Part 8 (1/2)

CHAPTER V

THE PLANETS

_A_--MERCURY, VENUS, THE EARTH, MARS

And noe are in the Solar System, at the center, or, better, at the focus of which burns the irandeur and potency of the solar globe, whose rays spread out in active waves that bear a fecundating illuravitate round him; we have appreciated the distance that separates the Sun from the Earth, the third of the planets retained within his domain, or at least I trust that the co objects to traverse this distance have enabled us to conceive it

We said that the four planets nearest to the Sun are Mercury, at a distance of 57 million kilometers (35,000,000 miles); Venus, at 108 million (67,000,000 miles); the Earth, at 149 million (93,000,000 miles); and Mars at 226 in our planetary journey with these four stations

MERCURY

A little above the Sun one so shi+ht, now in the East, when the tender roseate dawn announces the advent of a clear day, a snitude which rees back into the flaer of Olympus, the God of eloquence, of medicine, of commerce, and of thieves One only sees hireatest elongations, either after the setting or before the rising of the radiant orb, when he presents the aspect of a somewhat reddish star

This planet, like the others, shi+nes only by the reflection of the Sun whose illumination he receives, and as he is in close juxtaposition with it, his light is bright enough, though his volume is inconsiderable He is s accomplished in about three months, he passes rapidly, in a month and a half, from one side to the other of the orb of day, and is alternately a arded it as two separate planets; but with attentive observation, they soon perceived its identity In our soy climates, it can only be discovered once or twice a year, and then only by looking for it according to the indications given in the astronomic almanacs

[Illustration: FIG 32--Orbits of the four Planets nearest to the Sun]

Mercury courses round the Sun at a distance of 57,000,000 kilometers (35,000,000 miles), and accomplishes his revolution in 87 days, 23 hours, 15 minutes; _ie_, 2 months, 27 days, 23 hours, or a little less than three of our months If the conditions of life are the same there as here, the existence of the Mercurians must be four ti to the pro in this world, is an octogenarian in Mercury There the fair sex would indeed be justified in bewailing the transitory nature of life, and ret the years that pass too quickly away Perhaps, however, they are more philosophic than with us

[Illustration: FIG 33--Orbits of the four Planets farthest from the Sun]

The orbit of Mercury, which of course is within that of the Earth, is not circular, but elliptical, and very eccentric, so elongated that at certain times of the year this planet is extremely remote froht as at the opposite period; and, in consequence, his distance from the Earth varies considerably

[Illustration: FIG 34--Mercury near quadrature]

This globe exhibits _phases_, discovered in the seventeenth century by Galileo, which recall those of the Moon They are due to the motions of the planet round the Sun, and are invisible to the unaided eye, but with even a sradations and study Mercury under every aspect Soain, he passes exactly in front of the Sun, and his disk is projected like a black point upon the lu orb This occurred, notably, on May 10, 1891, and November 10, 1894; and the phenomenon will recur on November 12, 1907, and November 6, 1914

Mercury is the least of all the worlds in our systements that circulate between the orbit of Mars and that of Jupiter) His volume equals only 5/100 that of the Earth His diameter, in comparison with that of our planet, is in the ratio of 373 to 1,000 (a little more than 1/3) and measures 4,750 kilohest of all the worlds in the great solar faht there is less by almost 1/2

Mercury is enveloped in a very dense, thick atmosphere, which doubtless sensibly tempers the solar heat, for the Sun exhibits to the Mercurians a luminous disk about seven times more extensive than that hich we are familiar on the Earth, and when Mercury is at perihelion (that is, nearest to the Sun), his inhabitants receive ten tiht and heat than we obtain at midsummer In all probability, it would be i shattered by a sunstroke

Yet we endered beings there of an organization different from our own, adapted to an existence in the proxinificent landscapes etation that develops rapidly under an ardent and generous sun?

[Illustration: FIG 35--The Earth viewed froreat difficulties, just because of the immediate proximity of the solar furnace; yet soht be seas In any case, these observations are contradictory and uncertain

Up to the present it has been impossible to determine the duration of the rotation Some astronomers even think that the Sun's close proxi tides, that would, as it were, have ilobe of Mercury, just as the Earth has i it perpetually to present the same side to the Sun From the point of view of habitation, this situation would be somewhat peculiar; perpetual day upon the illuht upon the other heht between the two Such a condition would indeed be different frohts

As seen from Mercury, the Earth we inhabit would shi+ne out in the starry sky[9] as a side, a faithful little co a brilliant orb of firstcouple, and aded abode

It is atthe oppositions of the Earth with the Sun that our planet is the most beautiful and brilliant, as is Jupiter for ourselves The constellations are the same, viewed from Mercury or from the Earth

But is this little solar planet inhabited? We do not yet know We can only reply: why not?