Produced by deaurider, Charlie Howard, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
_BEING TALKS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE ABOUT THE WONDERS OF THE HEAVENS_
LOWNDEAN PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE AUTHOR OF “THE STORY OF THE HEAVENS,” ETC.
BOSTON, U.S.A., AND LONDON GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS The Athenæum Press 1899
COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED
To THOSE YOUNG FRIENDS WHO HAVE ATTENDED MY CHRISTMAS LECTURES THIS LITTLE BOOK IS DEDICATED
It has long been the custom at the Royal Institution of Great Britain to provide each Christmastide a course of Lectures specially addressed to a juvenile audience.
On two occasions, namely, in 1881 and in 1887, the Managers entrusted this honorable duty to me. The second course was in the main a repetition of the first; and on my notes and recollections of both the present little volume has been founded.
I am indebted to my friends Rev. MAXWELL CLOSE, Mr. ARTHUR RAMBAUT, and Dr. JOHN TODHUNTER for their kindness in reading the proofs.
OBSERVATORY, CO. DUBLIN, _Oct. 22, 1889_.
The Heat and Brightness of the Sun--Further Benefits that we receive from the Sun--The Distance of the Sun--How Astronomers measure the Distances of the Heavenly Bodies--The Apparent Smallness of Distant Objects--The Shape and Size of the Sun-- The Spots on the Sun--Appearances seen during a Total Eclipse of the Sun--Night and Day--The Daily Rotation of the Earth-- The Annual Motion of the Earth round the Sun--The Changes of the Seasons--Sunshine at the North Pole 1
The Phases of our Attendant the Moon--The Size of the Moon--How Eclipses are produced--Effect of the Moon’s Distance on its Appearance--A Talk about Telescopes--How the Telescope aids us in Viewing the Moon--Telescopic Views of the Lunar Scenery--On the Origin of the Lunar Craters--The Movements of the Moon--On the Possibility of Life in the Moon 74
Mercury, Venus, and Mars--How to make a Drawing of our System-- The Planet Mercury--The Planet Venus--The Transit of Venus-- Venus as a World--The Planet Mars and his Movements--The Ellipse--The Discoveries made by Tycho and Kepler--The Discoveries made by Newton--The Geography of Mars--The Satellites of Mars--How the Telescope aids in Viewing Faint Objects--The Asteroids, or Small Planets 134