How Was Saturn Discovered – Was It A Lucky Break?
12.27.2009 in Uncategorized by Author
Who discovered Saturn? Did the ancients know this planet or is modern science its first analyst? 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 notes he even wrote a theory about the rings. What he saw resembled some little ears on each side of the planet, and he thought they were globes. Yet, later on, the white rings were discovered and have hold their position as the most spectacular solar system formation ever since. Click over here for additional information relating to astrology horoscope .
The globe explanation made by Galileo started from a confusion he didn’t know how to understand. 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 made the discovery that what Galileo called globes were actually rings, butnobody could tell what they were made of until some twenty years later Domenico Cassini had a revelation. He was the one to begin 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 bring something new for us to discover: 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 can find more worthwhile information on zodiac dates 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 astronomer 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 known to history, but their contribution is just as great and relevant. With every step we take towards knowing our universe, we claim one more victory in the exploration of the unknown.