and heat from the Sun are almost seven times as great as ours; and the Sun appears to him almost seven times as large as to us. The great heat on this Planet is no argument against it’s being inhabited; since the Almighty could as easily suit the bodies and constitutions of it’s inhabitants to the heat of their dwelling, as he has done ours to the temperature of our Earth. And it is very probable that the people there have such an opinion of us, as we have of the inhabitants of Jupiter and Saturn; namely, that we must be intolerably cold, and have very little light at so great a distance from the Sun.
Has like phases with the Moon.
23. This Planet appears to us with all the various phases of the Moon, when viewed at different times by a good telescope; save only that he never appears quite Full, because his enlightened side is never turned directly towards us but when he is so near the Sun as to be lost to our sight in it’s beams. And, as his enlightened side is always toward the Sun, it is plain that he shines not by any light of his own; for if he did, he would constantly appear round. That he moves about the Sun in an Orbit within the Earth’s Orbit is also plain (as will be more largely shewn by and by, § 141, & seq.) because he is never seen opposite to the Sun, nor above 56 times the Sun’s breadth from his center.
His Orbit and Nodes.
24. His Orbit is inclined seven degrees to the Ecliptic; and that Node § 20, from which he ascends northward above the Ecliptic is in the 14th degree of Taurus; the opposite, in the 14th degree of Scorpio. The Earth is in these points on the 5th of November and 4th of May, new style; and when Mercury comes to either of his Nodes at his[5] inferior Conjunction about these times, he will appear to pass over the disc or face of the Sun, like a dark round spot. But in all other parts of his Orbit his Conjunctions are invisible, because he either goes above or below the Sun.
When he will be seen as if upon the Sun.
25. Mr. Whiston has given us an account of several periods at which Mercury may be seen on the Sun’s disc, viz. In the year 1782, Nov. 12th, at 3 h. 44 m. in the afternoon: 1786, May 4th, at 6 h. 57 m. in the forenoon: 1789, Dec. 6th, at 3 h. 55 m. in the afternoon; and 1799, May 7th, at 2 h. 34 m. in the afternoon. There will be several intermediate Transits, but none of them visible at London.
Fig. I.
Venus.
26. Venus, the next Planet in order, is computed to be 59 millions of miles from the Sun; and by moving at the rate of 69 thousand miles every hour in her Orbit (as in the circle marked ♀), she goes round the Sun in 224 days 17 hours of our time nearly; in which, though it be the full length of her year, she has only 91⁄4 days, according to Bianchini’s observations; so that in her, every day and night together is as long as 241⁄3 days and nights with us. This odd quarter of a day in every year makes every fourth year a leap-year to Venus; as the like does to our Earth. Her diameter is 7906 miles; and by her diurnal motion the inhabitants about her Equator are carried 43 miles every hour: besides the 69,000 above-mentioned.
Her Orbit lies between the Earth and Mercury.
27. Her Orbit includes that of Mercury within it; for at her greatest Elongation, or apparent distance from the Sun, she is 96 times his breadth from his centre; which is almost double of Mercury’s. Her Orbit is included by the Earth’s; for if it were not, she might be seen as often in Opposition to the Sun as in Conjunction with him; but she was never seen 90 degrees, or a fourth part of a Circle, from the Sun.
She is our morning and evening Star by turns.
28. When Venus appears west of the Sun she rises before him in the morning, and is called the Morning Star: when she appears east of the Sun she shines in the evening after he sets, and is then called the Evening Star: being each in it’s turn for 290 days. It may perhaps be surprising at first, that Venus should keep longer on the east or west of the Sun than the whole time of her Period round him. But the difficulty vanishes when we consider that the Earth is all the while going round the Sun the same way, though not so quick as Venus: and therefore her relative motion to the Earth must in every Period be as much slower than her absolute motion in her Orbit, as the Earth during that time advances forward in the Ecliptic; which is 220 degrees. To us she appears through a telescope in all the various shapes of the Moon.
29. The Axis of Venus is inclined 75 degrees to the Axis of her Orbit; which is 511⁄2 degrees more than our Earth’s Axis is inclined to the Axis of the Ecliptic: and therefore the variation of her seasons is much greater than of ours. The North Pole of her Axis inclines toward the 20th degree of Aquarius, our Earth’s to the beginning of Cancer; and therefore the northern parts of Venus have summer in the Signs where those of our Earth have winter, and vice versâ.
Remarkable appearances.
30. The [6]artificial day at each Pole of Venus is as long as 1121⁄2 [7]natural days on our Earth.
Her Tropics and polar Circles, how situated.
31. The Sun’s greatest Declination on each side of her Equator amounts to 75 degrees; therefore her[8] Tropics are only 15 degrees from her Poles; and her [9]Polar Circles as far from her Equator. Consequently, the Tropics of Venus are between her Polar Circles and her Poles; contrary to what those of our Earth are.
The Sun’s daily Course.
32. As her annual Revolution contains only 91⁄4 of her days, the Sun will always appear to go through a Sign, or twelfth Part of her Orbit, in little more that three quarters of her natural day, or nearly in 183⁄4 of our days and nights.
And great declination.
33. Because her day is so great a part of her year, the Sun changes his Declination in one day so much, that if he passes vertically, or directly over head of any given place on the Tropic, the next day he will be 26 degrees from it: and whatever place he passes vertically over when in the Equator, one day’s revolution will remove him 361⁄4 degrees from it. So that the Sun changes his Declination every day in Venus about 14 degrees more at a mean rate, than he does in a quarter of a year on our Earth. This appears to be providentially ordered, for preventing the too great effects of the Sun’s heat (which is twice as great on Venus as on the Earth) so that he cannot shine perpendicularly on the same places for two days together; and by that means, the heated places have time to cool.
To determine the points of the Compass at her Poles.
34. If the inhabitants about the North Pole of Venus fix their South, or Meridian Line, through that part of the Heavens where the Sun comes to his greatest Height, or North Declination, and call those the East and West points of their Horizon, which are 90 degrees on each side from that point where the Horizon is cut by the Meridian Line, these inhabitants will have the following remarkables.
Surprising appearances at her Poles;
The Sun will rise 221⁄2 degrees[10] north of the East, and going on 1121⁄2 degrees, as measured on the plane of the [11]Horizon, he will cross the Meridian at an altitude of 121⁄2 degrees; then making an entire revolution without setting, he will cross it again at an altitude of 481⁄2 degrees; at the next revolution he will cross the Meridian as he comes to his greatest height and declination, at the altitude of 75 degrees; being then only 15 degrees from the Zenith, or that point of the Heavens which is directly over head: and thence he will descend in the like spiral manner; crossing the Meridian first at the altitude of 481⁄2 degrees; next at the altitude of 121⁄2 degrees; and going on thence 1121⁄2 degrees, he will set 221⁄2 degrees north of the West; so that, after having been 45⁄8 revolutions above the Horizon, he descends below it to exhibit the like appearances at the South Pole.
35. At each Pole, the Sun continues half a year without setting in summer, and as long without rising in winter; consequently the polar inhabitants of Venus have only one day and one night in the year; as it is at the Poles of our Earth. But the difference between the heat of summer and cold of winter, or of mid-day and mid-night, on Venus, is much greater than on the Earth: because in Venus, as the Sun is for half a year together above the Horizon of each Pole in it’s turn, so he is for a considerable part of that time near the Zenith; and during the other half of the year, always below the Horizon, and for a great part of that time at least 70 degrees from it. Whereas, at the Poles of our Earth, although the Sun is for half a year together above the Horizon, yet he never ascends above, nor descends below it, more than 231⁄2 degrees. When the Sun is in the Equinoctial, or in that Circle which divides the northern half of the Heavens from the southern, he is seen with one half of his Disc above the Horizon of the North Pole, and the other half above the Horizon of the South Pole; so that his center is in the Horizon of both Poles: and then descending below the Horizon of one, he ascends gradually above that of the other. Hence, in a year, each Pole has one spring, one harvest, a summer as long as them both, and a winter equal in length to the other three seasons.
At her polar Circles;
36. At the Polar Circles of Venus, the seasons are much the same as at the Equator, because there are only 15 degrees betwixt them, § 31; only the winters are not quite so long, nor the summers so short: but the four seasons come twice round every year.
At her Tropics;
37. At Venus’s Tropics, the Sun continues for about fifteen of our weeks together without setting in summer; and as long without rising in winter. Whilst he is more than 15 degrees from the Equator, he neither rises to the inhabitants of the one Tropic, nor sets to those of the other: whereas, at our terrestrial Tropics he rises and sets every day of the year.
38. At Venus’s Tropics, the Seasons are much the same as at her Poles; only the summers are a little longer, and the winters a little shorter.
At her Equator.
39. At her Equator, the days and nights are always of the same length; and yet the diurnal and nocturnal Arches are very different, especially when the Sun’s declination is about the greatest: for then, his meridian altitude may sometimes be twice as great as his midnight depression, and at other times the reverse. When the Sun is at his greatest Declination, either North or South, his rays are as oblique at Venus’s Equator, as they are at London on the shortest day of winter. Therefore, at her Equator there are two winters, two summers, two springs, and two autumns every year. But because the Sun stays for some time near the Tropics, and passes so quickly over the Equator, every winter there will be almost twice as long as summer: the four seasons returning twice in that time, which consists only of 91⁄4 days.
40. Those parts of Venus which lie between the Poles and Tropics, and between the Tropics and Polar Circles, and also between the Polar Circles and Equator, partake more or less of the Phenomena of these Circles, as they are more or less distant from them.
Great difference of the Sun’s amplitude at rising and setting.
41. From the quick change of the Sun’s declination it happens, that when he rises due east on any day, he will not set due west on that day, as with us; for if the place where he rises due east be on the Equator, he will set on that day almost west-north-west; or about 181⁄2 degrees north of the west. But if the place be in 45 degrees north latitude, then on the day that the Sun rises due east he will set north-west by west, or 33 degrees north of the west. And in 62 degrees north latitude when he rises in the east, he sets not in that revolution, but just touches the Horizon 10 degrees to the west of the north point; and ascends again, continuing for 31⁄4 revolutions above the Horizon without setting. Therefore, no place has the forenoon and afternoon of the same day equally long, unless it be on the Equator or at the Poles.
The longitude of places easily found in Venus.
42. The Sun’s altitude at noon, or any other time of the day, and his amplitude at rising and setting, being so different at places on the same parallels of latitude, according to the different longitudes of those places, the longitude will be almost as easily found on Venus as the latitude is found on the Earth: which is an advantage we can never enjoy, because the daily change of the Sun’s declination is by much too small for that purpose.
Her Equinoxes shift a quarter of a day forward every year.
43. On this Planet, wherever the Sun crosses the Equator in any year, he will have 9 degrees of declination from that place on the same day and hour next year; and will cross the Equator 90 degrees farther to the west; which makes the time of the Equinox a quarter of a day (almost equal to six of our days) later every year. Hence, although the spiral in which the Sun’s motion is performed, be of the same sort every year, yet it will not be the very same, because the Sun will not pass vertically over the same places till four annual revolutions are finished.
Every fourth year a leap-year to Venus.
PLATE I.
44. We may suppose that the inhabitants of Venus will be careful to add a day to some particular part of every fourth year; which will keep the same seasons to the same days. For, as the great annual change of the Equinoxes and Solstices shifts the seasons a quarter of a day every year, they would be shifted through all the days of the year in 36 years. But by means of this intercalary day, every fourth year will be a leap-year; which will bring her time to an even reckoning, and keep her Calendar always right.
When she will appear on the Sun.
45. Venus’s Orbit is inclined 31⁄2 degrees to the Earth’s; and crosses it in the 14th degree of Gemini and of Sagittarius; and therefore, when the Earth is about these points of the Ecliptic at the time that Venus is in her inferiour conjunction, she will appear like a spot on the Sun, and afford a more certain method of finding the distances of all the Planets from the Sun than any other yet known. But these appearances happen very seldom; and will only be thrice visible at London for three hundred years to come. The first time will be in the year 1761, June the 6th, at 5 hours 55 minutes in the morning. The second 1996, June the 9th, at 2 hours 13 minutes in the afternoon. And the third in the year 2004, June the 6th, at 7 hours 18 minutes in the forenoon. Excepting such Transits as these, she shews the same appearances to us regularly every eight years; her Conjunctions, Elongations, and Times of rising and setting being very nearly the same, on the same days, as before.
She may have a Moon although we cannot see it.
46. Venus may have a Satellite or Moon, although it be undiscovered by us: which will not appear very surprising, if we consider how inconveniently we are placed for seeing it. For it’s enlightened side can never be fully turned towards us but when Venus is beyond the Sun; and then, as Venus appears little bigger than an ordinary Star, her Moon may be too small to be perceptible at such a distance. When she is between us and the Sun, her full Moon has it’s dark side towards us; and then, we cannot see it any more than we can our own Moon at the time of Change. When Venus is at her greatest Elongation, we have but one half of the enlightened side of her Full Moon towards us; and even then it may be too far distant to be seen by us. But if she has a Moon, it may certainly be seen with her upon the Sun, in the year 1761, unless it’s Orbit be considerably inclined to the Ecliptic: for if it should be in conjunction or opposition at that time, we can hardly imagine that it moves so slow as to be hid by Venus all the six hours that she will appear on the Sun’s Disc.
The Earth.
Fig. I.
It’s diurnal and annual motion.
47. The Earth is the next Planet above Venus in the System. It is 81 millions of miles from the Sun, and goes round him (as in the circle ⊕) in 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes, from any Equinox or Solstice to the same again: but from any fixed Star to the same again, as seen from the Sun, in 365 days 6 hours and 9 minutes; the former being the length of the Tropical year, and the latter the length of the Sidereal. It travels at the rate of 58 thousand miles every hour, which motion, though 120 times swifter than that of a cannon ball, is little more than half as swift as Mercury’s motion in his Orbit. The Earth’s diameter is 7970 miles; and by turning round it’s Axis every 24 hours from West to East, it causes an apparent diurnal motion of all the heavenly Bodies from East to West. By this rapid motion of the Earth on it’s Axis, the inhabitants about the Equator are carried 1042 miles every hour, whilst those on the parallel of London are carried only about 580, besides the 58 thousand miles by the annual motion above-mentioned, which is common to all places whatever.
Inclination of it’s Axis.
48. The Earth’s Axis makes an angle of 231⁄2 degrees with the Axis of it’s Orbit; and keeps always the same oblique direction; inclining towards the same fixed Stars[12] throughout it’s annual course; which causes the returns of spring, summer, autumn, and winter; as will be explained at large in the tenth Chapter.
A proof of it’s being round.
49. The Earth is round like a globe; as appears, 1. from it’s shadow in Eclipses of the Moon; which shadow is always bounded by a circular line § 314. 2. From our seeing the masts of a ship whilst the hull is hid by the convexity of the water. 3. From it’s having been sailed round by many navigators. The hills take off no more from the roundness of the Earth in comparison, than grains of dust do from the roundness of a common Globe.
It’s number of square miles.
50. The seas and unknown parts of the Earth (by a measurement of the best Maps) contain 160 million 522 thousand and 26 square miles; the inhabited parts 38 million 990 thousand 569: Europe 4 million 456 thousand and 65; Asia 10 million 768 thousand 823; Africa 9 million 654 thousand 807; America 14 million 110 thousand 874. In all, 199 million 512 thousand 595; which is the number of square miles on the whole surface of our Globe.
The proportion of land and sea.
PLATE I.
51. Dr. Long, in the first volume of his Astronomy, pag. 168, mentions an ingenious and easy method of finding nearly what proportion the land bears to the sea; which is, to take the papers of a large terrestrial globe, and after separating the land from the sea with a pair of scissars, to weigh them carefully in scales. This supposes the globe to be exactly delineated, and the papers all of equal thickness. The Doctor made the experiment on the papers of Mr. Senex’s seventeen inch globe; and found that the sea papers weighed 349 grains, and the land only 124: by which it appears that almost three fourth parts of the surface of our Earth between the Polar Circles are covered with water, and that little more than one fourth is dry land. The Doctor omitted weighing all within the Polar Circles; because there is no certain measurement of the land there, so as to know what proportion it bears to the sea.
The Moon.
52. The Moon is not a Planet, but only a Satellite or Attendant of the Earth, moving round the Earth from Change to Change in 29 days 12 hours and 44 minutes; and going round the Sun with it every year. The Moon’s diameter is 2180 miles; and her distance from the Earth 240 thousand. She goes round her Orbit in 27 days 7 hours 43 minutes, moving about 2290 miles every hour; and turns round her Axis exactly in the time that she goes round the Earth, which is the reason of her keeping always the same side towards us, and that her day and night taken together is as long as our lunar month.
Her Phases.
53. The Moon is an opaque Globe like the Earth, and shines only by reflecting the light of the Sun: therefore whilst that half of her which is toward the Sun is enlightened, the other half must be dark and invisible. Hence, she disappears when she comes between us and the Sun; because her dark side is then toward us. When she is gone a little way forward, we see a little of her enlightened side; which still increases to our view, as she advances forward, until she comes to be opposite to the Sun; and then her whole enlightened side is towards the Earth, and she appears with a round, illumined Orb; which we call the Full Moon: her dark side being then turned away from the Earth. From the Full she seems to decrease gradually as she goes through the other half of her course; shewing us less and less of her enlightened side every day, till her next change or conjunction with the Sun, and then she disappears as before.
A proof that she shines not by her own light.
Fig. I.
54. The continual changing of the Moon’s phases or shapes demonstrates that she shines not by any light of her own: for if she did, being globular, we should always see her with a round full Orb like the Sun. Her Orbit is represented in the Scheme by the little circle m, upon the Earth’s Orbit ⊕: but it is drawn fifty times too large in proportion to the Earth’s; and yet is almost too small to be seen in the Diagram.
One half of her always enlightened.
55. The Moon has scarce any difference of seasons; her Axis being almost perpendicular to the Ecliptic. What is very singular, one half of her has no darkness at all; the Earth constantly affording it a strong light in the Sun’s absence; while the other half has a fortnight’s darkness and a fortnight’s light by turns.
Our Earth is her Moon.
56. Our Earth is a Moon to the Moon, waxing and waneing regularly, but appearing thirteen times as big, and affording her thirteen times as much light, as she does to us. When she changes to us, the Earth appears full to her; and when she is in her first quarter to us, the Earth is in it’s third quarter to her; and vice versâ.
57. But from one half of the Moon, the Earth is never seen at all: from the middle of the other half, it is always seen over head; turning round almost thirty times as quick as the Moon does. From the line which limits our view of the Moon, or all round what we call her edges, only one half of the Earth’s side next her is seen; the other half being hid below the Horizon. To her, the Earth seems to be the biggest Body in the Universe; for it appears thirteen times as big as she does to us.
A Proof of the Moon’s having no Atmosphere;
58. The Moon has no such Atmosphere, or body of air surrounding her as we have: for if she had, we could never see her edge so well defined as it appears; but there would be a sort of a mist or haziness round her, which would make the Stars look fainter, when they were seen through it. But observation proves, that the Stars which disappear behind the Moon retain their full lustre until they seem to touch her very edge, and then vanish in a moment. This has been often observed by Astronomers, but particularly by Cassini[13] of the Star γ in the breast of Virgo, which appears single and round to the bare eye; but through a refracting Telescope of 16 feet appears to be two Stars so near together, that the distance between them seems to be but equal to one of their apparent diameters. The Moon was observed to pass over them on the 21st of April 1720, N. S. and as her dark edge drew near to them, it caused no change in their colour or Situation. At 25 min. 14 sec. past 12 at night, the most westerly of these Stars was hid by the dark edge of the Moon; and in 30 seconds afterward, the most easterly Star was hid: each of them disappearing behind the Moon in an instant, without any preceding diminution of magnitude or brightness; which by no means could have been the case if there were an Atmosphere round the Moon; for then, one of the Stars falling obliquely into it before the other, ought by refraction to have suffered some change in its colour, or in it’s distance from the other Star which was not yet entered into the Atmosphere. But no such alteration could be perceived though the observation was performed with the utmost attention to that particular; and was very proper to have made such a discovery. The faint light, which has been seen all around the Moon, in total Eclipses of the Sun, has been observed, during the time of darkness, to have it’s center coincident with the center of the Sun; and is therefore much more likely to arise from the Atmosphere of the Sun than from that of the Moon; for if it were the latter, it’s center would have gone along with the Moon’s.
Nor Seas.
She is full of caverns and deep pits.
59. If there were seas in the Moon, she could have no clouds, rains, nor storms as we have; because she has no such Atmosphere to support the vapours which occasion them. And every one knows, that when the Moon is above our Horizon in the night time, she is visible, unless the clouds of our Atmosphere hide her from our view; and all parts of her appear constantly with the same clear, serene, and calm aspect. But those dark parts of the Moon, which were formerly thought to be seas, are now found to be only vast deep cavities, and places which reflect not the Sun’s light so strongly as others, having many caverns and pits whose shadows fall within them, and are always dark on the sides next the Sun; which demonstrates their being hollow: and most of these pits have little knobs like hillocks standing within them, and casting shadows also; which cause these places to appear darker than others which have fewer, or less remarkable caverns. All these appearances shew that there are no seas in the Moon; for if there were any, their surfaces would appear smooth and even, like those on the Earth.
The Stars always visible to the Moon.
60. There being no Atmosphere about the Moon, the Heavens in the day time have the appearance of night to a Lunarian who turns his back toward the Sun; and when he does, the Stars appear as bright to him as they do in the night to us. For, it is entirely owing to our Atmosphere that the Heavens are bright about us in the day.
The Earth a Dial to the Moon.
61. As the Earth turns round it’s Axis, the several continents, seas, and islands appear to the Moon’s inhabitants like so many spots of different forms and brightness, moving over it’s surface; but much fainter at some times than others, as our clouds cover them or leave them. By these spots the Lunarians can determine the time of the Earth’s diurnal motion, just as we do the motion of the Sun: and perhaps they measure their time by the motion of the Earth’s spots; for they cannot have a truer dial.
PLATE I.
How the Lunarians may know the length of their year.
62. The Moon’s Axis is so nearly perpendicular to the Ecliptic, that the Sun never removes sensibly from her Equator: and the[14] obliquity of her Orbit, which is next to nothing as seen from the Sun, cannot cause any sensible declination of the Sun from her Equator. Yet her inhabitants are not destitute of means for determining the length of their year, though their method and ours must differ. For we can know the length of our year by the return of our Equinoxes; but the Lunarians, having always equal day and night, must have recourse to another method; and we may suppose, they measure their year by observing the Poles of our Earth; as one always begins to be enlightened, and the other disappears, at our Equinoxes; they being conveniently situated for observing great tracks of land about our Earth’s Poles, which are entirely unknown to us. Hence we may conclude, that the year is of the same absolute length both to the Earth and Moon, though very different as to the number of days: we having 3651⁄4 natural days, and the Lunarians only 127⁄19; every day and night in the Moon being as long as 291⁄2 on the Earth.
And the longitudes of their places.
63. The Moon’s inhabitants on the side next the Earth may as easily find the longitude of their places as we can find the latitude of ours. For the Earth keeping constantly, or very nearly so, over one Meridian of the Moon, the east or west distances of places from that Meridian are as easily found, as we can find our distance from the Equator by the Altitude of our celestial Poles.
Mars.
Fig. I.
64. The Planet Mars is next in order, being the first above the Earth’s Orbit. His distance from the Sun is computed to be 123 millions of miles; and by travelling at the rate of 47 thousand miles every hour, as in the circle ♂, he goes round the Sun in 687 of our days and 17 hours; which is the length of his year, and contains 6671⁄4 of his days; every day and night together being 40 minutes longer than with us. His diameter is 4444 miles, and by his diurnal rotation the inhabitants about his Equator are carried 556 miles every hour. His quantity of light and heat is equal but to one half of ours; and the Sun appears but half as big to him as to us.
His Atmosphere and Phases.
65. This Planet being but a fifth part so big as the Earth, if any Moon attends him, she must be very small, and has not yet been discovered by our best telescopes. He is of a fiery red colour, and by his Appulses to some of the fixed Stars, seems to be surrounded by a very gross Atmosphere. He appears sometimes gibbous, but never horned; which both shews that his Orbit includes the Earth’s within it, and that he shines not by his own light.
66. To Mars, our Earth and Moon appear like two Moons, a bigger and a less; changing places with one another, and appearing sometimes horned, sometimes half or three quarters illuminated, but never full; nor at most above a quarter of a degree from each other, although they are 240 thousand miles asunder.
PLATE I.
How the other Planets appear to Mars.
67. Our Earth appears almost as big to Mars as Venus does to us, and at Mars it is never seen above 48 degrees from the Sun; sometimes it appears to pass over the Disc of the Sun, and so do Mercury and Venus: but Mercury can never be seen from Mars by such eyes as ours, unassisted by proper instruments; and Venus will be as seldom seen as we see Mercury. Jupiter and Saturn are as visible to Mars as to us. His Axis is perpendicular to the Ecliptic, and his Orbit is 2 degrees inclined to it.
Jupiter.
Fig. I.
68. Jupiter, the biggest of all the Planets, is still higher in the System, being about 424 millions of miles from the Sun: and going at the rate of 25 thousand miles every hour in his Orbit, as in the circle ♃ finishes his annual period in eleven of our years 314 days and 18 hours. He is above 1000 times as big as the Earth, for his diameter is 81,000 miles; which is more than ten times the diameter of the Earth.
The number of days in his year.
69. Jupiter turns round his Axis in 9 hours 56 minutes; so that his year contains 10 thousand 464 days; and the diurnal velocity of his equatoreal parts is greater than the swiftness with which he moves in his annual Orbit; a singular circumstance, as far as we know. By this prodigious quick Rotation, his equatoreal inhabitants are carried 25 thousand 920 miles every hour (which is 920 miles an hour more than an inhabitant of our Earth moves in twenty-four hours) besides the 25 thousand above-mentioned, which is common to all parts of his surface, by his annual motion.
His Belts and spots.
70. Jupiter is surrounded by faint substances, called Belts, in which so many changes appear, that they are generally thought to be clouds: for some of them have been first interrupted and broken, and then have vanished entirely. They have sometimes been observed of different breadths, and afterwards have all become nearly of the same breadth. Large spots have been seen in these Belts; and when a Belt vanishes, the contiguous spots disappear with it. The broken ends of some Belts have been generally observed to revolve in the same time with the spots; only those nearer the Equator in somewhat less time than those near the Poles; perhaps on account of the Sun’s greater heat near the Equator, which is parallel to the Belts and course of the spots. Several large spots, which appear round at one time, grow oblong by degrees, and then divide into two or three round spots. The periodical time of the spots near the Equator is 9 hours 50 minutes, but of those near the Poles 9 hours 56 minutes. See Dr. Smith’s Optics, § 1004 & seq.
He has no change of seasons;
71. The Axis of Jupiter is so nearly perpendicular to his Orbit, that he has no sensible change of seasons; which is a great advantage, and wisely ordered by the Author of Nature. For, if the Axis of this Planet were inclined any considerable number of degrees, just so many degrees round each Pole would in their turn be almost six of our years together in darkness. And, as each degree of a great Circle on Jupiter contains 706 of our miles at a mean rate, it is easy to judge what vast tracts of land would be rendered uninhabitable by any considerable inclination of his Axis.
But has four Moons.
72. The Sun appears but 1⁄28 part so big to Jupiter as to us; and his light and heat are in the same small proportion, but compensated by the quick returns thereof, and by four Moons (some bigger and some less than our Earth) which revolve about him: so that there is scarce any part of this huge Planet but what is during the whole night enlightened by one or more of these Moons, except his Poles, whence only the farthest Moons can be seen, and where their light is not wanted, because the Sun constantly circulates in or near the Horizon, and is very probably kept in view of both Poles by the Refraction of Jupiter’s Atmosphere, which, if it be like ours, has certainly refractive power enough for that purpose.
Their periods round Jupiter.
Their grand period.
73. The Orbits of these Moons are represented in the Scheme of the Solar System by four small circles marked 1. 2. 3. 4. on Jupiter’s Orbit ♃; but are drawn fifty times too large in proportion to it. The first Moon, or that nearest to Jupiter, goes round him in 1 day 18 hours and 36 minutes of our time; and is 229 thousand miles distant from his center: The second performs it’s revolution in three days 13 hours and 15 minutes, at 364 thousand miles distance: The third in 7 days three hours and 59 minutes, at the distance of 580 thousand miles: And the fourth, or outermost, in 16 days 18 hours and 30 minutes, at the distance of one million of miles from his center. The Periods of these Moons are so incommensurate to one another, that if ever they were all in a right line between Jupiter and the Sun, it will require more than 3,000,000,000,000 years from that time to bring them all into the same right line again, as any one will find who reduces all their periods into seconds, then multiplies them into one another, and divides the product by 432; which is the highest number that will divide the product of all their periodical times, namely 42,085,303,376,931,994,955,904 seconds, without a remainder.
Parallax of their Orbits, and distances from Jupiter.
PLATE I.
How he appears to his nearest Moon.
74. The Angles under which the Orbits of Jupiter’s Moons are seen from the Earth, at it’s mean distance from Jupiter, are as follow: The first, 3ʹ 55ʺ; the second, 6ʹ 14ʺ; the third, 9ʹ 58ʺ; and the fourth, 17ʹ 30ʺ. And their distances from Jupiter, measured by his semidiameters, are thus: The first, 52⁄3; the second, 9; the third. 1423⁄60; and the fourth, 2518⁄60 [15]. This Planet, seen from it’s nearest Moon, appears 1000 times as large as our Moon does to us; waxing and waneing in all her monthly shapes, every 421⁄2 hours.
Two grand discoveries made by the Eclipse of Jupiter’s Moons.
75. Jupiter’s three nearest Moons fall into his shadow, and are eclipsed in every Revolution: but the Orbit of the fourth Moon is so much inclined, that it passeth by Jupiter, without falling into his shadow, two years in every six. By these Eclipses, Astronomers have not only discovered that the Sun’s light comes to us in eight minutes; but have also determined the longitudes of places on this Earth with greater certainty and facility than by any other method yet known; as shall be explained in the eleventh Chapter.
The great difference between the Equatoreal and Polar diameters
of Jupiter.
The difference little in those of our Earth.
76. The difference between the Equatoreal and Polar diameters of Jupiter is 6230 miles; for his equatoreal diameter is to his polar as 13 to 12. So that his Poles are 3115 miles nearer his center than his Equator is. This results from his quick motion round his Axis; for the fluids, together with the light particles, which they can carry or wash away with them, recede from the Poles which are at rest, towards the Equator where the motion is quickest, until there be a sufficient number accumulated to make up the deficiency of gravity occasioned by the centrifugal force, which always arises from a quick motion round an axis: and when the weight is made up so, as that all parts of the surface press equally heavy toward the center, there is an equilibrium, and the equatoreal parts rise no higher. Our Earth being but a very small Planet, compared to Jupiter, and it’s motion on it’s Axis being much slower, it is less flattened of course; for the difference between it’s equatoreal and polar diameters is only as 230 to 229, or 35 miles.
Place of his Nodes.
77. Jupiter’s Orbit is 1 degree 20 minutes inclined to the Ecliptic. His North Node is in the 7th degree of Cancer, and his South Node in the 7th degree of Capricorn.
Saturn.
Fig. I.
78. Saturn, the remotest of all the Planets, is about 777 millions of miles from the Sun; and, travelling at the rate of 18 thousand miles every hour, as in the circle marked ♄, performs his annual circuit in 29 years 167 days and 5 hours of our time; which makes only one year to that Planet. His diameter is 67,000 miles; and therefore he is near 600 times as big as the Earth.
Fig. V.
His Ring.
PLATE I.
79. He is surrounded by a thin broad Ring, as an artificial Globe is by its Horizon. This Ring appears double when seen through a good telescope, and is represented by the figure in such an oblique view as it is generally seen. It is inclined 30 degrees to the Ecliptic, and is about 21 thousand miles in breadth; which is equal to it’s distance from Saturn on all sides. There is reason to believe that the Ring turns round it’s Axis, because, when it is almost edge-wise to us, it appears somewhat thicker on one side of the Planet than on the other; and the thickest edge has been seen on different sides at different times. But Saturn having no visible spots on his body, whereby to determine the time of his turning round his Axis, the length of his days and nights, and the position of his Axis, are unknown to us.
His five Moons.
Fig. I.
80. To Saturn, the Sun appears only 1⁄90th part so big as to us; and the light and heat he receives from the Sun are in the same proportion to ours. But to compensate for the small quantity of sun-light, he has five Moons, all going round him on the outside of his Ring, and nearly in the same plane with it. The first, or nearest Moon to Saturn, goes round him in 1 day 21 hours 19 minutes; and is 140 thousand miles from his center: The second, in two days 17 hours 40 minutes; at the distance of 187 thousand miles: The third, in 4 days 12 hours 25 minutes; at 263 thousand miles distance: The fourth, in 15 days 22 hours 41 minutes; at the distance of 600 thousand miles: And the fifth, or outermost, at one million 800 thousand miles from Saturn’s center, goes round him in 79 days 7 hours 48 minutes. Their Orbits in the Scheme of the Solar System are represented by the five small circles, marked 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. on Saturn’s Orbit; but these, like the Orbits of the other Satellites, are drawn fifty times too large in proportion to the Orbits of their Primary Planets.
His Axis probably inclined to his Ring.
81. The Sun shines almost fifteen of our years together on one side of Saturn’s Ring without setting, and as long on the other in it’s turn. So that the Ring is visible to the inhabitants of that Planet for almost fifteen of our years, and as long invisible by turns, if it’s Axis has no Inclination to it’s Ring: but if the Axis of the Planet be inclined to the Ring, suppose about 30 degrees, the Ring will appear and disappear once every natural day to all the inhabitants within 30 degrees of the Equator, on both sides, frequently eclipsing the Sun in a Saturnian day. Moreover, if Saturn’s Axis be so inclined to his Ring, it is perpendicular to his Orbit; and thereby the inconvenience of different seasons to that Planet is avoided. For considering the length of Saturn’s year, which is almost equal to thirty of ours, what a dreadful condition must the inhabitants of his Polar regions be in, if they be half of that time deprived of the light and heat of the Sun? which must not be their case alone, if the Axis of the Planet be perpendicular to the Ring, but also the Ring must hide the Sun from vast tracks of land on each side of the Equator for 13 or 14 of our years together, on the south side and north side by turns, as the Axis inclines to or from the Sun: the reverse of which inconvenience is another good presumptive proof of the Inclination of Saturn’s Axis to it’s Ring, and also of his Axis being perpendicular to his Orbit.
How the Ring appears to Saturn and to us.
In what Signs Saturn appears to lose his Ring; and in what
Signs it appears most open to us.
82. This Ring, seen from Saturn, appears like a vast luminous Arch in the Heavens, as if it did not belong to the Planet. When we see the Ring most open, it’s shadow upon the Planet is broadest; and from that time the shadow grows narrower, as the Ring appears to do to us; until, by Saturn’s annual motion, the Sun comes to the plane of the Ring, or even with it’s edge; which being then directed towards us, becomes invisible on account of it’s thinness; as shall be explained more largely in the tenth Chapter, and illustrated by a figure. The Ring disappears twice in every annual Revolution of Saturn, namely, when he is in the 19th degree both of Pisces and of Virgo. And when Saturn is in the middle between these points, or in the 19th degree either of Gemini or of Sagittarius, his Ring appears most open to us; and then it’s longest diameter is to it’s shortest as 9 to 4.
No Planet but Saturn can be seen from Jupiter; nor any from Jupiter besides Saturn.
83. To such eyes as ours, unassisted by instruments, Jupiter is the only Planet that can be seen from Saturn; and Saturn the only Planet that can be seen from Jupiter. So that the inhabitants of these two Planets must either see much farther than we do, or have equally good instruments to carry their sight to remote objects, if they know that there is such a body as our Earth in the Universe: for the Earth is no bigger seen from Jupiter than his Moons are seen from the Earth; and if his large body had not first attracted our sight, and prompted our curiosity to view him with the telescope, we should never have known any thing of his Moons; unless by chance we had directed the telescope toward that small part of the Heavens where they were at the time of observation. And the like is true of the Moons of Saturn.
Place of Saturn’s Nodes.
84. The Orbit of Saturn is 21⁄2 degrees inclined to the Ecliptic, or Orbit of our Earth, and intersects it in the 21st degree of Cancer and of Capricorn; so that Saturn’s Nodes are only 14 degrees from Jupiter’s, § 77.
The Sun’s light much stronger on Jupiter and Saturn than is
generally believed.
All our heat depends not on the Sun’s rays.
85. The quantity of light, afforded by the Sun of Jupiter, being but 1⁄28th part, and to Saturn only 1⁄90th part, of what we enjoy; may at first thought induce us to believe that these two Planets are entirely unfit for rational beings to dwell upon. But, that their light is not so weak as we imagine, is evident from their brightness in the night-time; and also, that when the Sun is so much eclipsed to us as to have only the 40th part of his Disc left uncovered by the Moon, the decrease of light is not very sensible: and just at the end of darkness in Total Eclipses, when his western limb begins to be visible, and seems no bigger than a bit of fine silver wire, every one is surprised at the brightness wherewith that small part of him shines. The Moon when Full affords travellers light enough to keep them from mistaking their way; and yet, according to Dr. Smith[16], it is equal to no more than a 90 thousandth part of the light of the Sun: that is, the Sun’s light is 90 thousand times as strong as the light of the Moon when Full. Consequently, the Sun gives a thousand times as much light to Saturn as the Full Moon does to us; and above three thousand times as much to Jupiter. So that these two Planets, even without any Moons, would be much more enlightened than we at first imagine; and by having so many, they may be very comfortable places of residence. Their heat, so far as it depends on the force of the Sun’s rays, is certainly much less than ours; to which no doubt the bodies of their inhabitants are as well adapted as ours are to the seasons we enjoy. And if we consider, that Jupiter never has any winter, even at his Poles; which probably is also the case with Saturn, the cold cannot be so intense on these two Planets as is generally imagined. Besides, there may be something in their nature or soil much warmer than in that of our Earth: and we find that all our heat depends not on the rays of the Sun; for if it did, we should always have the same months equally hot or cold at their annual returns. But it is far otherwise, for February is sometimes warmer than May, which must be owing to vapours and exhalations from the Earth.
It is highly probable that all the Planets are inhabited.
PLATE I.
86. Every person who looks upon, and compares the Systems of Moons together, which belong to Jupiter and Saturn, must be amazed at the vast magnitude of these two Planets, and the noble attendance they have in respect of our little Earth: and can never bring himself to think, that an infinitely wise Creator should dispose of all his animals and vegetables here, leaving the other Planets bare and destitute of rational creatures. To suppose that he had any view to our Benefit, in creating these Moons and giving them their motions round Jupiter and Saturn; to imagine that he intended these vast Bodies for any advantage to us, when he well knew that they could never be seen but by a few Astronomers peeping through telescopes; and that he gave to the Planets regular returns of days and nights, and different seasons to all where they would be convenient; but of no manner of service to us, except only what immediately regards our own Planet the Earth; to imagine, I say, that he did all this on our account, would be charging him impiously with having done much in vain: and as absurd, as to imagine that he has created a little Sun and a Planetary System within the shell of our Earth, and intended them for our use. These considerations amount to little less than a positive proof that all the Planets are inhabited: for if they are not, why all this care in furnishing them with so many Moons, to supply those with light which are at the greater distances from the Sun? Do we not see, that the farther a Planet is from the Sun, the greater Apparatus it has for that purpose? save only Mars, which being but a small Planet, may have Moons too small to be seen by us. We know that the Earth goes round the Sun, and turns round it’s own Axis, to produce the vicissitudes of summer and winter by the former, and of day and night by the latter motion, for the benefit of its inhabitants. May we not then fairly conclude, by parity of reason, that the end and design of all the other Planets is the same? and is not this agreeable to that beautiful harmony which reigns over the Universe? Surely it is: and raises in us the most magnificent ideas of the SUPREME BEING, who is every where, and at all times present; displaying his power, wisdom, and goodness among all his creatures! and distributing happiness to innumerable ranks of various beings!
Fig. II.
How the Sun appears to the different Planets.
87. In Fig. 2d, we have a view of the proportional breadth of the Sun’s face or disc, as seen from the different Planets. The Sun is represented No 1, as seen from Mercury; No 2, as seen from Venus; No 3, as seen from the Earth; No 4, as seen from Mars; No 5, as seen from Jupiter; and No 6, as seen from Saturn.
Fig. III.
Fig. IV.
Let the circle B be the Sun as seen from any Planet, at a given distance; to another Planet, at double that distance, the Sun will appear just of half that breadth, as A; which contains only one fourth part of the area or surface of B. For, all circles, as well as square surfaces, are to one another as the squares of their diameters. Thus, the square A is just half as broad as the square B; and yet it is plain to sight, that B contains four times as much surface as A. Hence, in round numbers, the Sun appears 7 times larger to Mercury than to us, 90 times larger to us than to Saturn, and 630 times as large to Mercury as to Saturn.
Fig. V.
Proportional bulks and distances of the Planets.
PLATE I.
88. In Fig. 5th, we have a view of the bulks of the Planets in proportion to each other, and to a supposed globe of two foot diameter for the Sun. The Earth is 27 times as big as Mercury, very little bigger than Venus, 5 times as big as Mars; but Jupiter is 1049 times as big as the Earth, Saturn 586 times as big, exclusive of his Ring; and the Sun is 877 thousand 650 times as big as the Earth. If the Planets in this Figure were set at their due distances from a Sun of two feet diameter, according to their proportional bulks, as in our System, Mercury would be 28 yards from the Sun’s center; Venus 51 yards 1 foot; the Earth 70 yards 2 feet; Mars 107 yards 2 feet; Jupiter 370 yards 2 feet; and Saturn 760 yards two feet. The Comet of the year 1680, at it’s greatest distance, 10 thousand 760 yards. In this proportion, the Moon’s distance from the center of the Earth would be only 71⁄2 inches.
An idea of their distances.
89. To assist the imagination in conceiving an idea of the vast distances of the Sun, Planets, and Stars, let us suppose, that a body projected from the Sun should continue to fly with the swiftness of a cannon ball; i. e. 480 miles every hour; this body would reach the Orbit of Mercury, in 7 years 221 days; of Venus, in 14 years 8 days; of the Earth, in 19 years 91 days; of Mars, in 29 years 85 days; of Jupiter, in 100 years 280 days; of Saturn, in 184 years 240 days; to the Comet of 1680, at it’s greatest distance from the Sun, in 2660 years; and to the nearest fixed Stars in about 7 million 600 thousand years.
Why the Planets appear bigger and less at different times.
90. As the Earth is not the center of the Orbits in which the Planets move, they come nearer to it and go farther from it and at different times; on which account they appear bigger and less by turns. Hence, the apparent magnitudes of the Planets are not always a certain rule to know them by.
Fig. I.
91. Under Fig. 3, are the names and characters of the twelve Signs of the Zodiac, which the Reader should be perfectly well acquainted with; so as to know the characters without seeing the names. Every Sign contains 30 degrees, as in the Circle bounding the Solar System; to which the characters of the Signs are set in their proper places.
The Comets.
92. The Comets are solid opaque bodies, with long transparent trains or tails, issuing from that side which is turned away from the Sun. They move about the Sun, in very excentric ellipses; and are of a much greater density than the Earth; for some of them are heated in every Period to such a degree, as would vitrify or dissipate any substance known to us. Sir Isaac Newton computed the heat of the Comet which appeared in the year 1680, when nearest the Sun, to be 2000 times hotter than red-hot iron, and that being thus heated, it must retain it’s heat until it comes round again, although it’s Period should be more than twenty thousand years; and it is computed to be only 575. The method of computing the heat of bodies, keeping at any known distance from the Sun, so far as their heat depends on the force of the Sun’s rays, is very easy; and shall be explained in the eighth Chapter.
PLATE I.
Fig. I.
They prove that the Orbits of the Planets are not solid.
The Periods only of three are known.
They prove the Stars to be at immense distances.
93. Part of the Paths of three Comets are delineated in the Scheme of the Solar System, and the years marked in which they made their appearance. It is believed, that there are at least 21 Comets belonging to our System, moving in all sorts of directions: and all those which have been observed, have moved through the ethereal Regions and the Orbits of the Planets without suffering the least sensible resistance in their motions; which plainly proves that the Planets do not move in solid Orbs. Of all the Comets, the Periods of the above-mentioned three only are known with any degree of certainty. The first of these Comets appeared in the years 1531, 1607, and 1682; and is expected to appear again in the year 1758, and every 75th year afterwards. The second of them appeared in 1532 and 1661, and may be expected to return in 1789 and every 129th year afterwards. The third, having last appeared in 1680, and it’s Period being no less than 575 years, cannot return until the year 2225. This Comet, at it’s greatest distance, is about 11 thousand two hundred millions of miles from the Sun; and at it’s least distance from the Sun’s center, which is 490,000 miles, is within less than a third part of the Sun’s semi-diameter from his surface. In that part of it’s Orbit which is nearest the Sun, it flies with the amazing swiftness of 880,000 miles in an hour; and the Sun, as seen from it, appears an hundred degrees in breadth; consequently, 40 thousand times as large as he appears to us. The astonishing length that this Comet runs out into empty Space, suggests to our minds an idea of the vast distance between the Sun and the nearest fixed Stars; of whose Attractions all the Comets must keep clear, to return periodically, and go round the Sun; and it shews us also, that the nearest Stars, which are probably those that seem the largest, are as big as our Sun, and of the same nature with him; otherwise, they could not appear so large and bright to us as they do at such an immense distance.
Inferences drawn from the above phenomena.
94. The extreme heat, the dense atmosphere, the gross vapours, the chaotic state of the Comets, seem at first sight to indicate them altogether unfit for the purposes of animal life, and a most miserable habitation for rational beings: and therefore [17]some are of opinion that they are so many hells for tormenting the damned with perpetual vicissitudes of heat and cold. But, when we consider, on the other hand, the infinite power and goodness of the Deity; the latter inclining, and the former enabling him to make creatures suited to all states and circumstances; that matter exists only for the sake of intelligence; and that wherever we find it, we always find it pregnant with life, or necessarily subservient thereto; the numberless species, the astonishing diversity of animals in earth, air, water, and even on other animals; every blade of grass, every tender leaf, every natural fluid, swarming with life; and every one of these enjoying such gratifications as the nature and state of each requires: when we reflect moreover that some centuries ago, till experience undeceived us, a great part of the Earth was judged uninhabitable; the Torrid Zone by reason of excessive heat, and the two Frigid Zones because of their intollerable cold; it seems highly probable, that such numerous and large masses of durable matter as the Comets are, however unlike they be to our Earth, are not destitute of beings capable of contemplating with wonder, and acknowledging with gratitude the wisdom, symmetry, and beauty of the Creation; which is more plainly to be observed in their extensive Tour through the Heavens, than in our more confined Circuit. If farther conjecture is permitted, may we not suppose them instrumental in recruiting the expended fuel of the Sun; and supplying the exhausted moisture of the Planets? However difficult it may be, circumstanced as we are, to find out their particular destination, this is an undoubted truth, that wherever the Deity exerts his power, there he also manifests his wisdom and goodness.
This System very ancient, and demonstrable.
95. THE SOLAR SYSTEM here described is not a late invention; for it was known and taught by the wise Samian philosopher Pythagoras, and others among the ancients; but in latter times was lost, ’till the 15th century, when it was again restored by the famous Polish philosopher Nicholaus Copernicus, who was born at Thorn in the year 1473. In this, he was followed by the greatest mathematicians and philosophers that have since lived; as Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, Gassendus, and Sir Isaac Newton; the last of whom has established this System on such an everlasting foundation of mathematical and physical demonstration, as can never be shaken: and none who understand him can hesitate about it.
The Ptolemean System absurd.
96. In the Ptolemean System the Earth was supposed to be fixed in the Center of the Universe; and that the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn moved round the Earth: above the Planets, this Hypothesis placed the Firmament of Stars, and then the two Crystalline Spheres; all which were included in and received motion from the Primum Mobile, which constantly revolved about the Earth in 24 hours, from East to West. But as this rude Scheme was found incapable to stand the test of art and observation, it was soon rejected by all true philosophers; notwithstanding the opposition and violence of blind and zealous bigots.
The Tychonic System, partly true and partly false.
97. The Tychonic System succeeded the Ptolemean, but was never so generally received. In this the Earth was supposed to stand still in the Center of the Universe or Firmament of Stars, and the Sun to revolve about it every 24 hours; the Planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, going round the Sun in the times already mentioned. But some of Tycho’s disciples supposed the Earth to have a diurnal motion round it’s Axis, and the Sun with all the above Planets to go round the Earth in a year; the Planets moving round the Sun in the foresaid times. This hypothesis, being partly true and partly false, was embraced by few; and soon gave way to the only true and rational System, restored by Copernicus and demonstrated by Sir Isaac Newton.
98. To bring the foregoing particulars at once in view, with several others which follow, concerning the Periods, Distances, Bulks, &c. of the Planets, the following Table is inserted.
A TABLE
Of the PERIODS, REVOLUTIONS, MAGNITUDES, &c. of the PLANETS.
| Sun and Planets. | Annual period round the Sun. | Diurnal rotation on it’s Axis. | Diameter in English miles. | Mean diam. as seen fr. the Sun. | Mean distance from the Sun in English miles. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | ---- | 25d. 6h. | 763000 | ---- | ---- |
| Mercury | 87d 23h | Unknown. | 2600 | 20ʺ | 32,000,000 |
| Venus | 224d 17h | 24d. 8h. | 7906 | 30ʺ | 59,000,000 |
| Earth | 365d 6h | 1d. 0h. | 7970 | 21ʺ | 81,000,000 |
| Moon | 365d 6h | 29d. 123⁄4h. | 2180 | 6ʺ | 81,000,000 |
| Mars | 686d 23h | 24h. 40m. | 4444 | 11ʺ | 123,000,000 |
| Jupiter | 4332d 12h | 9h. 56m. | 81000 | 37ʺ | 424,000,000 |
| Saturn | 10759d 7h | Unknown. | 67000 | 16ʺ | 777,000,000 |
| Sun and Planets. | Excentricity of it’s Orbit in miles. | Axis inclined to Orbit. | Orbit inclined to Ecliptic. | Place of it’s Aphelion. | Place of it’s Ascending Node. | Proportion of Diameters. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | ---- | 8° 0ʹ | ---- | ---- | ---- | 10000 |
| Mercury | 6,720,000 | Unkn. | 6° 54ʹ | ♐ 13° 8ʹ | ♉ 14° 43ʹ | 341⁄10 |
| Venus | 413,000 | 75° 0ʹ | 3° 20ʹ | ♒ 4° 20ʹ | ♊ 13° 59ʹ | 1031⁄2 |
| Earth | 1,377,000 | 23° 29ʹ | 0° 0ʹ | ♑ 8° 1ʹ | ---- | 1041⁄2 |
| Moon | 13,000 | 2° 10ʹ | 5° 8ʹ | ---- | Variable. | 281⁄2 |
| Mars | 11,439,000 | 0° 0ʹ | 1° 52ʹ | ♍ 0° 32ʹ | ♉ 17° 17ʹ | 581⁄6 |
| Jupiter | 20,352,000 | 0° 0ʹ | 1° 20ʹ | ♎ 9° 10ʹ | ♋ 7° 29ʹ | 10612⁄3 |
| Saturn | 42,735,000 | Unkn. | 2° 30ʹ | ♐ 27° 50ʹ | ♋ 21° 13ʹ | 8781⁄9 |
| Sun and Planets. | Proportion of Bulk. | Prop. of Gravity on the surface. | Proportion of Density. | Proportion of Light & Heat. | Propor. quantity of Matter. | Hourly motion in it’s Orbit. | Hourly motion of it’s Equator. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 877650 | 24 | 251⁄2 | 45000 | 227500 | ---- | 3818 |
| Mercury | 1⁄27 | Unkn. | Unkn. | 61⁄2 | Unkn. | 95000 | Unkn. |
| Venus | 1 | Unkn. | Unkn. | 13⁄4 | Unkn. | 69000 | 43 |
| Earth | 1 | 1 | 100 | 1 | 1 | 58000 | 1042 |
| Moon | 1⁄50 | 34⁄100 | 1231⁄2 | 1 ± | 1⁄40 | 2290 | 91⁄2 |
| Mars | 1⁄5 | Unkn. | Unkn. | 3⁄7 | Unkn. | 47000 | 556 |
| Jupiter | 1049 | 2 | 19 | 1⁄28 | 220 | 25000 | 25920 |
| Saturn | 586 | 11⁄2 | 15 | 1⁄90 | 94 | 18000 | Unkn. |
| Sun and Planets. | Square miles in surface. | Cubic miles in solidity. | Would fall to the Sun in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 1,828,911,000,000 | 232,577,115,137,000,000 | days h. |
| Mercury | 21,236,800 | 9,195,534,500 | 15 13 |
| Venus | 691,361,300 | 258,507,832,200 | 39 17 |
| Earth | 199,852,860 | 265,404,598,080 | 14 10 |
| Moon | 14,898,750 | 5,408,246,000 | 64 10 |
| Mars | 62,038,240 | 45,969,335,840 | 121 0 |
| Jupiter | 20,603,970,000 | 278,153,595,000,000 | 290 0 |
| Saturn | 14,102,562,000 | 155,128,182,000,000 | 767 0 |
| If the projectile force was destroyed. |
If the Moon’s projectile force was destroyed, she would fall to the Earth in 4 days 21 hours.
| Jupiter’s Moons. | Periods round Jupiter. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | D. | H. | M. |
| 1 | 1 | 18 | 36 |
| 2 | 3 | 13 | 15 |
| 3 | 7 | 3 | 59 |
| 4 | 16 | 18 | 30 |
| Saturn’s Moons. | Periods round Saturn. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | D. | H. | M. |
| 1 | 1 | 21 | 19 |
| 2 | 2 | 17 | 40 |
| 3 | 4 | 12 | 25 |
| 4 | 15 | 22 | 41 |
| 5 | 79 | 7 | 48 |
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