one o'clock
This Copernicus forms the most important of the radiating system , situated in the southern hemisphere , according to Tycho Brahe . It rises isolated like a gigantic lighthouse on that portion of the `` Sea of Clouds , '' which is bounded by the `` Sea of Tempests , '' thus lighting by its splendid rays two oceans at a time . It was a sight without an equal , those long luminous trains , so dazzling in the full moon , and which , passing the boundary chain on the north , extends to the `` Sea of Rains . '' At one o'clock of the terrestrial morning , the projectile , like a balloon borne into space , overlooked the top of this superb mount . Barbicane could recognize perfectly its chief features . Copernicus is comprised in the series of ringed mountains of the first order , in the division of great circles . Like Kepler and Aristarchus , which overlook the `` Ocean of Tempests , '' sometimes it appeared like a brilliant point through the cloudy light , and was taken for a volcano in activity .