Page:In the high heavens.djvu/50

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46
IN THE HIGH HEAVENS.

the moon would last for a fortnight, and then there would be black night for another fortnight. During the long day the moon would be terribly scorched, a circumstance which would be hardly compensated for by the fact that even if we survived the scorching we should certainly be frozen to death during the ensuing night.


Fig. 7.—Jupiter, showing the shadow of a Satellite, October 15th, 1891.


But there would be other insuperable difficulties attending an attempt to make an abode on the moon. The absence of water is one of them, while a still more immediate trouble would arise from the deficiency, if not total absence, of air suitable for respiration. Indeed, it is almost impossible for us to conceive what an airless world would be like. Fishes out of water would not be more uncomfortable than we should