Page:The Solar System - Six Lectures - Lowell.djvu/46



day. He was before long rewarded. Markings began to show themselves upon the little disk, difficult of detection, indeed, but still visible enough to enable him to be satisfied of their permanency ; and then the markings disclosed of themselves a very singular fact. From the stability of their positions, it became evident that the planet rotated upon its axis in the same time that it revolved about the sun.

Let us consider a moment how it was the markings disclosed this fact. Suppose, for simplicity, a body revolving round its primary in a circle and made visible by the light received from it. Furthermore, suppose the revolving body to have markings upon it, and to rotate once upon its axis as it makes one revolution round its sun. Clearly it will always present the same face to the central attracting and illuminating body, and therefore the markings will maintain an invariable position with regard to the illuminated face. To an outsider, the planet, if inferior, will present the phases of the Moon. Unlike the Moon, however, the illumination will not sweep over an invariable face, but lighting and lighted will rotate together ; for in the case of the Moon, we are the attracting, but not the illuminating, body ; in the case of a planet, the Sun is both.