The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1876-09-29
IN 4sTRoNoMIcAL Event.
Saturn, ,cith a NeighborTy THrI, Running
Do,rn TOtcdrd Oar Planet.

Saturn, tcith a NeiGHbOrfy Turn Running
Do,rIa T0tcdrd Oar 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 beau
tifuI scene which the telescope revealed
on that occasion On the third of Sep
TENDER there was another occultation by
the moon in the morning. On the TWEEN
ty-seventh of August Saturn was in OPP
position to the sun; that is, the sun, the
earth and the planet were in the same
line, the earth occupying the middle
place. 1t is somewhat remarkable that
all the occultations were on Sunday.
The use which the opposition of the
twentv-seventh will be made to serve is
to test certain conclusions deducted by
the French astronomer Trouvelot in a
memoir on the physical aspects of the
planet Saturn. This memoir was pub
Gshed. with illustrations, in Silliman's
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
dictate irreguIarity of structure; another
is that the thickness of the whole ring
system is increasing, and that the inne
ring is not entirely transparent, although
more nearly so than the planet. This
system of rings renders Saturn a unique
member of the planetary family; and rs
modern investigations tend somewhat TO
show that we have in it an evidence of
the truth of Leplace's hypothesis of the
original formation of our system, the
! importance attached to a careful obser-
walton of the latest opposition by as
tronomers may be readily appreciated.
Saturn is now only about 1872, 100000
miles from this earth, instead of S20,-
/ SOC, 600 miles, its greatest distance. 1t
is this difference of 1S3,OO0,00e miles
which makes the period of an opposition
50 important to the star gazers.
Saturn is the oldest of the worlds that
compose the known system Of the uni
verse He is sixth in the order Of dis
lance from the sun. When viewed
through strong telescope .his disc ar-
pears striped with dark belts, which,
from their parallelism to the equator OF
the planet, are believed by some scien-
lists to have been determined by cur
rents similar to our trade winds. lie l
attended by eight satellites who have
been since the beginning of time pune
tual and regular in their attendance.
| He is changable in character and never
presents the same appearance twice IN
succession. For this apparent eccentri-
city the astronomers give the reason
| that since the earth's mean distance
from the sun is 81 coo, 900 miles, Saturn
when in opposition to it, is distant 732,
600, 900 miles when nearest the sun, and
$50, 600, 600 miles when furthest from it.
As the plane of his rings is inclined to
the ecliptic. and maintains its parallel
isms during the revolution of the planet,
the angle under which it is presented TO
the sun is continually changing; the APP
pearances which it presents to the earth
are, therefore, also continually changing.
The ring i visible only when the sun
and the earth are on the same side of it,
but it becomes invisible when its plane
passes through the center Of the earth,
as well as when it passes through the
center of the sun. On this account,
says Sir John Herschel, two or three dis
appearances of the ring may happen in
a very short space of time. The dis
appearances take place about every IF
teen years, or half the time Of Saturu's
revolution in his orbit, and the two sides
of the ring have alternately fifteen years
of sunshine and fifteen years of darkness,
Saturn rises in opposition when the
sun sets, and may be readily found early
in the evening coming up in the south
east. 1t will be the prominent evening
star for some time to come, and after
ten O'Clock, when Jupiter sets, the only
visible planet during the night. The
star gazer can not mistake Saturn. He
has no bright neighbors, and if he had,
the lurid, dirty yellow light that he
sheds would alone be sufficient to mark
him.