Chapter I: Introduction: 1

I. THE CONTEMPLATION OF THE HEAVENS 10

II. THE CONSTELLATIONS 28

III. THE STARS, SUNS OF THE INFINITE. A JOURNEY
THROUGH SPACE 56

IV. OUR STAR THE SUN 88

V. THE PLANETS. A. MERCURY, VENUS, THE
EARTH, MARS 113

VI. THE PLANETS. B. JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS,
NEPTUNE 146

VII. THE COMETS 172

VIII. THE EARTH 205

IX. THE MOON 232

X. THE ECLIPSES 259

XI. ON METHODS. HOW CELESTIAL DISTANCES
ARE DETERMINED, AND HOW THE SUN IS
WEIGHED 287

XII. LIFE, UNIVERSAL AND ETERNAL 317

INDEX 341

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Contemplation _Frontispiece_
From a painting by Paul Renaud

FIG. PAGE

1. The great Book of the Heavens is open to all eyes 15

2. The earth in space. June solstice, midday 20

3. The Great Bear (or Dipper) and the Pole Star 34

4. To find the Pole Star 35

5. To find Cassiopeia 37

6. To find Pegasus and Andromeda 37

7. Perseus, the Pleiades, Capella 38

8. To find Arcturus, the Herdsman, and the Northern Crown 40

9. The Swan, Vega, the Eagle 41

10. The Constellations of the Zodiac: summer and autumn;
Capricorn, Archer, Scorpion, Balance, Virgin, Lion 46

11. The Constellations of the Zodiac: winter and spring;
Crab, Twins, Bull, Ram, Fishes, Water-Carrier 47

12. Orion and his celestial companions 48

13. Winter Constellations 51

14. Spring Constellations 52

15. Summer Constellations 53

16. Autumn Constellations 54

17. The double star Mizar 69

18. Triple star [xi] in Cancer 72

19. Quadruple star [epsilon] of the Lyre 73

20. Sextuple star [theta] in the Nebula of Orion 74

21. The Star-Cluster in Hercules 79

22. The Star-Cluster in the Centaur 80

23. The Nebula in Andromeda 81

24. Nebula in the Greyhounds 82

25. The Pleiades 83

26. Occultation of the Pleiades by the Moon 85

27. Stellar dial of the double star [gamma] of the Virgin 86

28. Comparative sizes of the Sun and Earth 93

29. Direct photograph of the Sun 96

30. Telescopic aspect of a Sun-Spot 97

31. Rose-colored solar flames 228,000 kilometers (141,500
miles) in height, _i.e._, 18 times the diameter of the
Earth 103

32. Orbits of the four Planets nearest to the Sun 115

33. Orbits of the four Planets farthest from the Sun 116

34. Mercury near quadrature 117

35. The Earth viewed from Mercury 119

36. The Evening Star 123

37. Successive phases of Venus 124

38. Venus at greatest brilliancy 126

39. The Earth viewed from Venus 130

40. Diminution of the polar snows of Mars during the
summer 136

41. Telescopic aspect of the planet Mars (Feb., 1901) 137

42. Telescopic aspect of the planet Mars (Feb., 1901) 138

43. Chart of Mars 140

44. The Earth viewed from Mars 144

45. Telescopic aspect of Jupiter 150

46. Jupiter and his four principal satellites 155

47. Saturn 159

48. Varying perspective of Saturn's Rings, as seen from
the Earth 161

49. The Great Comet of 1858 174

50. What our Ancestors saw in a Comet 177

After Ambroise Pare (1858)

51. Prodigies seen in the Heavens by our Forefathers 178

52. The orbit of a Periodic Comet 182

53. The tails of Comets are opposed to the Sun 185

54. A Meteor 191

55. Shooting Stars of November 12, 1799 196

From a contemporary drawing

56. Fire-Ball seen from the Observatory at Juvisy, August
10, 1899 199

57. Explosion of a Fire-Ball above Madrid, February 10,
1896 200

58. Raphael's Fire-Ball (_The Madonna of Foligno_) 202

59. A Uranolith 203

60. Motion of the Earth round the Sun 222

61. Inclination of the Earth 224

62. The divisions of the globe. Longitudes and latitudes 226

63. To find the long and short months 230

64. The Full Moon slowly rises 234

65. The Moon viewed with the unaided eye 236

66. The Man's head in the Moon 237

67. Woman's head in the Moon 238

68. The kiss in the Moon 239

69. Photograph of the Moon 240

70. The Moon's Phases 241

71. Map of the Moon 247

72. The Lunar Apennines 251

73. Flammarion's Lunar Ring 253

74. Lunar landscape with the Earth in the sky 254

75. Battle between the Medes and Lydians arrested by an
Eclipse of the Sun 266

76. Eclipse of the Moon at Laos (February 27, 1877) 269

77. The path of the Eclipse of May 28, 1900 273

78. Total eclipse of the Sun, May 28, 1900, as observed
from Elche (Spain) 281

79. The Eclipse of May 28, 1900, as photographed by
King Alfonso XIII, at Madrid 285

80. Measurement of Angles 289

81. Division of the Circumference into 360 degrees 291

82. Measurement of the distance of the Moon 292

83. Measurement of the distance of the Sun 297

84. Small apparent ellipses described by the stars as a
result of the annual displacement of the Earth 306