November
2009
Observing Saturn - How Did It Happen?
Who discovered Saturn? Was this planet known to the ancients or is it modern science that brought it to our attention? To be honest, in the old times people were better informed on the movement of the stars than we are today, and the presence of Saturn must have been noticed even with primitive telescopes. Most often, Galileo is widely known as the scientist who discovered Saturn in 1610, as in his descriptions he even wrote a theory about the rings. What he saw resembled some little ears on either side of the planet, and he thought they were globes. Yet, later on, the white rings were discovered and have remained the most spectacular solar system formation ever since. Click over here for more info on star sign compatibility .
The analysis of the globes given by Galileo came into discussion because of a confusion he didn’t know how to explain. He was the person who discovered Saturn, but the thing is that he considered to have seen three planets instead of one. The mystery of the rings was clarified in 1655 when Christiaan Huygens realized that what Galileo referred to as globes were actually rings, but their structure became apparent twenty years later with the discovery made by Giovanni Domenico Cassini. He was the one to launch the theory that Saturn’s rings were broken or discontinuous, consisting of fragments of different sizes.
Nowadays we know that the rings are made of ice, rocks and other interplanetary remains, which only proves that the early theories were right. Who discovered Saturn then? A fair conclusion is that this part of our solar system gradually revealed itself to our eyes, but the discovery is not by far complete. Every year seems to get something new for us to explore: and even if more than forty satellites have been discovered around Saturn, more remain hidden to our eyes for now. Thus the question is not about who discovered Saturn, but what surprises are there in stock for us? You will find more worthwhile info on zodiac love matches here.
The tribute paid to Galileo as the person who discovered Saturn is obvious, but he was not the only one. The probe which sent the first pictures from Saturn was called Cassini after the scientist who revealed and analyzed the pattern of the rings around this planet. Yet, thousands of people unknown to the public are presently involved in space programs; maybe their names are not written in history, but their contribution is just as great and important. With every space conquest, there is one other step in the direction of learning more about the universe.