THE GREATEST PLANET. 181 



/ 



M JUPITER 

 / 



SUN \ 1 



\ ^ / 



/ 



Fig. 16. Orbits of Jupiter and the Earth. 



sometimes as much as 545 and sometimes as low as 495. 

 Under the most favourable combination of circumstances 

 we are still left at an inconveniently great distance from 

 Jupiter when we wish to study his surface. He will still 

 be about four times as far from us as we are from the sun. 

 Hence it follows that in our telescopic scrutiny of the 

 great planet it is only objects of colossal proportions on 

 his globe that can be at all visible. In this respect we 

 are placed much more disadvantageously with regard to 

 Jupiter than with regard to Mars, though, on the other 

 hand, the much greater size of Jupiter more than com- 



