The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-05-23
THE Ri Gs o g S RN'' J.
n w ARE COMPOSED a BILLIONS III IONS,
or LITTLE MOONS. sS
-heyc Satellites IRE So Numerous
That, rs- F'ror, Counting TIL r1.'
we Cannot Even See Them sepE-
rutc1y-One of Natures Marrcl"

q. y
The next to the largest world IN Or
solar system possesses billions OF moons.
There can be no doubt that the lutnbe
is literally billions They are 50 nj
,,,aru,,s that. far from counting them.
we cannot even see them; separately.
Thry are 50 crowded and at the same
time so far away from Us that their
LIGHT is irextricaby interminSled. and
the vast multitude looks. even in n
nowerfui telescope, like il frosted sur
face of silver.
These i.Inurncrabie moons are coffee
lively designated in astronomical text
books as SaturE's rings. Eut the Woru
rings" is misleading, as IS the APP
DcarlIce of the objects to which the
word is applied. They are not SOLID.
connected rings, although they look SO.
They are little moons. arranged in
concrete circles. Individually they
may be no larger than m2tcors tSu'
there is no particular size that moon
must have before it is entitled to be
called I. moon. 1t is only necessary
that it shall revolve regularly as q
satellite around its master planet.
Our moon is comparatively large
body large enough for respectable
planet If it were independent of the
III
that matter has moons still larger
,lau ours. Mars, on the other hand,
has only two very small moons. 80
size is no criterion of >moonship.
The larger moons of Saturn revolve
around it at Il greater distance than
that of the rings. The latter are rel:i'
lively close to the planet. and in tHH'
fact we have a clcw to their origin
that is to say, their nearness to tEE
planet explains why they are SO sinai
and so numerous. 1t can be pioFeo
that our big moon would be broken IN
to numberless fragments if it revolTed
within about II 900 miles of the earth
surface Then we, too. should have
rings of little moons about us in place
of the single large moon that travels
alone its monthly round.
In Saturn's crowd Of moons things
happen that are characteristic of all
crowds. They pull and haul one an
other though perhaps always keeping
at arms length. They vacillate and
lurch and WAIVER to and fro. They col
lect into jams. though probably with
out much actual touching or claS'1ln2
together and the crowd grows thinner
in some places. while thicker in others.
Great waves of connection run through
this vast moon horde as through flock
of hurrying sheep.
And yet. upon the whole. they are an
orderly assemb1aGc. They never pause
IN their onward movement along their
fixed path about Saturn The vaGarieS
OF individuals do not affect the genera.
forward movement any more than the
dropping out and in of StraGglcrs or he
sta Ggering of unsteady marchers stays
the advance of an army. 1t is tie
<a<nJI
pauy governed by single compellin.
principle of action. IN many respects
it is the strangest thing in the whole
visible universe. Nobody would ever
have dreamed of the existence of such
a thing if telescopes had not revealed II
Marrow. empty spaces divide this GU
rious host into three or four separate
legions.
Inasmuch as these billions of littl'.
bodies are not separately visible from
the earth. the question may naturally
be asked: tHow do YOU know that they
| exist? How can you tell that the rings
of Saturn are not solidE'
There are two ways in which we
know and can tell. In the first place. the
law of gravItation assures us that Solid
rings could not exist in such situ;.
| ton. | have mentioned before what
would happen TO the eartn 5 moon IL IL
| came near enough to our globe to rec!
the effects Of the gigantic tidal forces
| to which 4 close approach would SUB
| iect it. Mathematical calculation has
| proved that Saturn's rings could MOI
even be liquid bodies without being
| broken up into numberlesS separate
| particles.
In the second place, the spectroscon"
| has shown that the rings travel around
| Saturn with = speed that gradually in
| crcases from their outer to their inner
| edges. How the spectroScope is able
| to give us this information is one of III"
most surprising stories i'll astronomy.
| but it would take too much space 10
| tell it now. All that we need to say
| here is that the SpectroscOpe shows U!-
| mistakably that the rings of saturn
| move in such Il way as only mult-
| tude of separate, independent bodies.
| travelling side by side in the same di-
| rcction, could move. The nearer they
| are to Saturn the faster they go, and
| accordingly If one could stand on tE"
| surface of Saturn and look up ut the
| circles of moons over his head he WCu."
| see the nearer ones racing past their
| next outer nci@hbors and those in t;!li!
| outStrippng their more distant COM
oanionS, and SO on to the OutcrmoSt li!ll-
= ~, f,,1