Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-08-12
The Planet That
Is So Light That It
Would Float on the Surface Of Our
Seas; the Weird Rings That Threaten
Ever to Fall Upon 1t; the Enciircling
Moons That Float Ever IN an

heavens, can hardly realize the endless
variety and beauty of celestial scenery Wis
lble from the planet Saturn. At least nine
satellites, possibly more, encrcle this planet
continuously and show all the different
phases that our moon presents to u.s. At
one and the same time may be seen crescent
moons and gibbous moons, new moons and
full moons, some dart rapidly across the
heavens, passing quickly from one phase to
the next, while others move slowly and
maJestically as does our own moon. The
nearest satellite makes its circuit of the
planet in less than one day. The outerma6t
requires one year and six months.
There is a great difference in the sizes Of
the satellites also. Phoebe, the farthest from
Saturn, is hardly 200 miles in diameter
Mimas the nearest, has diameter Of GOO
miles, while Titan, the largest of all, is the
size of the smallest of the planets, Mercury,
and measures 5000 miles through Another,
Japetus is almost exactly equal to our own
moon in size (2lO0 miles in diamcter).
Saturn receives at its surface only one
ninetieth as much light and heat from the
sun as the Earth receives, and unless its
surface is supplied with heat from hot
interior, it is a very cold place, indeed,
though Saturn is intensely hot within Just
how much, if any, light and heat is radiated
from the planet to its satellites astronomers
have no means of determining at present
1t is generally supposed that the planets
Jupiter and Saturn do not furnish their
satellites with any appreciate amount of
light and heat. They are believed to have
cooled beyond this stage
If this is so, life would be impossible upon
the satellites of Saturn, at least life as we
know it, for the intense cold prevailing at
such great distance from the sun and also
the scarcity of atmosphere always found in
connection with small bodies would prohibit
it. The small members of the solar system,
such as Mercury, Mars, the Moon and satel-
lites of Jupiter and Saturn, do not possess
a force Of gravity strong enough to per-
manently hold under control the atmos-
phcrlc gases so necessary to life. The satel-
lites of Saturn are probably like our moon,
cold and lfeless now, though there MAY
have been transitory stage, when Saturn
furnished them with light and heat and
when all their atmospheres had not departed,
in which life fourishcd for some ages
Far eclipsing the satellites as a scenic
feature, a magnificent arch is seen to span
the 'Saturnian heavens, shining by reflected
sunlight and composed of myriads Of dust
like particles. Each particle is tiny moon
let, making its journey around Saturn in ian
Independent path. Collectively they form
the famous rings of Saturn.
The rings assume constantly varying
angles of inclination with reference to the
Earth, because they lie practically in the
plane of Saturn S equator, which is tiltedto
the Earth's path at an angle of % degrees.
AS Saturn swings around the Sun, COM
pleting circuit once in Twenty-Five and a
half years, its axis always keeps parallel to
itself, as does the Earth S axis.
AS result we view the rings at all in.
clinations varying from zero to 90 degrees.
Twice during Saturn's revolution around
the Sun, or once i'll fifteen years, the plane
of the rings assumes an cdgewise position
with reference to the Earth, and the rings
entirely disappear from view for few
hours, even in the most powerful telescopes.