Fig. 295 shows a phase of the ring intermediate between the last two.
When the planet has moved ninety degrees farther, we again see the ring at an angle of twenty-seven degrees; but now it is the lower or southern side which is visible. When it has moved ninety degrees farther, the edge of the ring is again turned towards the earth and sun.
Fig. 296.
The successive phases of Saturn's ring during a complete revolution are shown in Fig. 296.
It will be seen that there are two opposite points of Saturn's orbit in which the rings are turned edgewise to us, and two points half-way between the former in which the ring is seen at its maximum inclination of about twenty-seven degrees. Since the planet performs a revolution in twenty-nine years and a half, these phases occur at average intervals of about seven years and four months.
Fig. 297.
