The Harvest Moon, 325 



proved ; for, say they, if she had, the edge of her 

 disc would never appear so clear or well defined 

 as it does ; and when any of the fixed stars dis- 

 appear behind the moon, they retain their full 

 lustre till they touch her very edge, and then 

 vanish in a moment. These circumstances, they 

 affirm, could not take place if the moon had an 

 atmosphere; for she would then have always 

 round her a kind of mist or haze, and the stars 

 would appear fainter when seen through it. Still, 

 it must be acknowledged, that these reasons, 

 though feasible, are by no means decisive. 



This account of the moon may serve to give a 

 general idea of a satellite, or secondary planet, 

 particularly as to its orbit and phases; but 

 whether or not, the satellites of the other planets 

 exactly resemble our moon in the other cir- 

 cumstances which have been just mentioned, 

 their immense distance will not allow us to de- 

 termine. 



The four satellites or moons of Jupiter were 

 discovered by Galileo in the year 1610. The 

 sixth and largest satellite of Saturn was dis- 

 covered by Huyghens in the year 1655; three 

 others by Cassini ; the third in 1671 ; the fifth in 

 1672; the fourth in 1684; and the first and 

 second, by Dr. Herschell, in 1789. The six sa- 

 tellites of Uranus or the Georgium Sidus were 

 discovered by Dr. Herschell, who discovered the 

 planet. Astronomers denominate the satellites 

 with relation to their distances from the principal 



