noon
The others are of a grave and sober character , as if to prepare the mind for serious contemplation in their long-enduring night . When the earth is at the full , which is their midnight , it is also a season of great festivity with them . _ Eclipses of the sun _ are as common with the Lunarians as those of the moon are with us -- the same relative position of the three bodies producing this phenomenon ; but an _ eclipse of the earth _ never takes place , as the shadow of the moon passes over the broad disc of our planet , merely as a dark spot . The inhabitants of the moon can always determine both their latitude and longitude , by observing the quarter of the heavens in which the earth is seen : and , as the sun invariably appears of the same altitude at their noon , the inhabitants are denominated and classed according to the length of their shadows ; and the terms _ long shadow _ , or _ short shadow _ , are common forms of national reproach among them , according to the relative position of the parties . I found the climate of those whose shadows are about the length of their own figure , the most agreeably to my own feelings , and most like that of my own country . Such are the most striking natural appearances on one side of this satellite . On the other there is some difference .