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Who correctly identified Saturnās rings as a ring surrounding the planet?
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Saturn
Saturn and its spectacular rings, in a natural-color composite of 126 images taken by the Cassini spacecraft on October 6, 2004. The view is directed toward Saturn's southern hemisphere, which is tipped toward the Sun. Shadows cast by the rings are visible against the bluish northern hemisphere, while the planet's shadow is projected on the rings to the left.
The Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens is credited with correctly identifying that Saturn is surrounded by a ring.12
While Galileo first observed the planet in 1610, his telescope lacked the resolution to distinguish the ring, leading him to believe Saturn was a composite of three objects. In 1655, using a more advanced telescope, Huygens deduced the true shape of the ring and recognized that the ring plane was inclined relative to Saturnās orbit.12