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. In fact, Galileo is recognized as the scientist who discovered Saturn in 1610, since in his descriptions he even gave an explanation for the rings. According to his words, there were some little ears on each side of the planet, and he assumed they were globes. Yet, after a while, the white rings were discovered and have hold their position as the most spectacular solar system formation ever since. Click over here for extra information on star sign compatibility .
The globe explanation made by Galileo started from a confusion he didn’t know how to explain. He was the astronomer 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, but their structure became apparent twenty years later with the discovery made by Giovanni Domenico Cassini. He was the one to begin the theory that Saturn’s rings were not solid or unitary but, consisting of small individual parts.
Presently we are aware that the rings consist of ice, rocks and other interplanetary matter, which only contributes to underlying the truth of the early theories. 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: thus, more than forty of Saturn’s moons have become known, some of them with potential conditions to sustain life. Thus the question is not about who discovered Saturn, but what is there more to discover? You will acquire complimentary info on zodiac signs compatibility here.
Galileo as the person who discovered Saturn deserves all our respect and consideration, but he is not the only one. The spacecraft which captured the the close image of Saturn for the first time was called Cassini after the astronomer who revealed and analyzed the pattern of the rings around this planet. Even so, there are many other people who are currently taking part to space exploration projects; maybe their names are not known to history, but their effort 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.
Tags: astrology, planet, solar system