Verse 41. There is one glory of the sun] As if he had said: This may be illustrated by the present appearance of the celestial bodies which belong to our system. The sun has a greater degree of splendour than the moon; the moon than the planets; and the planets than the stars. And even in the fixed stars, one has a greater degree of splendour than another, which may proceed either from their different magnitudes, or from the comparative proximity of some of them to our earth; but from which of these causes, or from what other cause unknown, we cannot tell, as it is impossible to ascertain the distance of any of the fixed stars; even the nearest of them being too remote to afford any sensible parallax, without which their distances cannot be measured. See the concluding observations.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising