"Now I shall be crushed," murmured Michel, "for figures are coming."
"It has been calculated," continued Barbicane imperturbably, "that the shock of each asteroid upon the sun must produce heat equal to that of 4,000 masses of coal of equal volume."
"And what is the heat of the sun?" asked Michel.
"It is equal to that which would be produced by a stratum of coal surrounding the sun to a depth of twenty-seven kilometres."
"And that heat—"
"Could boil 2,900,000,000 of cubic myriametres of water an hour." (A myriametre is equal to rather more than 6.2138 miles, or 6 miles 1 furlong 28 poles.)
"And we are not roasted by it?" cried Michel.
"No," answered Barbicane, "because the terrestrial atmosphere absorbs four-tenths of the solar heat. Besides, the quantity of heat intercepted by the earth is only two thousand millionth of the total."
"I see that all is for the best," replied Michel, "and that our atmosphere is a useful invention, for it not only allows us to breathe, but actually prevents us roasting."
"Yes," said Nicholl, "but, unfortunately, it will not be the same on the moon."