The huge planet is filled with color, and with the animation of constant movement, but there is no appearance of markings, like those on Mars, recalling the look of the earth.

There are no white polar caps, and no shadings that suggest the outlines of continents and oceans.

What every observer, even with the smallest telescope, perceives at once is a pair of strongly defined dark belts, one on either side of, and both parallel to, the planet's equator.

These belts are dark compared with the equatorial band between them and with the general surface of the planet toward the north and the south, but they are not of a gray or neutral shade.

On the contrary, they show decided, and, at times, brilliant colors, usually of a reddish tone.