The immediate1 result of Barbicane’s proposition was to place upon the orders of the day all the astronomical2 facts relative to the Queen of the Night. Everybody set to work to study assiduously. One would have thought that the moon had just appeared for the first time, and that no one had ever before caught a glimpse of her in the heavens. The papers revived all the old anecdotes3 in which the “sun of the wolves” played a part; they recalled the influences which the ignorance of past ages ascribed to her; in short, all America was seized with selenomania, or had become moon-mad.
The scientific journals, for their part, dealt more especially with the questions which touched upon the enterprise of the Gun Club. The letter of the Observatory4 of Cambridge was published by them, and commented upon with unreserved approval.
Until that time most people had been ignorant of the mode in which the distance which separates the moon from the earth is calculated. They took advantage of this fact to explain to them that this distance was obtained by measuring the parallax of the moon. The term parallax proving “caviare to the general,” they further explained that it meant the angle formed by the inclination5 of two straight lines drawn6 from either extremity7 of the earth’s radius8 to the moon. On doubts being expressed as to the correctness of this method, they immediately proved that not only was the mean distance 234,347 miles, but that astronomers9 could not possibly be in error in their estimate by more than seventy miles either way.
To those who were not familiar with the motions of the moon, they demonstrated that she possesses two distinct motions, the first being that of rotation10 upon her axis11, the second being that of revolution round the earth, accomplishing both together in an equal period of time, that is to say, in twenty-seven and one-third days.
The motion of rotation is that which produces day and night on the surface of the moon; save that there is only one day and one night in the lunar month, each lasting12 three hundred and fifty-four and one-third hours. But, happily for her, the face turned toward the terrestrial globe is illuminated13 by it with an intensity14 equal to that of fourteen moons. As to the other face, always invisible to us, it has of necessity three hundred and fifty-four hours of absolute night, tempered only by that “pale glimmer15 which falls upon it from the stars.”
Some well-intentioned, but rather obstinate16 persons, could not at first comprehend how, if the moon displays invariably the same face to the earth during her revolution, she can describe one turn round herself. To such they answered, “Go into your dining-room, and walk round the table in such a way as to always keep your face turned toward the center; by the time you will have achieved one complete round you will have completed one turn around yourself, since your eye will have traversed successively every point of the room. Well, then, the room is the heavens, the table is the earth, and the moon is yourself.” And they would go away delighted.
So, then the moon displays invariably the same face to the earth; nevertheless, to be quite exact, it is necessary to add that, in consequence of certain fluctuations17 of north and south, and of west and east, termed her libration, she permits rather more than half, that is to say, five-sevenths, to be seen.
As soon as the ignoramuses came to understand as much as the director of the observatory himself knew, they began to worry themselves regarding her revolution round the earth, whereupon twenty scientific reviews immediately came to the rescue. They pointed18 out to them that the firmament19, with its infinitude of stars, may be considered as one vast dial-plate, upon which the moon travels, indicating the true time to all the inhabitants of the earth; that it is during this movement that the Queen of Night exhibits her different phases; that the moon is full when she is in opposition20 with the sun, that is when the three bodies are on the same straight line, the earth occupying the center; that she is new when she is in conjunction with the sun, that is, when she is between it and the earth; and, lastly that she is in her first or last quarter, when she makes with the sun and the earth an angle of which she herself occupies the apex21.
Regarding the altitude which the moon attains22 above the horizon, the letter of the Cambridge Observatory had said all that was to be said in this respect. Every one knew that this altitude varies according to the latitude23 of the observer. But the only zones of the globe in which the moon passes the zenith, that is, the point directly over the head of the spectator, are of necessity comprised between the twenty-eighth parallels and the equator. Hence the importance of the advice to try the experiment upon some point of that part of the globe, in order that the projectile24 might be discharged perpendicularly25, and so the soonest escape the action of gravitation. This was an essential condition to the success of the enterprise, and continued actively26 to engage the public attention.
Regarding the path described by the moon in her revolution round the earth, the Cambridge Observatory had demonstrated that this path is a re-entering curve, not a perfect circle, but an ellipse, of which the earth occupies one of the foci. It was also well understood that it is farthest removed from the earth during its apogee27, and approaches most nearly to it at its perigee28.
Such was then the extent of knowledge possessed29 by every American on the subject, and of which no one could decently profess30 ignorance. Still, while these principles were being rapidly disseminated31 many errors and illusory fears proved less easy to eradicate32.
For instance, some worthy33 persons maintained that the moon was an ancient comet which, in describing its elongated34 orbit round the sun, happened to pass near the earth, and became confined within her circle of attraction. These drawing-room astronomers professed35 to explain the charred36 aspect of the moon — a disaster which they attributed to the intensity of the solar heat; only, on being reminded that comets have an atmosphere, and that the moon has little or none, they were fairly at a loss for a reply.
Others again, belonging to the doubting class, expressed certain fears as to the position of the moon. They had heard it said that, according to observations made in the time of the Caliphs, her revolution had become accelerated in a certain degree. Hence they concluded, logically enough, that an acceleration37 of motion ought to be accompanied by a corresponding diminution38 in the distance separating the two bodies; and that, supposing the double effect to be continued to infinity39, the moon would end by one day falling into the earth. However, they became reassured40 as to the fate of future generations on being apprised41 that, according to the calculations of Laplace, this acceleration of motion is confined within very restricted limits, and that a proportional diminution of speed will be certain to succeed it. So, then, the stability of the solar system would not be deranged42 in ages to come.
There remains43 but the third class, the superstitious44. These worthies45 were not content merely to rest in ignorance; they must know all about things which had no existence whatever, and as to the moon, they had long known all about her. One set regarded her disc as a polished mirror, by means of which people could see each other from different points of the earth and interchange their thoughts. Another set pretended that out of one thousand new moons that had been observed, nine hundred and fifty had been attended with remarkable46 disturbances47, such as cataclysms48, revolutions, earthquakes, the deluge49, etc. Then they believed in some mysterious influence exercised by her over human destinies — that every Selenite was attached to some inhabitant of the earth by a tie of sympathy; they maintained that the entire vital system is subject to her control, etc. But in time the majority renounced50 these vulgar errors, and espoused51 the true side of the question. As for the Yankees, they had no other ambition than to take possession of this new continent of the sky, and to plant upon the summit of its highest elevation52 the star- spangled banner of the United States of America.
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1
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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astronomical
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| adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的 | |
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anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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observatory
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| n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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radius
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| n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限 | |
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astronomers
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| n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 ) | |
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rotation
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| n.旋转；循环，轮流 | |
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axis
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| n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线 | |
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lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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fluctuations
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| 波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 ) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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firmament
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| n.苍穹；最高层 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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apex
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| n.顶点，最高点 | |
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attains
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的第三人称单数 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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projectile
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| n.投射物，发射体；adj.向前开进的；推进的；抛掷的 | |
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perpendicularly
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| adv. 垂直地, 笔直地, 纵向地 | |
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actively
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| adv.积极地，勤奋地 | |
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apogee
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| n.远地点；极点；顶点 | |
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perigee
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| n.近地点 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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31
disseminated
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| 散布，传播( disseminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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eradicate
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| v.根除，消灭，杜绝 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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elongated
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| v.延长，加长( elongate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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charred
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| v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦 | |
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acceleration
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| n.加速，加速度 | |
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diminution
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| n.减少；变小 | |
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infinity
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| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
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40
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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41
apprised
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| v.告知，通知( apprise的过去式和过去分词 )；评价 | |
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deranged
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| adj.疯狂的 | |
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43
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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45
worthies
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| 应得某事物( worthy的名词复数 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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46
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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47
disturbances
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| n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍 | |
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48
cataclysms
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| n.（突然降临的）大灾难( cataclysm的名词复数 ) | |
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49
deluge
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| n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥 | |
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50
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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51
espoused
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| v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
elevation
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| n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高 | |
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