14 THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 



would be able to go round the whole earth In 

 three quarters of a year; but the sun is so large 

 that, even travelling at the same speed, he would 

 be 75 years in making a journey round it. 



Next to the sun, the moon is, to us, the most 

 interesting object among the heavenly bodies. 

 The dazzling splendour of the sun renders a full 

 view of it painful to the human sight. The bright- 

 ness of the moon, on the contrary, arising from the 

 light which it reflects, is grateful and pleasing to 

 the eye, and its silvery beam relieves with a cheer- 

 ing influence the dulness of our long winter nights. 

 Its changes from the thin crescent to the full orb, 

 and its waning from the full to the crescent again, 

 lead us to admire the wisdom and power of God, 

 by whom all these wonderful things were made, 

 and who regulates all their motions. 



The earth, and the other orbs which move 

 round the sun, compose what is called the solar 

 system. Twenty -three of these orbs may be dis- 

 tinctly seen : they are called planets. Planet 

 means moving star. Primary planets move round 

 the sun : secondary planets move round some one 

 of the primary planets, and are called their moons, 

 or satellites. All the planets move also round 

 their own axis ; some in a longer, others in a 

 shorter time ; and the length of their days varies 

 accordingly. 



Questions. 

 What is the sun 1 

 How great is its diameter * 



