Posted on 04/29/2025 12:38:16 PM PDT by MtnClimber
Explanation: Where are Saturn's ears? Galileo is credited, in 1610, as the first person to see Saturn's rings. Testing out Lipperhey's recently co-invented telescope, Galileo did not know what they were and so called them "ears". The mystery deepened in 1612, when Saturn's ears mysteriously disappeared. Today we know exactly what happened: from the perspective of the Earth, Saturn's rings had become too thin to see. The same drama plays out every 15 years because Saturn, like Earth, undergoes tilt-driven seasons. This means that as Saturn goes around the Sun, its equator and rings can tilt noticeably toward the Sun and inner Solar System, making them easily visible, but from other orbital locations will appear almost not at all. The featured picture from Brasilia, Brazil shows a modern version of this sequence: the top ring-dominated image was taken in 2020, while the bottom ring-obscure image taken earlier in 2025.
For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.
Wow.
🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔
“Elon Musk stole the rings!”
— Democrat
Interesting!
For the past few years, I’ve noticed that the rings were becoming harder to see, or so it seemed to me.
Crazy that the rings are that condensed in the “vertical” plane. Wild gravitational stuff.
Dad led the team that built the RTG power plants ("Radioisotope Thermal Generator") that powered both Voyager spacecraft (initially named "Mariner Jupiter Saturn"). His power plants are still powering the spacecraft today, almost 50 years later!
Voyager 1 took its first high-resolution fly-by images of Saturn on November 12, 1980, during its closest approach to the planet at 77,000 miles. The spacecraft began capturing detailed images of Saturn, its rings, and moons as early as August 1980, with the highest-resolution images obtained during the November fly-by. Voyager 2 followed with its fly-by on August 25, 1981.
Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are both still operating, though with significantly reduced functionality due to their age and diminishing power supplies.
Voyager 2 obtained the following high-resolution picture of Saturn's rings Aug. 22, 1981, when the spacecraft was 2.5 million miles away. Evident here are the numerous "spoke" features, in the B-ring; their very sharp, narrow appearance suggests short formation times. Scientists think electromagnetic forces are responsible in some way for these features, but no detailed theory has been worked out. Pictures such as this and analyses of Voyager 2's spoke movies may reveal more clues about the origins of these complex structures.
That was awesome. I used to rush home from work and watch the Saturn flyby on TV for hours! So amazing.
When Galileo first looked at Saturn thru his new telescope, all he could see were bulges on each side of the disk.
He didn’t know what to make of it. Years later he looked again and saw that the bulges were disappearing, and eventually disappeared and then they would come back after a while.
He was shocked!
Saturn is the Roman name for Greek mythological god Cronos, not to be confused with Chronos, Father Time.
In Greek mythology, Cronus, the ruling Titan of the Golden Age, ate his children to prevent a prophecy from coming true, which foretold that one of his children would overthrow him.
So, it appeared to Galileo that the myth was true!..............
Since I first saw them, I have always thought that the photographs of Saturn’s rings were among the most spectacular photos ever taken.
Wow, I’m sure you are very proud of what your Dad accomplished. What a legacy!
Same here. Saturn is quite the jewel in the solar system.
I wish there was a planet called “Mianus”
We forget that the planets tilt.
Nice! Wasn’t that thrilling?
I was studying to be a mechanical engineer at the time, so we had great conversations about his work. On another satellite project, he took me to his work to observe the shake tests of the satellite payload with folded solar panels. They would sweep through all the frequencies the payload would be subjected to on launch. When the hit the resonate frequency of the folded solar panels, they began flapping like bird wings in flight! It really made the theoretical stuff I was studying in school be real.
That is so cool….
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