There is only one way by which I can account for this--they must all
turn round the earth. Is that it, father?
Everybody used to think so.
But what surprises me is this; as the stars are turning round us, none
get before or behind the others. They keep the same distance apart.
Do you not know that all the stars are stuck in a huge mass of blue
stuff, called the sky, and that when the sky turns all of them must
turn with it, and, unless they tumble out, they must keep in their
places?
O, father, you are joking.
Well, then, if they are not joined together, why do they move so
uniformly?
That I cannot tell.
No two of the stars are of equal distance from us. They are all
scattered through space, like a lot of marbles in a scramble.
Then if they had to move round the world, I am sure they never would
keep in such order, especially as some would have to go so much faster
than others; for they have a much greater distance to go. They cannot
turn round the earth in that way. But yet they seem to do so.
Yes. But just look forward. Do you see how the head of the vessel is
dipping into the Bay of Biscay?