Abstract
SATURN.—This planet is now very favourably situated for telescopic study. The luminous rings are now only slightly inclined, as seen from the earth, and present but a small extent of surface and detail. The ball, however, with its various dusky bands and bright zones of different intensities, will furnish interesting features under high magnify ing powers. Occasionally, white spots and other irregularities are to be seen in the belts, and mark ings of this kind are important and should be utilised for redetermining the rotation period. Mr. W. F. Denning points out that Saturn is akin to Jupiter in presenting a number of surface currents which differ considerably in their relative velocities. In 1903 a number of light and dark spots became visible in the north temperate region of the planet, and these indicated a rotation period of 10 hours 37 minutes and 52 seconds.
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Our Astronomical Column. Nature 109, 318 (1922). https://doi.org/10.1038/109318a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/109318a0