Saturn is one of the five planets visible without a telescope. Many cultures have developed myths to explain its presence in the night sky.
Greeks and Romans
The ancient Romans named the planet Saturn after a powerful god. According to their legends, Saturn's mother was Gaia. Gaia is the Greek word for Mother Earth. She gave birth to six children. Saturn was the youngest. Their father Chronos was cruel. Saturn chased him away with a long blade called a scythe. Then Saturn became the king of the universe.
Saturn and his wife, Rhea, had a son named Jupiter. Just as Saturn had chased away his father, Jupiter chased away Saturn. The ancient Roman legends say he fled to what is now Italy. There he ruled, bringing peace and prosperity. In his honor, the Romans held a festival every December called "Saturnalia." During this time, businesses were closed, armies couldn't start wars, and masters served their slaves. The seventh day of the week, Saturday, is named after Saturn.
Saturn's largest moons are named after the Titans. In Greek mythology, the Titans were the children of Gaia. The moon Rhea is named after Saturn's wife.
Babylonians
To the ancient Babylonians, Saturn was called Ninib. He was a god who controlled agriculture.
Egyptians
The Egyptians saw Saturn as Horus, Bull of Heaven. They depicted him as a man with bull's horns.
Chinese
The ancient Chinese called Saturn the Exorcist, and the Quelling Star.
Discoveries and Theories
Saturn is the farthest planet from Earth that can be seen without a telescope. Early observers, however, couldn't see its rings.
To the ancient Greeks, Saturn, along with the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, were the "planetes." That's the Greek word for "wanderers." The wanderers were the only objects that moved across the sky at different speeds and in different paths than the stars.
1610 - Galileo Galilei is the first to look at Saturn through a telescope. He sees "bodies" on either side of it, which he thinks are two more planets. Two years later, these bodies disappear. Galileo has no satisfactory explanation for what happened to the bodies. Thinking about the Roman myths, he wonders if Saturn has "eaten its own children."
1655 - Christian Huygens, using an improved telescope, finally figures out that Galileo's "bodies" are a flat ring around the planet. When the ring is seen edge-on, it seems to disappear. He also discovers the moon Titan.
1675 - Jean Dominique Cassini discovers a gap in Saturn's ring. Until this point, astronomers had thought there was only one solid ring.1838 - German astronomer Johann Franz Encke finds a division in the A-ring, which becomes known as the Encke Division.
1848 - Edouard Roche comes up with a mathematical theory called Roche's Limit. This theory explains why Saturn's rings stay in the form of rings, instead of clumping together to form small moons.
1859 - James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish physicist, says that the rings of Saturn must be made of small particles, not one solid piece. A single, solid ring would break apart under Saturn's gravity.
1895 - James Edward Keeler measures the motion of Saturn and its rings. He shows that the inner rings move faster than the outer rings. This proves Maxwell right - the rings are made of particles that move separately.
1932 - German astronomer Rupert Wildt discovers that the atmosphere of Saturn contains ammonia and methane.
1979 - The NASA space probe Pioneer 11 flies within 12,000 miles (22,000 km) of Saturn. It also flies by nine of Saturn's moons. The spacecraft sends back images that show the two outer rings. It also gives scientists new information about Saturn's climate, atmosphere, and magnetic field.1980 - Voyager 1 passes Saturn. It finds strange clumps in some rings, rope-like braids in the F-ring, and spokes in the B-ring.1981 - After a four-year journey, Voyager 2 flies by Saturn, coming within 63,000 miles (101,000 km). Voyager 2 uses improved instruments to study the planet up close. New rings show up in the images, and Voyager 2 discovers more moons, including Phoebe.1990 - The Hubble Space Telescope discovers Pan, the 18th moon of Saturn.
1997 - The European Space Agency spacecraft Cassini will reach Saturn in the 21st century. It will break into two parts. A probe, called Huygens will land on Titan, Saturn's most interesting moon. The probe will take pictures and perform tests as it drops through the atmosphere. It will continue to send information once on the surface. The other half of Cassini is an orbiting vehicle. It will send back information on Saturn, its rings, and its moons for four years.
