ons, I shall first shew, that this light cannot be her owne, and then declare that which is the true reason of it.
That it is not her own, appeares
1. From the variety of it at divers times; for ’tis commonly observed, that sometimes ’tis of a brighter, sometimes of a darker appearance, now redder, and at another time of a more duskish colour. The observation of this variety in divers eclipses, you may see set downe by Keplar[1] and many others, but now this could not be if that light were her owne, that being constantly the same, and without any reason of such an alteration: So that thus I may argue.
If there were any light proper to the Moone, then would that Planet appeare brightest when she is eclipsed in her Perige, being neerest to the earth, and so consequently more obscure and duskish when she is in her Apoge or far-
- ↑ Opt. Astron. c. 7. num. 3.
