If he had sat in mission control alongside the scientists in
charge of the Cassini spacecraft when it made its climactic
entry into Saturn's orbit, Galileo Galilei would have been
astonished. When he discovered the planet in 1610, looking
through his primitive telescope, Galileo perceived Saturn's
rings as two large moons, which he described as "handles,"
flanking the planet. He was baffled two years later when these
moons seemed to disappear. (In fact, Saturn was then at a
different tilt relative to Earth, and Galileo could not make
out the thin edge of the rings.) In this interactive, explore
how Cassini is helping to answer fundamental questions about
Saturn's rings, and marvel at close-up imagery that Galileo
could never have imagined. To launch the
interactive, click on the image at left.—Susan K. Lewis
