from the editor
Saturn : Lord of the Rings
““ The moon is up The sky is black I will sail away and will not come back The sun goes down The stars will rise And dance across The darkened skies The sun goes down The moon comes up ”
— Excerpt from by “ Moon is Up ” by the Rolling Stones by Marcelo de Oliveira Souza
The Lord of the Rings . Cronus in ancient Greece . Saturn to the Romans . Galileo Galilei , in 1610 , was the first to report an observation of Saturn with the use of a telescope . He visualized bulges around the planet . He couldn ’ t make out the rings . Christiaan Huygens , Dutch scientist , in 1655 observed Saturn ’ s largest moon , Titan . That same year he observed the rings . In 1656 he presented in Paris the results of his observation . He published in 1659 “ Systema Saturnium ” where he presents data concerning the phases and changes in the shape of Saturn ’ s rings . Giovanni Domenico Cassini discovered the moons Iapetus , Rhea , Tethys and Dione . He noticed in 1675 the existence of a flaw in the rings . This failure was later called the Cassini Division . He proposed that the rings were composed of a large number of small bodies . Today we know in more detail the structure of the rings . There are more flaws , such as the Encke division ... It ’ s not the only planet with rings . The planets Jupiter , Uranus and Neptune also have rings . However , they are very tenuous . Saturn ’ s rings are composed , as imagined by Cassini , of small particles of ice and rock ( dust ), of varying sizes . Currently , with data obtained by spacecrafts and modern optical instruments , we have
a lot of information about the planet Saturn and its moons , but there is still a lot to be discovered . Saturn , in my opinion , is the most beautiful of the planets . Whenever I look at it with the help of the telescope , I remember something that happened many years ago . At that time , I was with friends , carrying out public observations . A girl approached to observe at the telescope . Well ... she stayed for a long time and didn ’ t want to withdraw . We waited for a long time , then we realized she was crying !!! She was thrilled . What was she watching ? Saturn !!! She saw how beautiful nature is . That same day , we had another surprise . When we were about to leave , a man — who seemed to have drunk a lot of alcoholic drinks — watched through the telescope . When he learned that he was watching Saturn , he came out screaming that he had watched farther than Galileo . These are some of the stories that I experienced and that were repeated with great frequency . Many young people felt that interest in scientific research was awakened by participating in astronomy clubs . Astronomy makes it possible for us not to lose our childhood curiosity and not let our dreams disappear . The dream of many people to be able to get closer to the stars we observe , has helped our civilization . The development of new technologies with the objective of making space conquest possible has given rise to equipment that has helped us in our day-to-day life . Humanity tries to fulfill its dream of knowing the mysteries of the Universe . Using ships as an extension of our senses , we try to touch the stars . In our dreams we see ourselves , as in the Rolling Stones music , sailing across the sky . In this edition of Sky ’ s Up we have fantastic articles !!! I wish you to take a pleasant trip around the Universe while reading the magazine . Clear skies for everyone !!!
n n n Marcelo de Oliveira Souza is a physicist with a Master of Science in Physics ( General Relativity ) at the Universidade Federal Fluminense and a Doctor of Science in Physics ( Cosmology ) at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro . Since 2004 , he has been a professor at the Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense and since 2006 he has been the Louis Cruls Astronomy Club General Coordinator . In Brazil , he is the Astronomers Without Borders National Coordinator , the UNAWE program national Coordinator and the Mission X - Lead . He is the author of “ Um Passeio pelo Céu ,” and , from 2005 until 2013 , he presented and wrote the script of the weekly TV program “ Um Passeio pelo Céu ” about astronomy and astronautics .
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