CHAPTER PAGE
Introduction[1]
I.The Contemplation of the Heavens[10]
II.The Constellations[28]
III.The Stars, Suns of the Infinite. A Journey through Space[56]
IV.Our Star the Sun[88]
V.The Planets. A. Mercury, Venus, The Earth, Mars[113]
VI.The Planets. B. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune[146]
VII.The Comets[172]
VIII.The Earth[205]
IX.The Moon[232]
X.The Eclipses[259]
XI.On Methods. How Celestial Distances are Determined, and How the Sun is Weighed[287]
XII.Life, Universal and Eternal[317]
Index[341]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Contemplation [Frontispiece]
From a painting by Paul Renaud
FIG. PAGE
1.The great Book of the Heavens is open to all eyes[15]
2.The earth in space. June solstice, midday[20]
3.The Great Bear (or Dipper) and the Pole Star[34]
4.To find the Pole Star[35]
5.To find Cassiopeia[37]
6.To find Pegasus and Andromeda[37]
7.Perseus, the Pleiades, Capella[38]
8.To find Arcturus, the Herdsman, and the Northern Crown[40]
9.The Swan, Vega, the Eagle[41]
10.The Constellations of the Zodiac: summer and autumn; Capricorn, Archer, Scorpion, Balance, Virgin, Lion[46]
11.The Constellations of the Zodiac: winter and spring; Crab, Twins, Bull, Ram, Fishes, Water-Carrier[47]
12.Orion and his celestial companions[48]
13.Winter Constellations[51]
14.Spring Constellations[52]
15.Summer Constellations[53]
16.Autumn Constellations[54]
17.The double star Mizar[69]
18.Triple star ξ in Cancer[72]
19.Quadruple star ε of the Lyre[73]
20.Sextuple star θ in the Nebula of Orion[74]
21.The Star-Cluster in Hercules[79]
22.The Star-Cluster in the Centaur[80]
23.The Nebula in Andromeda[81]
24.Nebula in the Greyhounds[82]
25.The Pleiades[83]
26.Occultation of the Pleiades by the Moon[85]
27.Stellar dial of the double star γ of the Virgin[86]
28.Comparative sizes of the Sun and Earth[93]
29.Direct photograph of the Sun[96]
30.Telescopic aspect of a Sun-Spot[97]
31.Rose-colored solar flames 228,000 kilometers (141,500 miles) in height, i.e., 18 times the diameter of the Earth[103]
32.Orbits of the four Planets nearest to the Sun[115]
33.Orbits of the four Planets farthest from the Sun[116]
34.Mercury near quadrature[117]
35.The Earth viewed from Mercury[119]
36.The Evening Star[123]
37.Successive phases of Venus[124]
38.Venus at greatest brilliancy[126]
39.The Earth viewed from Venus[130]
40.Diminution of the polar snows of Mars during the summer[136]
41.Telescopic aspect of the planet Mars (Feb., 1901)[137]
42.Telescopic aspect of the planet Mars (Feb., 1901)[138]
43.Chart of Mars[140]
44.The Earth viewed from Mars[144]
45.Telescopic aspect of Jupiter[150]
46.Jupiter and his four principal satellites[155]
47.Saturn[159]
48.Varying perspective of Saturn's Rings, as seen from the Earth[161]
49.The Great Comet of 1858[174]
50.What our Ancestors saw in a Comet [After Ambroise Paré (1858)][177]
51.Prodigies seen in the Heavens by our Forefathers[178]
52.The orbit of a Periodic Comet[182]
53.The tails of Comets are opposed to the Sun[185]
54.A Meteor[191]
55.Shooting Stars of November 12, 1799 [From a contemporary drawing][196]
56.Fire-Ball seen from the Observatory at Juvisy, August 10, 1899[199]
57.Explosion of a Fire-Ball above Madrid, February 10, 1896[200]
58.Raphael's Fire-Ball (The Madonna of Foligno)[202]
59.A Uranolith[203]
60.Motion of the Earth round the Sun[222]
61.Inclination of the Earth[224]
62.The divisions of the globe. Longitudes and latitudes[226]
63.To find the long and short months[230]
64.The Full Moon slowly rises[234]
65.The Moon viewed with the unaided eye[236]
66.The Man's head in the Moon[237]
67.Woman's head in the Moon[238]
68.The kiss in the Moon[239]
69.Photograph of the Moon[240]
70.The Moon's Phases[241]
71.Map of the Moon[247]
72.The Lunar Apennines[251]
73.Flammarion's Lunar Ring[253]
74.Lunar landscape with the Earth in the sky[254]
75.Battle between the Medes and Lydians arrested by an Eclipse of the Sun[266]
76.Eclipse of the Moon at Laos (February 27, 1877)[269]
77.The path of the Eclipse of May 28, 1900[273]
78.Total eclipse of the Sun, May 28, 1900, as observed from Elche (Spain)[281]
79.The Eclipse of May 28, 1900, as photographed by King Alfonso XIII, at Madrid[285]
80.Measurement of Angles[289]
81.Division of the Circumference into 360 degrees[291]
82.Measurement of the distance of the Moon[292]
83.Measurement of the distance of the Sun[297]
84.Small apparent ellipses described by the stars as a result of the annual displacement of the Earth[306]

INTRODUCTION

The Science of Astronomy is sublime and beautiful. Noble, elevating, consoling, divine, it gives us wings, and bears us through Infinitude. In these ethereal regions all is pure, luminous, and splendid. Dreams of the Ideal, even of the Inaccessible, weave their subtle spells upon us. The imagination soars aloft, and aspires to the sources of Eternal Beauty.