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222 Astronomy
Description Venus is the next planet in the
of order of the system, and is
Venus distinguished by her superior
brilliancy; her diameter is
7687 Miles; her mean distance
from the Sun nearly 68 millions
of miles, and her periodic
revolution is performed in 224
days, 17 hours.
This planet
Move appears to us always near the
Sun, although she recedes from
about him almost double the distance
of Mercury; when she is in
that part of her Orbit which is
Venus West of the Sun, she rises before
him in the morning and is
called Lucifer of the morning
star; and when she is in the
Eastern part of her orbit, she
signs in the Evening after he
sets; and is called Vesper or
the Evening Star.
The Earth or
Description planet which we inhabit, is
about 7916 Miles in Diameter
of and is about 95 millions of
Miles from the Sun; it performs
our a revolution through its orbit in
365 days 6 hours, which period
Earth is called a year; revolves round
its axis from West to East in 24
hours, which occasion the apparent
diurnal motion of the sun and
all the heavenly bodies around
it from East to West in the
same time. It is of course the
course of their rising and
setting, of Day and Night
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Astronomy 223
The axis of the Earth is inclined
23 [degrees] 28 [minutes] from a perpendicular to the
plane of its orbit, and Keeps in a
direction paralell to its course [struckthrough] itself
throughout its annual course, which
causes the return of Spring and Summer,
Autumn and Winter. Thus the
diurnal motion gives the day and
Night and the Annual Motion,
brings us the regular succession
of the Seasons.
The Earth is also
attended by a Sattelite called the
"Moon" whose diameter is about
2160 Miles; her mean distance
from the centre of the Earth above
237,000 million miles; she goes
round her orbit in 27 days 8 hours
revolving round her axis in the same
time; but the interval between Each
new moon is 29 1/2 days; the formes
of these periods, namely 27 days 8 hours,
is called a "Periodic month" and
the latter a "Synodic Month" or "Lunatum"
As the Moon
like the other planets, is an opaque
body, and borrows her light from
the sun, only one hemisphere is
Enlightened by the suns rays,
hence she puts on various
appearances called "Phases"
during her monthly course round
the Earth, as her illuminated side
is turned more or less towards
us; when she is in the same
part of the heavens as the sun,
her dark side being turned
towards us, she is invisible
and this part of her period
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