st as mystifying to-day as they were in
the time of Herschel. There is probably no single telescopic view that
can compare in the power to excite wonder with that of Saturn when the
ring system is not so widely opened but that both poles of the planet
project beyond it. One returns to it again and again with unflagging
interest, and the beauty of the spectacle quite matches its singularity.
When Saturn is in view the owner of a telescope may become a recruiting
officer for astronomy by simply inviting his friends to gaze at the
wonderful planet. The silvery color of the ball, delicately chased with
half-visible shadings, merging one into another from the bright
equatorial band to the bluish polar caps; the grand arch of the rings,
sweeping across the planet with a perceptible edging of shadow; their
sudden disappearance close to the margin of the ball, where they go
behind it and fall straightway into night; the manifest contrast of
brightness, if not of color, between the two principal rings; the fine
curve of the black line marking the 1,600-mile gap between their
edges--these are some of the elements of a picture that can never fade
from the memory of any one who has once beheld it in its full glory.

[Illustration: SATURN SEEN WITH A FIVE-INCH TELESCOPE.]

Saturn's moons are by no means so interesting to watch as are those of
Jupiter. Even the effect of their surprising number (raised to nine by
Professor Pickering's discovery in 1899 of a new one which is almost at
the limit of visibility, and was found only with the aid of photography)
is lost, because most of them are too faint to be seen with ordinary
telescopes, or, if seen, to make any notable impression upon the eye.
The two largest--Titan and Japetus--are easily found, and Titan is
conspicuous, but they give none of that sense of companionship and
obedience to a central authority which strikes even the careless
observer of Jupiter's system. This is owing partly to their more
deliberate movements and partly to the inclination of the plane of their
orbits, which seldom lies edgewise toward the earth.

[Illustration: POLAR VIEW OF SATURN'S SYSTEM.

The orbits of the five nearest satellites are shown. The dotted line
outside the rings shows Roche's limit.]

But the charm of the peerless rings is abiding, and the interest of the
spectator is heightened by recalling what science has recently
established as to their composition. It is marvelous to think, while