Page:A short history of astronomy(1898).djvu/60

16 nearer to the earth than others must have been suggested by eclipses (§ 17) and occultations, i.e. passages of the moon over a planet or fixed star. In this way the moon would be recognised as nearer than any of the other celestial bodies. No direct means being available for determining the distances, rapidity of motion was employed as a test of probable nearness. Now Saturn returns to the same place among the stars in about 29$1⁄2$ years, Jupiter in 12 years. Mars in 2 years, the sun in one year, Venus in 225



days, Mercury in 88 days, and the moon in 27 days; and this order was usually taken to be the order of distance, Saturn being the most distant, the moon the nearest. The stars being seen above us it was natural to think of the most distant celestial bodies as being the highest, and accordingly Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars being beyond the sun were called superior planets, as distinguished from the two inferior planets Venus and Mercury. This division corresponds also to a difference in the observed motions, as Venus and Mercury seem to accompany the sun in its