MOON. 383 



Q. Why does the MOON appear to us so much 

 BIGGER than the STABS, though in fact it is a great 

 deal SMALLEB ? 



A. Because the moon is very much 

 nearer to us than any of the stars. 



Let AB represent a fixed star, and C D the moon. 



AB, though much the larger body, will appear no 

 bigger than EF; whereas the moon (CD) will appear 

 as big as the line C D to the spectator G. 



The moon is 240,000 miles from the earth, not quite 

 a quarter of a million of miles. The nearest fixed stars 

 are 20,000,000,000,000. (i. e. 20 billions.) 



If a ball went 500 miles an hour, it would reach the 

 moon in twenty days: but it would not reach the 

 nearest fixed star in 4,500,000 years. Had it begun, 

 therefore, when Adam was created, it would be no 

 further on its journey than a coach (which has to go 

 from the bottom of Cornwall to the top of Scotland) 

 after it has past about three-quarters of a mile. 



Q. Why does the MOON (which is a sphere) 

 APPEAR to be a FLAT surface ? 



A. It is 50 far off, that we cannot 

 distinguish any difference between the 

 length of the rays which issue from the 



