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. 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. What he saw resembled some little ears on either side of the planet, and he presumed they were globes. Yet, after a while, the white rings were discovered and have hold their position as the most spectacular scape in the solar system.

Who discovered saturn

The globe explanation given 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 referred to as 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 not solid or unitary but, consisting of small individual parts.

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? In conclusion, we have to admit that the discovery of the solar system has been in progress since we’ve started looking at the stars, and we are far from getting to the bottom. Every year seems to get 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?

Who discovered saturn

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 scientist who revealed and analyzed the pattern of the rings around this planet. Even so, 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 relevant. With every step we take towards knowing our universe, we claim one more victory in the exploration of the unknown.