Half-hours with the Telescope - Being a Popular Guide to the Use of the Telescope as a - Means of Amusement and Instruction. by Richard Anthony Proctor
page 92 of 115 (80%)
page 92 of 115 (80%)
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light, they would appear, in general, as very long ellipses. The orbit
of the fourth would frequently be seen to be _quite clear_ of Jupiter's disc, and the orbit of the third might in some very exceptional instances pass _just_ clear of the disc. The satellites move most nearly in a straight line (apparently) when Jupiter comes to opposition in the beginning of February or August, and they appear to depart most from rectilinear motion when opposition occurs in the beginning of May and November. At these epochs the fourth satellite may be seen to pass above and below Jupiter's disc at a distance equal to about one-sixth of the disc's radius. The shadows do not travel in the same apparent paths as the satellites themselves across the disc, but (in an inverting telescope) _below_ from August to January, and _above_ from February to July. We come now to the most charming telescopic object in the heavens--the planet Saturn. Inferior only to Jupiter in mass and volume, this planet surpasses him in the magnificence of his system. Seen in a telescope of adequate power, Saturn is an object of surpassing loveliness. He must be an unimaginative man who can see Saturn for the first time in such a telescope, without a feeling of awe and amazement. If there is any object in the heavens--I except not even the Sun--calculated to impress one with a sense of the wisdom and omnipotence of the Creator it is this. "His fashioning hand" is indeed visible throughout space, but in Saturn's system it is most impressively manifest. Saturn, to be satisfactorily seen, requires a much more powerful telescope than Jupiter. A good 2-inch telescope will do much, however, in exhibiting his rings and belts. I have never seen him satisfactorily myself with such an aperture, but Mr. Grover has not only seen the |
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