FIGURE OF XHE PLANET SATURV, 7 



The (liadow of the ring on the body, which I fee fouUi ofobfervations on 



the ring, grows a litLle broader on both fides near the margin Snturn, by 



,- , ^'.° ° which its fingu- 



Ot Ihedilk. lar figure is af- 



The diviiion between the two rings is dark, lilce the vacant ccrtained. 

 fpace, between the anfiE, but not black like the fhadow I have 

 <Iefcribed. 



There are four fyteJIiles on the preceding fide near the ring; 

 ^he largeil and anotber are north-preceding; the other two 

 are nearly preceding. 



April J 9. I viewed the planet Saturn with a new 7 -feet 

 telefcope, bolh mirrors of which aie very perfeiS. I faw all 

 the phenomena as defcribed lait night, except the fatellites, 

 which had changed their Situation ; tour of them being on the 

 following fide. This telefcope however is not equal to the 

 lO-feel one. 



The remarkable figure of Saturn admits of no doubt : when 

 our particular attention is once drawn to an objed, we fee 

 things at firft fight that would otherwife have clcaped our 

 notice. 



10-feet refleftor, power 4'00. The night is beautifully , 

 clear, and the i)!anet near the meridian. The figure of Saturn 

 is fomewhat like a fquare or rather parellelogram, with the 

 <our corners rounded off deeply, but not fo much as to bring 

 it to a fpheroid. I fee it in pcifc'6tion. 



The four falellites that were lall night on the preceding, 

 are now on the Ibllowing fide, and are very bright. 



I took a meal'ure of the poiition of the four points of the 

 greateft curvature, and found it yf 29'. l^his gives their 

 latitude ^b" W,5. I believe this meafure to be pretty ac- 

 curate. I fet firft the fixed thread to one of the lines, by keep- 

 iiig the north-preceding and fouth-tbllowing two points in the 

 thread ; then adjufted the other thread in the fame manner to 

 the fouth-preceding and north-following points. 



May 5, 1805. I directed my 2()-feet telefcope to Saturn, 

 and, with a power of about 300, faw the planet perfedly well 

 defined, the evening being remarkably clear. The Ihadow of 

 the ring on the body is quite black. All the other phenomena 

 are very diftinfl. 



The figure of the planet is certainly not fpheroidical, like^ 

 that of Mars and Jupiter. The curvature is lefs on the equator 



and 



