Richland beacon., 1873-08-02

Dpo ldlIltiY United
almost white, or tinged with purplis
hue.
Jupiter, under a powerful telescope
develops marvellous splendor of col
oring. The poles are of singularl
beautiful color, called by painters ultra
marine-ash and the spaces betwee,
the dark belts are of a rich. cream,
white. The dark belts display remar
kable gradatiOns of color Those near
est the poles are slate-colored farthe
on, tinge of red mingles with tn
gray this is succeeded by Q delicat.
chocolate while the belts on eithe
side of the equatorial bright zone de
velop garnet blending with the othe
hues. The great equatorial belt il
nearly white, but has recently presented
unusual variations of color, changins
from greenish yellow to bright ochreisl
yellow, and still more recently ASSUMING
all the tints of yellow from Roman
Orangc to yellow lake. The belts var,
greatly in number, form, and extent
while processes of disturbance are con
stantly going on. Immense riffs one,
in the vapOrous masses, black spot.
come into view, and all observation
seems to confirm the theory of the &C
tion of intense heat around the surfac.
OF the planet.
Saturn presents a view to the teles
cOpic observer more charming and i'm
pressive than that of Jupiter. His ring
system makes him the most interesting
of the planets, while his family of satei
lites raises him to the dignity of a sun.
His family of satellites is as large as
the suns family of planets, and his ring
is now considered to be composed OF
myriads of minute satellites circling in
INTERVENING orbits around their mighty
primary. The colors observed on Saturn
are as beautiful as those on the nearer
and larger planet, but his greater dis
tance makes them appear faint and
smooth instead of dark and rugged.
Saturn's ring is divided by a distance
of two thousand miles, the inner por-
ton being wider and brighter. Several
other divisions also occur in the ring
system, one of them dividing the outer
ring near the middle. But these di-
visions are not black, neither is the
great dark division, for when the
shadow of the planet falls across it
there is marked contrast between the
intense blackness of the shadow and
ee merely dark color of the division,
sh.ving that something besides empty
sPac> ac>occupies the division between the
rings. Within the inner ring lies the
aalk or rape ring. through which the
Dody OF tip planet can be seen present
ing the appearance of Grape yelling,
put not hiding the view. This portion
oi tne rlng-syltem is supposed to con-
sist also of minute satellites. more
wiaeiy separated than they are in the
bright rings, and it is between them
'hat we catch glimpses of the planet.
AT ordinary times the oniy colors
recognized on Saturn are the white of
the clOud-zOnes and the yellow of tho
belts. But on nights of except;onaIIv
favorable conditions those pale ooin:y
,hange into the most beautiful hues.
Mr.. Browning, the distinguished op-
'ician, has produced a beautiful re-
presentation of it as he saw it on one of
he rare nights which reward the as
ronomer for months of patient waiting.
He has represented the color of the
ings by yellow ochre, shaded with the
anne, and sepia the globe, yellow
'chre and brown madder, orange, and
,urple, shaded with sepia. The great
livision in the rings is sepia, and the
'ole and the narrow belts near it, pale
obalt-blue. Mr.. Browning's picture of
'aturn is the most beautiful one that
las ever been produced, but it gives No
dequate conception of the fascinating
'lanet; for all terrestrial colors are
nuddy and dingy when compared with
he tints that display the glory of the
)reator in the heavens. and show his
andiwork in the armament.
But the most important color-studies
re those connected with the observa-
lofis OF the spectroscope. For these
ring comparative certainty to specula-
n, and demonstrate the existence of |
queOus vapor and elementary SUBJ
tances, resembling or differing ffom
hose of the earth, on several of the
,lanets. As they shine by the rehecte
light of the sun, their spectra are tn
anne as the solar spectrum, and what
yer differences are perceived must
rise from the changes that sunlighr
hay undergo by reflection from thei-
urfaces, or by its passage through
heir atmospheres.
The spectra of the planets Venus,
lars, Jupiter, and Saturn, exhibit the |
lines peculiar to the solor |
ght, and also what are called absorp-
ion lines. These are evidence of the |
resence of an atmosphere containing |
queous vapor: The spectrum of Ju-
tier is not sufficiently brilliant to allow
bservations or measurements of ex-
'eme accuracy; for, although this
lAnet shines 80 brightly in the heavens,
g spectrum is fainter than that of
ar Of the second magnitude. Higgins
some dark lines in theSred
ortion of the spectrum, which were
OF coincident with any of the lines of
he solor spectrum, and one of these
oes not occur among the telluric or
bsorption lines. If Jupiter is. self
luminous, these lines may be occasioned
elements not existing in the sun, or
hich have not been revealed by any
feet Of absorption.
Saturn gives still fainter spect, ,um.
ut shows some of the lines characteris-
c of Jupiter's spectrum. These lines
q brighter in the ball than in the ring.
rowing that the ring suffers less ab-
'rption than the planet. Jannsen and
ecchi have proved, by repeated obser-
'tions taken on the high mountains of
ally and Greece, that aqueous vapor is
'obably present in both Jupiter and
turn. Lines have also been discov-
ed in the spectrum of Saturn which