Abstract
THE ROTATION PERIODS OF TWO OF SATURN'S SATELLITES.—In the Bulletin (No. 64) of the Lowell Observatory Prof. Lowell and Mr. Slipher publish their observations in relation to two of the satellites of Saturn, namely, Mimas and Enceladus, which have led them to deduce that the revolutions and axial rotations of these bodies are synchronous. This investigation on the brilliancy of these satellites was carried out in December, 1913, and the first three months of the present year, and resulted in finding out that these bodies are of very unequal albedo in different parts of their apparent orbits, and the variations recur in situ showing that the satellites always turn the same face to their primary. Both the moons appear brightest near their westerrf elongations and faintest near their eastern. Their magnitudes and ranges are given as follows:—Mimas, 12.90 to 13.33; Enceladus, 12.33 to 12.67. Both these bodies are too small to show a disc, so their size has been inferred from their brilliancy relative to Tethys. Two figures accompany the text, in which the observations are plotted diagrammatic ally.
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Our Astronomical Column . Nature 94, 239–240 (1914). https://doi.org/10.1038/094239a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/094239a0