STAR-LAND
BEING TALKS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE ABOUT THE
WONDERS OF THE HEAVENS
BY
SIR ROBERT STAWELL BALL, F.R.S.
LOWNDEAN PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY IN
THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
AUTHOR OF “THE STORY OF THE HEAVENS,” ETC.
Illustrated
NEW AND REVISED EDITION
Boston, U.S.A., and London
GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
The Athenæum Press
1899
Entered at Stationers’ Hall
Copyright, 1899, by
CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
To
THOSE YOUNG FRIENDS
WHO HAVE ATTENDED MY CHRISTMAS LECTURES
THIS LITTLE BOOK
IS DEDICATED
v
PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION.
It has long been the custom at the Royal Institutionof Great Britain to provide each Christmastidea course of Lectures specially addressed to a juvenileaudience.
On two occasions, namely, in 1881 and in 1887,the Managers entrusted this honorable duty to me.The second course was in the main a repetition ofthe first; and on my notes and recollections of boththe present little volume has been founded.
I am indebted to my friends Rev. Maxwell Close,Mr. Arthur Rambaut, and Dr. John Todhunterfor their kindness in reading the proofs.
ROBERT S. BALL.
Observatory,
Co. Dublin,
Oct. 22, 1889.
vii
CONTENTS.
| LECTURE I. | |
| THE SUN. | |
| PAGE | |
| The Heat and Brightness of the Sun—Further Benefits that we receive from the Sun—The Distance of the Sun—How Astronomers measure the Distances of the Heavenly Bodies—The Apparent Smallness of Distant Objects—The Shape and Size of the Sun—The Spots on the Sun—Appearances seen during a Total Eclipse of the Sun—Night and Day—The Daily Rotation of the Earth—The Annual Motion of the Earth round the Sun—The Changes of the Seasons—Sunshine at the North Pole | 1 |
| LECTURE II. | |
| THE MOON. | |
| The Phases of our Attendant the Moon—The Size of the Moon—How Eclipses are produced—Effect of the Moon’s Distance on its Appearance—A Talk about ... BU KİTABI OKUMAK İÇİN ÜYE OLUN VEYA GİRİŞ YAPIN!Sitemize Üyelik ÜCRETSİZDİR! | |