Connecticut western news., 1876-09-08
AN ASTRONOMICAL EVENT.
Saturn, with n NelGhbCrly Turn, Runnin g
 Down Toward Our Planet.

Down Toward Our Planet.
 On the sixth of August there was an occultation of the planet Saturn by the moon, and unusual interest was excited among astronomers by reason of the beautiful scene which the telescope re- vealed on that occasion. On the third of September there was another occulta- tion by the moon in the morning. On the twenty y-seventh of August Saturn was in opposition to tue sun; that is, the sun, the earth and the planet were in the same line, the earth occupying the middle place. It is somewhat re- markable that all the occultations were on Sunday.
 The use which the opposition of the twenty-seventh will be made to serve is to test certain conclusions deducted by the French astronomer Trouvelot in memoir on the physical aspects of the planet Saturn. This memoir was pub lished, with illustrations, in &llimaon's 8 Journal. One of these conclusions was that the inner margin of Saturn's outer ring has for several years shown jagged forms near the handles, which would in- dicate irregularity of structure; another is that the thickness of the whole ring system is increasing, and that the inner ring is not entirely transparent, all though more nearly so than the planet. This system of rings renders Saturn & unique member of the planetary family; '; and as modern investigations tend some what to show, that we have in it an evi- dence of the truth of Leplace's hypoth- esis of the original formation of our system, the importance attached to a careful observation of the latest opposi- tion by astronomers may be readily ap- preciated.
 Saturn is now only about 732, 900, GOO miles from this earth, instead of 829, 500, 900 miles, it's greatest distance. It is this difference of 183. 100000 miles which makes the period of an opposi- tion so important to the star gazers.
 Saturn is the oldest of tue worlds that compose the known system of the uni verse. He is sixth in the order of dis. tance from the sun. When viewed through strong telescope his disc ap pears striped with dark belts, which, from their parallelism to the equator oi the planet, arc believel by some scien lists to have been determined by cur rents similar to our trade winds. He is attended by eight satellites, who have been since the beginning of time pune tual and regular in their attendance He is changeable in character and never presents the same appearance twice II succession. For this apparent eccen tricity the astronomers give the re:so1 that since the earth's mean distance from the sun is 91 ,OOO, GOO miles, Saturn when in opposition to it, is distant 732, GOO, 900 miles when nearest the sun, ant $50, ,0OO,0 900 miles when furthest from it the ecliptic, and maintains it's parallel isms during the revolution of the planet the angle under which it is presented to the sun is continually changing; tn appearances which it presents to tn earth are, therefore, also continual, changing.
 The ring is visible only when the SUI and the earth are on the same side of it but it becomes invisible when its plan
 passes through the center of the earth as we'll as when it passes through tn center of the sun. On this account says Sir John Herschel, two or thre
 disappearances of the ring may happel ill a very short space of time. The dis appearances take place about every fiji
 teen years, or half the time of Saturn
 revolution in his orbit, and the tw
 sides of the ring have alternately fifteel years of sunshine and fifteen years c
 darkness.
 Saturn rises in opposition when tn sun sets, and may be readily found earl
 in tue evening coming up in the soutt
 east. It wlll be the prominent evenin star for some time to come, and after te o'clock, when Jupiter sets, the onl visible planet during the night. Tn star gazer cannot mistake Saturn. H has no bright neighbors, and if h
 had, the lurid. dirty yellow light tht he sheds would alone be sufficient 1, mark him,