212 The Book of Woodcraft 



way off, we cannot see them. But around our own 

 Sun are several worlds besides ours. They are very 

 near to us, and we can see them by the reflected 

 light of the Sun. These are called "planets" or 

 "wanderers," because, before their courses were under- 

 stood, they seemed to wander about, all over the sky, 

 unlike the fixed stars. 



They are so close to us that their distance and sizes are 

 easily measured. They do not twinkle. 



There are eight, in all, not counting the small Planetoids; 

 but only those as large as stars .of the first magnitude 

 concern us. They are here in order of nearness to the 

 Sun: 



1. MERCURY is always close to the Sun, so that it is 

 usually lost in the glow of the twihght or of the vapors 

 of the horizon, where it shows Hke a globule of quicksilver. 

 It has phases and quarters like the Moon. It is so hot 

 there "that a Mercurian would be frozen to death in Africa 

 or Senegal" {Flammarion) . 



2. VENUS. The brightest of all the stars is Venus ; far 

 brighter than Sirius. It is the Morning Star, the Evening 

 Star, the Shepherd's Star, and yet not a star at all, but a 

 planet. It has phases and quarters like the Moon. You 

 can place it only with the help of an almanac. 



3. THE EARTH. 



4. MARS. The nearest of the other worlds to us. It 

 is a fiery-red planet. It has phases like the Moon. 



5. JUPITER, like a very large star of the first magni- 

 tude, famous for its five moons, and really the largest of 

 the planets. 



6. SATURN, noted for its rings, also like a very large 

 star of the first magnitude. 



7. URANUS and (8) NEPTUNE, are too small for 

 observation without a telescope. 



