The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1877-12-28
How Our World Looks From Other
WAvlAs.


significant our earth is as part of the
universe than that which leads us Il
realize how our globe would appear t.
one of its own inhabitants If he could bt
transported to one after another of the
heavenly bodies. The journey of oul
imaginary celestial traveller need not ex
tend to the fixed stars, for from then
the earth is not visible at all. The
nearest fixed star is 226, 400 times more
distant from us than is the sun. Figures
convey no idea of this vast interval, fol
no one can conceive of trillion, much
less of "a trillions, of miles. A spider
thread on that star would blot out the
space between sun and earth. Our
luminary would appear Us small, brill
liant dot; our earth, even If 1t were not
lost in the solar effulgence, would be
absolutely and automatically invisible.
And this on the nearest liked star, If we
proceeded further into the star depths,
our sun itself would dwindle smaller
and smaller and disappear long before
the stars were reached which now form
the limit of our imperfect observations.
If any fixed star is inhabited, the inhab-
itants are not merely ignorant of our
earth, but of all other planets OF the
solar system, all might be swept away
by some vast cataclysm and the rest of
the universe would be none the wiser.
Restricting ourselves, however, TO the
planets of the SUMS family, it is probable
that three are more familiar with our
earth's characteristics than we are with
theirs, the other three or the people
who live on them, if we make that vio-
lent assumption, probably see no
more of us than do the dwellers
on the fixed stars. The excursion We
have suggested therefore being restricted
to the planets, the starting point will be
on Mercury, which moves around the
sun at an average distance of AZ, 900, 900
miles, it's year being So days and each
of its seasons three weeks. Since tho
earth travels on an exterior orbit to that
of Mercury, just as Mars and Jupiter
move in orbits exterior TO our own, the
best epoch for its observation from Mer-
curry is when that planet, the earth and
the sun are III right line. Then tho
earth's side nearest Mercury is illumin-
ated, and our globe appears as large,
brilliant star moving from west to east
along the zodiac.
IOiu CDu> viz ~ ioi
more splendid appearance. Every 584
days it approximates most closely to that
planet, and is only 100000, 900 miles
distant. Then it appears as large
bluish-white and dazzling star, echpsing
in magnitude every other in the tirma-
ment.
From the moon, the earth seems a
colossal orb. Sun and planets all pass
behind it. 1t has phases like the moon
itself; and in beautiful accord with the
needs Of the lunar day equal to fifteen
terrestrial days. the earth is full at mid
night, in quadrattlre at sunrise, new ut
noon, and in quadrature at sunset. AT
full earth, the lunar inhabitant can see
the seas and continents, the poles white
with snow, and the cloud banks floating
in the air. A light vapor surrounds the
earth, which, refracting the light of the
millions of stars, make it seem as if our
globe were bathed in q pale halo. Proba
bly, the view OF full earth from the moon
when our planet seems fourteen times
as large as the sun is one of the grandest
celestial spectacles that exist in all the
universe. anna
Continuing our voyage through space,
we next reach Mars, los, 900, 600 miles
from the sun. The period when the
earth is best visible to the Martial in
habitant is just opposite to the similar
period III the cases of Mercury
and Venus Since the earth re-
wolves around the sun in an orbit within
that of Mars, its greatest proximity to
the latter occurs when between Mars
and the sun. But then it turns its
shaded hemisphere to Mars and is there
fore invisible. 1t is necessary, then, to
find, before and after this position, stu
atoms in which the earth shows to Mars
q portion of its hemisphere Illuminated
by the sun. The further it is separated
from Mars, the greater will be the phase,
but, on the other hand, the smaller will
be the disk. There is, however, mo-
ment of maximum brilliancy, which oc-
ours near quadrature. Then the earth
appears to the Martial eye as a bright
star, and through telescope as q large
crescent. In fact, there is an accurate
of the behavior of Venus
as regards the earth. AS Venus is our
morning and evening star, so are we the
morning and evening star to Mars. The
Martial inhabitant sees the earth as q
larger star than Jupiter appears to us,
while the brilliancy is such as to render
the earth visible in daytime.
To the inhabitants, then, of Mercury,
Venus, the moon and Mars, the earth |
stands chief of the heavenly bodies. To |
those of Jupiter, however, it becomes
suddenly of almost total insignifcance.
The orbit of Jupiter is 76,000,000 of
miles from the sun. Hence the earth,
in revolving around the sun, never APP
pears further from it than ~ degrees.
The earth is therefore not visible during
the Jovian night, for there the twilight
continues some time after sunset, and,
when twilight has ended, the earth itself
has set. Moreover, at the only moments
when it might be visible from Jupiter
the earth is in quadrature, and only half
and, besides, it is too small
to be seen by the naked eye. Astrono-
mers on Jupiter could only discover the
existence of the earth by telescopes,
and at suitable epoch, as, for
instance, in the east just before
sunrise, or in the west just after
sunset, and then only for few minutes.
n .