Saturn

In Our Time: Science

BBC

History

4.5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 14 January 2016

⏱️ 47 minutes

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the planet Saturn with its rings of ice and rock and over 60 moons. In 1610, Galileo used an early telescope to observe Saturn, one of the brightest points in the night sky, but could not make sense of what he saw: perhaps two large moons on either side. When he looked a few years later, those supposed moons had disappeared. It was another forty years before Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens solved the mystery, realizing the moons were really a system of rings. Successive astronomers added more detail, with the greatest leaps forward in the last forty years. The Pioneer 11 spacecraft and two Voyager missions have flown by, sending back the first close-up images, and Cassini is still there, in orbit, confirming Saturn, with its rings and many moons, as one of the most intriguing and beautiful planets in our Solar System. With Carolin Crawford Public Astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy and Fellow of Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge Michele Dougherty Professor of Space Physics at Imperial College London And Andrew Coates Deputy Director in charge of the Solar System at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at UCL.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thank you for downloading this episode of In Our Time, for more details about in our time, and for our terms of use please go to BBC.co.uk.
0:08.0	UK.
0:09.0	I hope you enjoy the program.
0:11.0	Hello in 1610 Galileo using a rather primitive telescope observed Saturn one of the brightest points in the night sky.
0:18.0	He couldn't make sense of what he saw perhaps two large moons on either side.
0:22.0	When he looked a few years later those supposed moons in the night. or perhaps two large moons on either side?
0:22.6	When he looked a few years later,
0:23.8	those supposed moons had disappeared.
0:26.0	He was mystified.
0:27.4	It was another 40 years before the Dutch scientist
0:29.9	Christian Hygens solved the mystery. He realized that Galileo's moons were a system of rings.
0:36.5	Successive astronomers added more detail with the greatest leaps forward made in the last 40 years.
0:42.0	The Pioneer 11 spacecraft and two Voyager missions have flown
0:45.4	by sending back the first close-up images of Saturn and Cassini is still out there
0:50.2	in orbit confirming Saturn with its rings and many moons as one of the most
0:54.3	intriguing and beautiful planets in our solar system. With me to discuss Saturn now,
0:58.4	Carolyn Crawford, public astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy and Fellow of
1:03.4	Emmanuel College University of Cambridge.
1:05.4	Michelle Doherty, Professor of Space Physics at Imperial College London,
1:10.2	and Andrew Coates, deputy director in Charge of the Solar System at the
1:14.1	Mallard Space Science Laboratory at UCL. The latter two are working closely on the
1:19.0	Cassini Space Mission which is still out there.
	...

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