Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-26
WHAT Is THE MATTER
The Great White Region on the Rings
OF Saturn.

From the New York sun.
High up in the southern heavens on any fair
evening in April. may be seen half dozen
stars remarkable for being arranged in the
form Of large sickle standing upright on its
handle, with the opening of the curved blade
turned toward the west. These stars mark the
head and breast of the Lion. one of the constel-
lations of the Zodiac. West of this figure of a
sickle the most careless observer cannot fail
to notice a star brighter than any of those in
the Lion, but shining with a light steadier
then theirs. 1t is the planet Saturn. a globe
belonging, like the earth, to the dominion Of
the sun, but more than seven hundred times as
large as the earth, and surrounded by system
OF fat rings suspended odgewise one within an
other over Its equator. and extending in their
extreme diameter nearly 10000 miles from
side to side. The astronomer who Is fortunate,
enough 10 possess powerful telescope. can
not lind in all the heavens "A more attractive
phenomenon to exhibit TO his friends than
Saturn Is, when its beltcd and delicately tinted
globe shows sharp aud clear through "A serene
atmosphere, and the giant rings sweep round
It with every line and marking on their sur
faces distinctly visible. All those who have
seen this spectacle with the Lick telescope
unite IN declaring that its majesty and beauty
are beyond the reach of description
1t was formerly thought that Saturn might
be an inhabited world, and readers of good old
Thomas Dick works will recall how interest,"
ingly he expatiatcd upon the - lenders of such
an abode, even going so far as 10 calculate
he probable number OF inhabitants dwelling
upon both the globe and the rings of the planet,
His census of the Saturnians exhibited a total
mounting far up III the billions But modern
astronomers think that Saturn. like the still
more gigantic Jupiter. Is not in a condition TO
support inhabitants. although IL is POSSIBLE that
In the remote future it may become sufficiently
faEaC laAsN .Nr-Wa q. H.. -
then life may swarm upon its surface ANY,
body who wishes TO speculate upon that possi-
bility, however. should keep in mind the fact
that on account of its great distance each
square mile of the surface of Saturn gets only
one-elghtleth or ninetieth part of the amount
of light and heat from the sun that similar
area ON the earth gets
But 1t does not require the presence of life
upon Saturn or Jupiter TO invest those globes
with the hvellest interest, since. if they arc
actually in formative condition with their
real planetary history still before them Wa
can behold, IN watching them. something OF
those unknown processes of creation bv which
the world VIC dwell upon was shaped IL IL
from this point of view that a recent Announce
ment concerning Saturn. sent from the obser-
vatory OF DIR. lerby at Louvain 10 astronomers
all over the world, awakened curiosity DR.
Terby announced that hc had seen a white region
on the rings against the shadow of the planet.
Ii should be said that the shadow of Saturn living
across the rings where they pass behind il can
be plainly seen with telescopes. and IL was i'm
this shadow that DIR. Terby saw the white
region. 1t is only when we come TO con-
slider the enormous scale of the phenone-
non that IT begins to stir our interest
Many thousands OF square miles of the sur
face OF the rings must have been Illuminated
by the strange light in order that the eject
should be visible from the earth. of course
many telescopes were quickly pointed upon the
rlnged planet on the receipt of DIR. Terby's an
nouncement, and several observers irnmedi-
atcly saw the light on the rings. Some of them
describe 1t only as a slight whitening at the
border OF the shadow, and suggest that it may
have been merely an effect of contrast. This
explanation. however. will not suffice for the
more definite observations Of others who evil
IDENTIFY saw the phenomenon under more favor
able circumstances. Mr.. Brooks, of Geneva,
has seen II repeatedly and saws il exhibits pulsa-
tions of light lat irregular intervals, ranging
from two to seven minutes"
Having been seen on many successive nights
and at or near the same spot. it is evidently
more than mere passing phenomenon, al
though it Is probable, judging from the his
tory of former apparitlons of a somewhat simi-
lar character, that it will not be of long dura-
ton. But since Saturn rota:es on It's axis ia
about ten hours, and the rings revolve around
the planet with great speed, the persistence of
the light in certain definite locality opposite
the night side of the planet becomes a most
puzzling fact. IL il has its origin on the
rings, then it ought TO revolve with them m
stSdu Oh III one place while thew
whirl under ii, like a beam OF sunlight living
across a running belt. 1t would be easier TO
understand how the light could be a reflection
upon the rings from the globe. as Prof Lewis
Swift has suggested, if the globe did not rotate
on its axis. In that case the Imagination
might reasonably picture il as the reflection of
some stupendous volcanic outburst or con-
Migration on Saturn.
Whatever it may be, the thing is there and
If the astronomers cannot explain it. il is not
on that account to be ignored Like the mys-
FERROUS red spot which broke out on Jupiter in
1873, and which is still visible and still unac-
counted for, ii is another proof of the tremen-
dous scale on which changes are taking place
on the larger planets of the solar system. Our
little earth has all but completed its geological
development, and having become a compare
lively inert mass, is stripped of the splendor
that once marked il as a star. Upon the hard
ened surface of this extinguished globe man
has appeared in his turn. and deigns TO admire
its beautiful adaptation to his needs. But the
advent of man, and the whole career of the
earth that bears him. is of intinitesimal ac-
count in the physical history Of the solar sys-
TEN. The really great planets of that system, IL
recent discoveries are rightly interpreted, may
not reach the life-bearing stage Of their exis-
tence until long after the now busy earth has
become as silent as its desolste and abandoned
satellite, the moon.