Saturn

Saturn has long been a fovorite of astronomers because of its rings. In the early 1600's however, Saturn was a great mystery.

Galileo's first attempt at observing Saturn led him to the belief that Saturn was really a conglomerate of 3 planets. One large center with two smaller lateral bodies. It wass not until several years later that Galileo realized that Saturn was really surround by rings, not planets.

There are two major problems with observing Saturn. The most important being Saturn's distance and brightness. Saturn is very faint and very far away, which makes observation with our replica telescopes very difficult. It is easy to locate the assumed position of Saturn. In the Spring of 1995, it follows Venus very closely, and is visible at approximately the same times. Weather, once again, made viewing Saturn very difficult.

Here are some very useful links for images and other information:

• The Nine Planets
• Nine Planets Image Archive
• Dan's Home Page

J. C. Kneale

Galileo || Bibliography || Sunpots || Orion & Pleiades || Moon || Saturn || Jupiter || Venus || Mars || Telescope

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