Jan

31

Saturn by Alan J Stutts

Filed Under Miscellaneous 

Hello, my name is Alan Stutts, I have studied planet Saturn for many years. Here is what I would like to share with you.

The dominant gas in Saturn’s atmosphere is hydrogen, but small amounts of helium and methane are also present. If we were to think about the possibility of life developing on this planet similarly to Earth’s life conditions, we have to admit that it is very unlikely. Saturn has a lower density than water; thus, were there a lake or ocean, Saturn would be floating in it. The possibility to sustain life has not been excluded in reference to Saturn’s satellites, though, but studies are in progress, and until we have more conclusive data, all remains pure speculation.

The globe explanation given by Galileo started from a confusion he didn’t know how to explain. He was the person who discovered Saturn, but at the same time he thought there were three planets, not one. The mystery of the rings was clarified in 1655 when Christiaan Huygens realized that what Galileo called globes were actually rings, but their structure became apparent twenty years later with the discovery made by Giovanni Domenico Cassini. He was the one to launch the theory that Saturn’s rings were broken or discontinuous, consisting of small individual parts.

Presently we know that the rings consist of ice, rocks and other interplanetary debris, which only proves that the early theories were right. Who discovered Saturn then? A fair conclusion is that this part of our solar system gradually revealed itself to our eyes, but the discovery is not by far complete. Every year seems to bring something new for us to discover: thus, more than forty of Saturn’s moons have become known, some of them with potential conditions to sustain life. Thus the question is not about who discovered Saturn, but what is there more to discover?

Author Alan Stutts

Please do not copy this article without approval by Alan Stutts


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