Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-09-14
The PIanot sa,srp,

From Providence Journal.l
This interesting planet is now bril-
liant object in the evening sky, passing
below tie western horizon little beior,
midnight. 1t is situated in the constel
lation Scorpio and may be yegdill
known from its soft glow and pale yellow
hue. Il is the most interesting telescop
ic object in this heavens, with its triple
rings, eight moons, and tbe changing
colors which adoFn its surface. II has
special interest now for observers from
the fact that such is the position of the
rings with regard to the earth that they
appess ppen to their widest extent, in
manner which viii pot occur again fol
fifteen years.
As Saturn requires thirty years to som
plete one revolution around the sun, It's
path in the heavensis easily traced, foI
it remains two ysars and a half in one
constellation. During this revolution
the appearance OF the rings taxes on a
variety OF phases. The edges of the
ring are sometiB,as turned toward the
eagth, in seven or eight Yeas after they
ope. 10 their widest extent; then ssadn-
ally closing they take on Q new form
then they open agsin, and then closing
they become invisible. The rings have
now. as we have before said, reached
their period of greatest separation, and
tLp same opportunity for observation
will nos occur until 1886. The next
period of disappearance will take place
in 1879.
We made telescope observaiiop of
this interesting planet few weeks since,
on one of the clear nights which are the
delights of astronomers. The body of
the planet iaS shining like liquid gold
against the dark backgEogpd of the sky,
while the broad golden ciIciet o. The
yisgs threw its circling concave around
it in sasaper so bewitchingly lovely,
that we could eaiy give expression to
our admiration in eAeia,setions of
amazement and delight The telescope
thsosah which we looked was powerful
enough oaly 70 show the body of the
MA net, the dark spaee between, and one
bright ring. More powerful g,sssee give
a triple ring, as many Of the eight satel-
lilea as are visible at the iiflia and beau
tiful and e0ntrasted bands of colori.%.ss
on the disc of this planet. The coloring
of the disc, the nature and number of
the rings are now exciting great interest
among astronomers. Under ordinary
circumstances, the only colors which can
be recognized on Saturn are the white Of
the cloud-zones, and the yellow of the
belts. But under rare atmospheric con-
ditions, great variety OF eolors, dis
tinctly marked, can be seen. The poles,
and the narrow belts around them, are of
pale blue, the body Of the planet yel-
low, orange and purple, shaded with
brown; the rings yellow, Of various
shades, and the space between them Of a
dark brown. But" says an enthusias-
tic observer, mo description can give
any adequate idea of the ringed planet
in its full glory There il q muddiness
about terrestrial colors when compared
with objects seen in the heavens. These
colors could not be represented in all
their brilliancy and purity unless we
could dip our pencil in a rainbow, and
transfer the prismatic tints TO our pa
per"
But It is the ring system in Saturn
which makes the most impressive spec
tacle to the telescopist. II has long
been known that what we call Saturn
ring is divided into two concentric rings,
1000 miles apart, Of which the inner is
the wider aad brighter. Il has more re-
Gently been discovered that several
other divisions exist in the ring system;
that these divisions are not black, and
also that tho great dark division is not
black. The dark ring within the inner
bright one is nov considered a darker
part Of the ring system, and the curious
anomaly that whore it crosses Saturn,
the planet can be seen through il, is ac-
counted for BY an ingenions theory given
by writer in ST Panl Magazine. His
theory is, that the bright rings are CON-
posed Of myriads Of minute satellites
circling in intervening orbits around the
great center Of the SatuTnian system.