The Somerset reporter., 1890-02-27
GEOGRAPHY OF THE MOON.
A BRIEF WORD PICTURE OF OUR
NEAREST p-ksET sElGHBOR.

Something About the th.sm. aud Noun
tsins Of Pair aud Rather nJ.t.riso,
Lnna-Th. s.a Basin, sAs s~,.r.I oths1
important Items.
Though the MON l. 30 near L.. vher
compared With the other hea Feuly bssdies
it il still very long aay oil ~hen esfI
mated By more ordinary standafI-
Cnder the most favorable circ1ms,anee-
our neighbpr II nearly 2Jg,14o uiis-
away, and when viewed from - great
distance objects have TO D. q consider
able magnitude # they ar u b. si.i1.e
at all A lunar mountain, even = T.
were as great a. Mon, Bians itselt. would
only be shown Ike a tlny .nek rs cur
mghticat telescope 10 ~ Ieet ou til
moon could be seen uriess u nere a.
least a. ilrge a. a town haa NJ caths
draL Were the great ptIamil II Exypr
on the moon II ~ouia 1ult -.ein 70 a. A.
speck which All artist mo a4s nlAk
ing sketch At the telescope would nd
cate by dot with bI- pencil
SIZES BY COMPARISONS
There are certain -lal- VI nars. 90
the moon a. 7e'L With Tie unaided ey'
Win "ileL every one If familiar HEY
can be best observed when the moon l.
iud' ana II l. a remit Aa1ie fact that the
features exhibited ~ the f1l. moon are
always the sam 10 ide,- the moon a.
ways turns the saine lace To u, ~e are
never granted slImpse Al the other
sidei ana a. - "f'At mat other side may
De hAe neither cor any one Else can
give you the III .'--ai iu'9Imali9n HE
diameter Of th- e-gan L about 2.vN
miles. from "tica %e ihivr that the
hemlsp sphefe "hlch "a. u SO hh- al area
ABOUT double a pis a. the tHtir- surface
of Europe some d those larse siots
which form the features on the fuii moon
are therefore ABOUT a. large a. france oi
SPAN These regions have different
coior 70 the rest OF the moon surface
ana the telescope shows that Their hoor-
are smoother than other tracts ~ lunar
country
We are certain tiIat The surface ~ the
moon no longer contains any visible
water IL seems 10 hS> penetrated into
the interior OF the lunar glote Al some
period ages before telescope we're ever
directed 10 the heavens.
Though the ancient sea basins are the
only CONSPICUOUS ooJects 10 tae naked
eye view OF the moon yet when the tel
escope Is used these features are not
nearly SO interesting as the craters-
These are multltndes Of small objects
quite invisible To the unaided eve, though
many OF them must be hundred m1es
or more IN diameter.
10 observe these objects with adran-
tage we should select AL opportunity
when the moon l. at OF near the quarter
In any case We should avoid making our
Visit to the observatory at the time when
the moon is fulI lou must remember
that the moon derives iIs lght from the
SUP Just as the earth does The sun 81
lumlnates that half Of the mF7n which
happens to be turned toward it. whiir
the other half l. IN darkness and accord
ingly as we see more OF less u th" bright
half we see the moon more ot Jess fal
1t Is along the diameter q the m9sa AZ
the quarter, or At any time 4i'nz the
boundary between the bright fnft and
the dark. that the illumination B. list
suited for rendering faint 9oIezt' rlzIHie#
Nor NIeE FeR WALKING
There Is one partsu ular kind 4 aa3--t
which specially rhanr'er1.- t4e se'G
raphy Of the mo"n The t7peei his ole
Jeci Is ring. and of tbe7e rn-- fh'r'