In the case of
Jupiter we find that the outermost or fourth attendant moon is only
1,040,000 miles from that planet, while the distance between Uranus and its
sixth satellite (if the latter really exist) amounts to as much as 1,360,000
miles. If we compare, in each of these subordinate systems, the volume of
the satellite, we discover the existence of entirely new numerical
relations. The distances of the outermost satellites of Uranus, Saturn, and
Jupiter are when expressed in semi-diameters of the main planets, as 91, 64,
and 27. The outermost satellite of Saturn appears, therefore, to be removed
only about one fifteenth further from the center of that planet than our
moon is from the Earth. The first or innermost of Saturn's satellites is
nearer to its central body than any other of the secondary planets, and
presents, moreover, the only instance of a period of revolution of less than
twenty-four hours. Its distance from the center of Saturn may, according to
M??dler and Wilhelm Beer, be expressed as 2.47 semi-diameters of that
planet, or as 80,088 miles. Its distance from the surface of the main
planet is therefore 47,480 miles, and from the outer-most edge of the ring
only 4916 miles. The traveler may form to himself an estimate of the
smallness of this amount by remembering the statement of an enterprising
navigator, Captain Beechey, that he had in three years passed over 72,800
miles.
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