Here a radiating mountain showed a
summit so dazzling with the reflection of the solar rays that Ardan
could not help crying out:
"It looks like one of the carbon points of an electric light projected
on a screen! What do you call it, Barbican?"
"_Copernicus_," replied the President. "Let us examine old
_Copernicus_!"
This grand crater is deservedly considered one of the greatest of the
lunar wonders. It lifts its giant ramparts to upwards of 12,000 feet
above the level of the lunar surface. Being quite visible from the Earth
and well situated for observation, it is a favorite object for
astronomical study; this is particularly the case during the phase
existing between Last Quarter and the New Moon, when its vast shadows,
projected boldly from the east towards the west, allow its prodigious
dimensions to be measured.
After _Tycho_, which is situated in the southern hemisphere,
_Copernicus_ forms the most important radiating mountain in the lunar
disc. It looms up, single and isolated, like a gigantic light-house, on
the peninsula separating _Mare Nubium_ from _Oceanus Procellarum_ on one
side and from _Mare Imbrium_ on the other; thus illuminating with its
splendid radiation three "Seas" at a time.
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