Popular Astronomy, and, the Orbs of Heaven

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: explanation, and that the physical condition of the moon is yet a problem of the deepest interest. We can assert the irregularities of her surface, her deep cavities and lofty elevations, her extended plains and abrupt mountain peaks, but beyond this our positive knowledge does not extend. We shall resume...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: explanation, and that the physical condition of the moon is yet a problem of the deepest interest. We can assert the irregularities of her surface, her deep cavities and lofty elevations, her extended plains and abrupt mountain peaks, but beyond this our positive knowledge does not extend. We shall resume the consideration of our satellite when we come to discuss the great theory of universal gravitation. CHAPTER V. MARS, THE FOURTH PLANET IN THE ORDER OF DISTANCE FROM THE SUN. Phenomi .s or Maes Difficult To Explain With The Eaeth As Toe Centee Of Motion.?Copeenican System Applied.?Epicycle Of Maks.?Bettee Insteuments And Moee Accueate Obseevations.?Tycho And Kepleu.? Keplee's Method Of Investigation.?Ciecles And Epicycles Exhausted. ?Toe Ellipse?Its Peopeeties.?The Oebit or Maes An Ellipse.? Keplee's Laws.?Elliptical Obhits Of Thb Planets.?The Elements Of The Planetaey Oubits Explained.?How These Elements Abe Obtained. ?Keplee's Thied Law.?Value Of This Law.?The Physical Aspect Of Maes.?Snow Zones.?Rotation Of The Planet.?Diametee And VoLume.?Speculation As To Its Climate And Coloe. This planet is distinguished to the naked eye by its brilliant red light, and is one of the planets discovered by the ancients. To the old astronomers Mars presented an object of special difficulty. Revolving as it does in an orbit of great eccentricity, sometimes receding from the earth to a vast distance, then approaching so near as to rival in brilliancy the large planets, Jupiter and Venus, on the old hypothesis of the central position of the earth, and the uniform circular motion of the planets, Mars presented anomalies in his revolution most difficult of explanation. These complications were measurably removed by tho great discovery of Copernicus, which released the earth from...