"Is not God in the height of the heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are?"—Job xii.
786. How can man measure the distances of the planets?
By making observations at different seasons of the year, when the earth is in opposite positions in her orbit; and by recording, by instruments constructed with the greatest nicety, the angle of sight, at which the planetary body is viewed; by noticing, also, the various eclipses, and estimating how long the first light after an eclipse has ceased reaches the earth, it is possible to estimate the distances of heavenly bodies, no matter how far in the depths of the universe those orbs may be.
787. What are the opinions founded upon estimates respecting the magnitude of the sun?
The diameter of the sun is 770,800 geographical miles, or 112 times greater than the diameter of the earth; its volume is 1,407,124 times that of the earth, and 600 times greater than all the planets together; its mass is 359,551 times greater than the earth; and 738 times greater than that of all the planets. A single spot seen upon its surface has been estimated to extend over 77,000 miles in diameter, and a cluster of spots have been estimated to include an area of 3,780,000 miles.
788. What is the weight of the earth?
The earth has a circumference of 25,000 miles, and is estimated to weigh 1,256,195,670,000,000,000,000,000 tons.