Who Discovered Saturn
Who discovered Saturn? Was this planet known to the ancients or is it modern science that brought it to our attention? The truth is that in the antiquity people had a far better knowledge of the sky map than we have today, and it is possible that they were familiar with Saturn by means of primitive telescopes. In fact, Galileo is recognized as the scientist who discovered Saturn in 1610, as in his notes he even wrote a theory about the rings. According to his words, there were some little ears on either side of the planet, and he assumed they were globes. Yet, later on, the white rings were identified and have remained the most spectacular solar system formation ever since.
The globe explanation suggested by Galileo came into discussion because of a confusion he didn’t know how to understand. He was the astronomer who discovered Saturn, but at the same time he thought there were three planets, not one. The mystery of the rings was clarified in 1655 when Christiaan Huygens realized that what Galileo called globes were actually rings, buttheir 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 broken or discontinuous, consisting of fragments of different sizes.
Nowadays we are aware 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 is there more to discover?
Galileo as the person who discovered Saturn deserves all our respect and consideration, but he is not the only one. The probe which sent the first pictures from Saturn was called Cassini after the astronomer who understood and theorized the pattern of the rings around this planet. Yet, there are many other people who are currently taking part to space exploration projects; maybe their names are not written in history, but their contribution is just as great and important. With every step we take towards knowing our universe, we claim one more victory in the exploration of the unknown.
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