PLANETARY CHANGES
TWO NEW MOONS. SATURN'S RINGS MAY COLLAPSE. BY TELEOEArn—rEESS ASSOCIATION—COrTMGHT. New York, November 11. Profossor P. Lowell, of Arizona, telegraphs that, owing to condensation, two of Saturn's rings have the appearance of being about to fall upon the planet. Professor Salisbury suggests that two moons aro forming. ■ , Satnm is next to Jupiter in size, and is much superior in beauty. To the nalced eye, Saturn appears as a brilliant star, but when Galileo first saw it through a telescope it appeared to him to be composed of three bodies in a lino, a central globe, with a small one on each side. Huyghens, in ICGS, first showed that in reality Saturn was surrounded by a series of rings. Of these there are throe, the inner one very faint,' the outer one divided with two by a dark line. Those rings are supposed to be enormous shoals of minute bodies revolving round the planet, and rendering it perhaps the most marvellous of all the' heavenly bodies. The Earth has ono moon, Mars two, and Jupiter four. Saturn, however, has quite a number of satellites, the tenth having been discovered quite recently. Saturn's rings and- satellites have provided some very interesting problems for astronomers to solve. One of these, problems is whether these rings can coalesce into globes, and it is suggested in the above cablegram that two of Saturn's rings are being transformed into moons. This ring system has long boon discussed by scientists in connection with the various theories of nebular development. Kirkwood wrote in 1884 that' "planets and comets have not been formed from rings, but rings from planets and comets," aud Miss Agnes Clerko, in her interesting book on "Modern Cosmogonies," states:—"lf tho ninth Saturnian moon.is to be regarded as sprung from. the condensing mass of the planet, the total change in the state of the parent body must have supervened during the long interval between its separation and that of its successor lapetns. Tho change, in Professor W. 11. Pickering's opinion, was nothing less than a reversal of the axial movement. The nebulous spheroid destined to develop into the wonderful Saturnian system had, presumably, when Phcobo became detached from it, a diameter of 10,000,000 miles, and gyrated tranquilly from east to west in a period of about a year and a half. But the action of snn-raised tides availed first to destroy and finally to invert this movement; for the natural outcome of tidal friction is synchronism, and this implies agreement, both in poriod and direction, oet'wcen the rotation and rovolution of tho body acted upon. Acceleration through contraction did the' rest, and by tho time another satellite, was reany to separate the originating globe span normally in 79 days, tho total revolutionary period of lapetns. The view that such was the course of events is plausible at first. sight, yet tho .doubt remains whether the causo alleged was adequate to the effect produced." ' Professor Lowell is the American astronomer who is a special authority on Mars, and who has told the world so much of the artificial waterways' on that' planet. It was stated some time ago that he had gone to Arizona as being the most favourable place on tho .globo to observe Mars, also that "the atmosphere at this high elevation is very clear and still, and definition is enormously improved. Mr. Lowell's equipment is perfectly adapted for his purpose, and the results obtained hy him should bo tho very best possible." Professor Lowell has also been identified with expeditions to and observations from the Andes; and from his observatory at Flagstaff (Arizona) has sent forth quite a number of highly interesting messages. . "The world," said the "Daily Mail,", in July, "is waiting anxiously for the news from' Flagstaff and tho Andes. The news may revolutionise our conception of ■ the cosmos." Professor Douglas, another eminent astronomer, has thrown serious doubts on Professor Lowell's theories as to tho canals on Mars.
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Bibliographic details
Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 42, 13 November 1907, Page 7
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658PLANETARY CHANGES Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 42, 13 November 1907, Page 7
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