THE SOLAR SYSTEM 317 



the moon; while the real stars are suns, shining by 

 their own glowing light. 



These worlds, or planets, all revolve around the 

 sun, and from the sun they borrow the light with 

 which they shine. They make up a sort of family 

 which we call the solar system. The sun is in the 

 center and around it revolve the eight planets. 

 Mercury comes first, almost hidden by the sun; then 

 Venus, like a great lamp hung in the sky. This is the 

 beautiful evening star that you sometimes see low 

 down in the west after the sun goes down. Then 

 part of the year it is the morning star, and shines in 

 the east before the sun rises. Our earth comes next, 

 carrying the moon with it in its journey round the sun. 

 Then, in order, are the red planet Mars, the splendid 

 Jupiter, and Saturn, which shines with a yellow light. 

 Then comes Uranus, quite lost among the smaller 

 stars, and last of all Neptune, not to be seen at all 

 excepting with a telescope. 



All the planets except Mercury and Venus are 

 known to have moons. Could you think what our 

 sky would look like if there were eight moons to be 

 seen at night? The eight moons that both Jupiter 

 and Saturn have, or the four that go around Uranus, 

 would make our midnight sky almost as bright as 

 day. Even the two moons of Mars would seem quite 

 a sight to our eyes, especially since one of them rises 

 in the west and crosses the sky in just the opposite 

 direction from all the stars and the other moon. 



But there are stranger things to be seen upon these 

 planets than just a moon seeming to go the wrong 

 way, for Saturn is surrounded by three rings. That 



