From the Earth to the Moon, Part 2, Chapter 12 summary

What happens

1. Barbicane urges his companions to concentrate on scientific observations despite uncertainty about their destination and return to Earth.
2. Using their map and glasses, the travelers identify the Sea of Clouds and approach Copernicus.
3. They examine Copernicus’s rings, cones, and surrounding plains, but cannot establish the cause of its luminous rays.
4. Michel offers playful comparisons for the landscape, while Barbicane insists that appearances do not establish facts.
5. Near Eratosthenes, they discuss Kepler’s proposal that lunar inhabitants dig enormous hollows for shelter from sunlight.
6. At about two in the morning, the projectile reaches the twentieth lunar parallel, six hundred miles from the moon.

In this chapter

Quick check