The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-09-02
Smallest Of Heavenly Bodies Whose
Drbit aud Size Have Bssn Approx
imatsly Determined.

u6Vs U~00 Sy0A oPpSOAAAl0se1J w
mined. s6s
Phobos. the inner. moon. having q dia-j
esr OF about eight miles. ID of aixe
lily comparable with the earth and OBJ
i upon the sarth's surface. IT. diameter
circumference being respectively al
pt exactly one-thousandth OF the
th's diameter and circumference.
st nj suppose everything o. the surface
he earth to be reproduced on the surface
Phobos. % trees, ships. mountains.
brs. ETC.. all reduced in size proportion
4. 1t would DO only necessary TO divide
ON Thousand the dimensions OF any
thly object to ascertain its dimensions
modelled on q Phobian scale.
man six feet high would. on this scale.
nd O.O72 inch Of our Measure ON Phobos,
4 looking down with OUT human eyes to
! him, we should have to look for an
i object about O.O22 inch diameter in ito
esst dimension. a. VI should see only
head and shoulders A good magnify
glass would be needed to determine the
! character OF the mere speck that would
visible to an'unaided human eye at . dis
lce Of two or three feet from the surface,
which it would DO seen to crawl with =
nfully slow motion.
few species OF our larger birds could DO
n in flight without . magnifying glass;
a few. the ostrich, the condor. the
an. could TINS be discerned whom their
hRs were not extended.
Chs altitude of tho highest mountains
uld not exceed thirty, and the profound
depths of earthly seas yet sounded
uld b represented by tWenty-six of 0ur
ship Of the size Of tho Great Eastern
ling on . Phobian ocean would be less
! seven and one-half inches. long. A
int whale of average size reduced TO our
(obian scale would DO less than FIVE
khths Of an inch long.
railway train OF ten vestibule cars with
Pomotive and tender would have = length
less than six Of our inches and its breadth
|uld be represented by . line loss than
p Of an inch in thickness.
In earthly river, two miles in breadth and
feet deep, would DO represented on
lobus by = stream a little more than ten
3 and ons-hfth inches in depth. Let this
Fsr bs frozen over with a sheet of Toe four
lobian feet thick. and the Joe would be
II az thick 40 a sheet of drawing paper.
4 square two and one-half of our inches
each side would represent a Phobian
10 Of land. A United States postage
imp would cover q space Of nearly three
lsbian lots. A city like New York built
the Phobian scale would have streets
nRinR from four-tenths to one and two-
hths inches wide, and these would pass
tween buildings ranging from six-tenths
an inch to two and four.tenths inches in
light.
lie Of Phobos. in which, to unaided
man eyes. only the largest q%uadrupeds
d fishes would be visible. wherein We
ould have to look for all but the largest
.eo M I;ts v %aHi0i be nndi sns II .h hT = ~
BANS at present known to us. Lot us sup
. an ordinary, sized man transferred 10
If : good pedestrian, he could walk ovsr
. Phobian equator, Observation-Disclosures
obe in six Of our hours, making strides of
poo Phobian feet. The soles Of his walk
3 boots would be thirty Phobian feet
iok. Each hair OF his head would be ten
Build be- over 800 Phobisn feet long
ID about 800 Phobian feet in
eadth. In walking he would raise
. toes of his feet above the heads of the
hobians to q height Of Ave hundred feet. IT
9 stature in earthly measurement be taken
Ave feet. ten inches, he would tower into
. Phobian sky to q height over one and
ke-tenth miles.
Enormous giant A. such q man would be
our imaginary Phobian. he 10, AZ com
red with our globe, no larger than suoh
! inhabitant of that satellite would be
impaired with his little world. The truth
! there IL no absolute standard of large or
ball. Size 10 strictly relative, and the
bysioal man, considered in relation to the
Inverse, 10 nothing but q material point
center Of vital, mental and moral forsss,
hose effects reach Is far beyond the limit
his ken a. the universe extends beyond
brief and narrow strip of imperfect light.
ordered ON either side by impenstrabls
|vatArY.