. . . Fig. 34.—Comparative Apparent Size of the Sun as seen from the Various Planets.

Fig. 35 shows a picture of the whole family of planets[Pg 119] surrounding the sun—represented on the same scale, so as to exhibit their comparative sizes. Measured by bulk, Jupiter is more than 1,200 times as great as the earth, so that it would take at least 1,200 earths rolled into one to form a globe equal to the globe of Jupiter. Measured by weight, the disparity between the earth and Jupiter, though still enormous, is not quite so great; but this is a matter to be discussed more fully in a later chapter.

Fig. 35.—Comparative Sizes of the Planets.

Even in this preliminary survey of the solar system we[Pg 120] must not omit to refer to the planets which attract our attention, not by their bulk, but by their multitude. In the ample zone bounded on the inside by the orbit of Mars and on the outside by the orbit of Jupiter it was thought at one ti. . . Read More