Tag Archives: Saturn

Saturn’s Rings older than we thought

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One of the oldest mysteries in modern astronomy is the age of Saturn’s Rings. The Cassini mission seemed to have settled the question once and for all, but now a team of researchers have just claimed that things might not be so clear-cut. Cassini showed that the rings were mostly made up of clean ice particles. There wasn’t much of the dust and organic gunk you’d expect to accumulate over time. This meant that the rings couldn’t have been around … Continue reading →

Saturn

Urban Astronomer avatarPosted on by

Saturn is the last of the Classical Planets, those bright wandering stars which our distant ancestors thousands of years ago tried to explain with stories of gods and heroes.  As the most distant of the five, it moves the slowest, shining with a dusty beige light.  The Greeks and Romans recognised it as the leader of the Titans by its stately motion and it’s unassuming appearance. Mythology Saturn was the Roman name for Cronus, who was one of the Titans … Continue reading →