New-York, June 24, 1796.
NEW-YORK: _+Printed by JOHN BULL, No. 115, Cherry-Street+, where every
Kind of Printing work is executed with the utmost Accuracy and
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_UTILE DULCI._
THE NEW-YORK WEEKLY MAGAZINE;
or, Miscellaneous Repository.
+Vol. II.+] +Wednesday, July 27, 1796.+ [+No. 56.+
[[For sources, see the end of the e-text.]]
_+View+ of the STARRY HEAVENS._
The sky at night presents us a sight of wonders, which must raise the
astonishment of every attentive observer of nature. But from whence
comes it, that so few consider the firmament with attention? I am
willing to believe, that in general it proceeds from ignorance; for it
is impossible to be convinced of the greatness of the works of God,
without feeling a rapture almost heavenly. O how I wish to make you
share this divine pleasure! Raise your thoughts for this purpose towards
the sky: It will be enough to name to you the immense bodies which are
strewed in that space, to fill you with astonishment at the greatness of
the artificer. It is in the center of our system that the throne of the
sun is established. The body is more than a million of times larger than
the earth. It is one hundred millions of miles distant from it, and
notwithstanding this prodigious distance, it has a most sensible effect
upon our sphere. Round the sun move twenty-one globular bodies, seven of
which are called planets, the other fourteen, moons or satellites; they
are opake, and receive from the sun light, heat, and perhaps also their
interior motion. Georgium Sidus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Earth,
Venus, and Mercury, are the names of the seven principal planets. Of
these seven, Mercury is nearest the sun, and for that reason is mostly
invisible to the astronomer. As he is near nineteen times smaller than
our earth, he contributes but little to adorn the sky. Venus follows
him, and is sometimes called the morning, and sometimes the evening
star. It is one of the brightest of the heavenly bodies, whether it
precedes the sun-rise, or succeeds the setting sun. It is near as large
again as our earth, and is about sixty-eight millions of miles distant
from the sun. After Venus comes our earth, round which the moon moves,
as a secondary planet. Mars, which is the fourth planet, is seven times
smaller than our globe; and its distance from the sun is one hundred and
forty-four millions of miles. Jupiter, with his belt, is always
distinguished by his splendor in the starry sky: it seems in size to
surpass all the fixed stars; it is almost as bright as Venus in all her
glory, except that the light of it is less brilliant than the morning
star. How small our earth is in comparison with Jupiter! There would not
be less than eight thousand globes like ours, necessary to form one
equal in size to that of Jupiter. Saturn, whose distance from the sun is
upwards of nine hundred millions of miles, was thought the remotest
planet until the late discovery of the Georgium Sidus, whose distance is
eighteen thousand millions of miles, and its magnitude eighty-nine times
greater than our earth. In the mean time, the sun, with all the planets
which accompany it, is a very small part of the immense fabric of the
universe. Each star, which from hence appears to us no larger than a
brilliant set in a ring, is in reality an immense body which equals the
sun both in size and splendor.
(_To be concluded in our next._)
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+For the New-York Weekly Magazine.+
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