Born on February 15, 1564,
used a telescope to
explore the Solar System. In 1610, he became the
to be amazed
by Saturn's rings.
After nearly 400 years,
Saturn's magnificent rings
one of the most stunning astronomical sights. Uniquely bright
compared to the rings of the
other gas giants
Saturn's ring system is around 250,000 kilometers wide but in places only
a few tens of meters
thick. Modern astronomers believe
perhaps only a hundred million years
. But accumulating dust and dynamically interacting with
moons, the rings may eventually darken and sag toward
the gas giant, losing their lustre over the next
few hundred million years.
Since Galileo, astronomers have subjected
to intense scrutiny to unlock their secrets.
Still mesmerized, some will take advantage of next week's
(February 20th) favorable lunar occultation of Saturn
to search for evidence
of ring material outside the
of the ring system.
The presence of such a "lost" ring of Saturn was first
hinted at in reports
to the early 20th century.
Text: APOD Credit: HST