Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1880-11-04
An EyEsrHa NTH SATURN.
The wonderful hinged Planet and
Hts Troupe of Satellites.


The planet Saturn, which was at its
nearest point to the earth on the 18TH
inst ia now in very favorable position
for observation. Shining with dull,
Ieaden color, in striking contrast with the
brilliant Jupiter and the scintiliating h&ed
stars, il Ia almost the last object in the sky
that one would expect to hnd interesting.
But Ia the telescope its whole aspect Is
changed, and 1t presents scene OF mar
yellous heauty. IL wouldn't have believed
that there was moh an object III the SLY,
il q remark that the owner of telescope
hears again and again when he shows his
friends Saturn's rings. There Is nothing
resembling hem Ia the whnle visible uni
verso. In truth, Saturns rings have been
great puzzle to the astronomers.
Mathematiciana have figured them
selves into the belief that IL IL
physical impossibillty for those
ripea TO exist Yet the RIGGS are there.
Theory after theory has been Invented to
account for them, yet the laws OF Their
being canuol be said to be understooi.
| When, in $50, Professor Bond discovered
tho wonderful Grape or Rauze ring inside
| Of the otbrrs-which il semi transparent,
80 that the body of the planet may be
seen through it-there WAS q great over
! turning OF old theories The notion that
| tho rings were solid WAS abandoned.
Some said th,y were liquid. Finally 1t
wa4 decided het they were cnmpoesd of
vast muffin de Of tiny satellites, travelling
around the planet close together and III
the same plane. IL there were inhabitants
llka u4 on these little worlds, they could
| look across and see into tho windows Of
| thu dweilofs upon neighboriug worlds
rh y might knock each others worlds to
pieces with 100 ton guns
Whether any one of the theorists about
Saturn's rings Is correct, nobody knows,
| but anybody with a three inch telescope
can sue the rings, graceful and perfect IL
outline, M bright ss polished gold. and
marked with delicate lines and standings.
| Tho two main rings together are about
10000 miles broad and only 30 miles
perhaps less-thiek.
Huygens, in 1863, had TO make a tele-
scope 40 feet long, after what was called
the erial pattern, with tue object glass
huig up on u tall pole, before he could
make out what the rings were, VII Itch orr
modern achromatics show so easily.
Calico, who studied them for
years, never found out that thoy were
rings. He made picture of them, az
they looked in his telescope like two little
globes on each side of larger globe.
After while they grew dim, aud presently
he could see them no longer. The thin
edge Of the rings was turned toward the
earth, as happens once in every Il
years. Calico was Ia despair. He
began to think that those who
had laughed at his discoveries were
right and that his telescope had really
been deceiving him all the time. Ht
knew the old myth about Saturn's devour.
ing his children, and he questioned
whether the sn.all planets that he had
seen had not been swallowed mp by the
large one. The rings wore repre-. entcd il
all sorts of queer shapes 10y subsequent
observers, but nobody seems to have
thought that they were rings until Huy
gems found il out, and even then his dis
oovery was learnedly disputed by those
who had less powerful telescopes.
Saturn il even more generously sup
piled with moons than Jupiter, having
eight. With good three aud half OF
four inch telescope, in good weather, FIVE
OF these moons can be seen. The tire,
smaller ones test the powers of the larges
telescopes.
Among the most attractive features o.
Saturn are the various shades of colo
exhibited on the pail aud the rings, anC
the shadows that they cast upon on,
another. The eye requires few evenings
practice to be able to discern these feature
readily. Then the planet aud the rings
with the little moons grouped about them
appear in the telescope with woLderfu
stereoscopic effect.