Saturn's Rings


(YouTube link)

Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy Blog explains Saturn's rings. You can't see the rings with the naked eye, but you can see Saturn.
To the unaided eye, Saturn doesn’t look like much. It appears to be just another "star" — brighter than most, but still just starlike. In fact, you can see for yourself: over the next few days, go outside right after sunset and look west. You’ll see two of these "stars" very close together. One is Mars, the other Saturn. It’s hard to tell which is which: from a few hundred million kilometers away, Saturn’s signature rings are invisible with just your eye.

Bad Astronomy Blog has a new home at Discover Magazine. Link

I remember reading a sci-fi short story when I was a human about highly sophisticated aliens approaching Earthians about renting Jupiter to place a massive advertisement on it for passing spacecraft to see.

The twist being that the humans figured that if they need to advertise then they must have a competitor and "just wait until they see Saturn and her rings" or some such.

Anyone remember who wrote that?
Abusive comment hidden. (Show it anyway.)
Login to comment.
Click here to access all of this post's 10 comments




Email This Post to a Friend
"Saturn's Rings"

Separate multiple emails with a comma. Limit 5.

 

Success! Your email has been sent!

close window
X

This website uses cookies.

This website uses cookies to improve user experience. By using this website you consent to all cookies in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

I agree
 
Learn More