Harry had spent a most delightful evening looking through Uncle Robert's
telescope at the little moons of Jupiter, and he also had seen the planet
Saturn, with its rings and moons. Next evening when his sister came to
talk with him he had many questions to ask her. First of all he wanted
to know what the rings were made of.
[Illustration: THE RINGED PLANET SATURN.]
"Millions of little moons," replied his sister. "I wish you could see
Saturn and its rings through the great telescope at the Lick Observatory.
It makes such a pretty picture. Like Jupiter, the planet Saturn is
surrounded by clouds; but they are tinted with blue at the poles, yellow
elsewhere, and dotted here and there with brown; purple, and red spots.
Around the center is a creamy white belt. Then, there are eight moons
that accompany Saturn in its journey around the sun; but they give very
little light to the planet, since if they could all be full together
they would give but a sixteenth part of the light we receive from the
moon."
"Why is that?" asked Harry.