Entire classes of advanced students, accompanied by their teacher
guides repair to the open at night when the canopy of God's
Heavens is ablaze with scintillating points of light. The
different constellations as viewed from our planet present the
same general appearance as to configuration as they do to the
dwellers on your Earth; but the view is decidedly more vivid by
reason of a more advantageous viewpoint.
The so-called Superior planets, such as Saturn, Jupiter, some of
the larger asteroids, and Uranus and Neptune, are nearer to Mars
than to Earth, and for that reason are more easily discerned from
this vantage point. Some of the satellites of Jupiter are easily
seen with the naked eye.
Your Earth appears to us about as Jupiter does to you, and with
our observing instruments we are able to see your continent and
oceans when not covered by a cloud canopy.
As to the so-called Inferior planets Venus and Mercury, the
former presents the appearance of a star of the first magnitude,
but being so near the sun it is only visible an hour before or
after sunset, depending upon its position. But Mercury, being so
near the Solar Orb, it is rarely its position is favorable for
observation from our planet, and then only with our more perfect
telescopes.
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