1
00:00:07,430 --> 00:00:04,230
what's up for march

2
00:00:09,669 --> 00:00:07,440
saturn the jewel of the solar system

3
00:00:11,830 --> 00:00:09,679
hello and welcome i'm jane houston jones

4
00:00:14,150 --> 00:00:11,840
from nasa's jet propulsion laboratory in

5
00:00:16,230 --> 00:00:14,160
pasadena california

6
00:00:18,470 --> 00:00:16,240
during 2009 we're celebrating

7
00:00:20,230 --> 00:00:18,480
international year of astronomy by

8
00:00:22,950 --> 00:00:20,240
taking you on a tour of one of the

9
00:00:24,950 --> 00:00:22,960
month's best celestial objects and this

10
00:00:27,189 --> 00:00:24,960
month it's saturn

11
00:00:29,910 --> 00:00:27,199
when galileo aimed his telescopes at

12
00:00:31,429 --> 00:00:29,920
saturn in 1610 he wasn't sure what he

13
00:00:33,190 --> 00:00:31,439
was seeing

14
00:00:36,310 --> 00:00:33,200
he thought the rings were handles or

15
00:00:38,790 --> 00:00:36,320
large moons on either side of the planet

16
00:00:41,110 --> 00:00:38,800
a few years later in 1612 he was

17
00:00:42,950 --> 00:00:41,120
astounded that the handles he previously

18
00:00:46,709 --> 00:00:42,960
observed had disappeared

19
00:00:48,790 --> 00:00:46,719
and in 1616 the handles were back

20
00:00:50,869 --> 00:00:48,800
but they looked different

21
00:00:54,310 --> 00:00:50,879
this time he saw two half circles on

22
00:00:56,069 --> 00:00:54,320
either side of the round globe of saturn

23
00:00:59,189 --> 00:00:56,079
other observers added to the knowledge

24
00:01:01,590 --> 00:00:59,199
of the saturn system in the 1600s

25
00:01:03,830 --> 00:01:01,600
christian huygens observed that every 14

26
00:01:07,830 --> 00:01:03,840
to 15 years earth passes through the

27
00:01:12,310 --> 00:01:09,910
and they appear to disappear

28
00:01:14,390 --> 00:01:12,320
this is the same view that galileo saw

29
00:01:17,190 --> 00:01:14,400
half a century earlier

30
00:01:19,429 --> 00:01:17,200
giovanni cassini discovered new moons of

31
00:01:21,350 --> 00:01:19,439
saturn during the ring plane crossings

32
00:01:24,469 --> 00:01:21,360
of 1671

33
00:01:26,710 --> 00:01:24,479
and again in 1684 and he was the first

34
00:01:28,950 --> 00:01:26,720
to see a gap in the rings which was

35
00:01:30,310 --> 00:01:28,960
later named the cassini division in his

36
00:01:32,870 --> 00:01:30,320
honor

37
00:01:35,350 --> 00:01:32,880
300 years later our fascination with the

38
00:01:37,830 --> 00:01:35,360
saturn system grew with the flybys of

39
00:01:39,910 --> 00:01:37,840
voyager 1 and 2.

40
00:01:45,109 --> 00:01:39,920
voyager discovered a new outer ring

41
00:01:45,119 --> 00:01:49,030
spokes in the b ring

42
00:01:53,350 --> 00:01:51,590
and braiding on the f ring

43
00:01:56,870 --> 00:01:53,360
the f ring had just been discovered the

44
00:01:59,429 --> 00:01:56,880
year before by the pioneer 11 spacecraft

45
00:02:01,109 --> 00:01:59,439
new moons ringlets and gaps between

46
00:02:05,190 --> 00:02:01,119
saturn's rings were just some of the

47
00:02:08,630 --> 00:02:06,789
the cassini spacecraft has been

48
00:02:11,350 --> 00:02:08,640
returning amazing results from the

49
00:02:12,630 --> 00:02:11,360
saturn system for almost five years

50
00:02:16,390 --> 00:02:12,640
it's in the middle of a two-year

51
00:02:20,229 --> 00:02:18,070
one of the mission highlights was the

52
00:02:23,670 --> 00:02:20,239
landing of the huygens probe on saturn's

53
00:02:27,830 --> 00:02:25,589
geyser spewing water ice through vents

54
00:02:30,150 --> 00:02:27,840
on the moon enceladus remind us of the

55
00:02:31,990 --> 00:02:30,160
old faithful geyser on earth

56
00:02:34,630 --> 00:02:32,000
this summer for the first time ever

57
00:02:37,270 --> 00:02:34,640
telescopes on earth and a spacecraft at

58
00:02:39,110 --> 00:02:37,280
saturn will both view saturn's rings as

59
00:02:40,869 --> 00:02:39,120
they seem to disappear

60
00:02:42,309 --> 00:02:40,879
cassini will have a bird's eye view of

61
00:02:44,070 --> 00:02:42,319
this event

62
00:02:46,309 --> 00:02:44,080
this month don't miss venus in the

63
00:02:48,390 --> 00:02:46,319
western sky right at sunset while you

64
00:02:49,670 --> 00:02:48,400
wait a few hours for saturn to rise in

65
00:02:52,070 --> 00:02:49,680
the east

66
00:02:53,910 --> 00:02:52,080
saturn will be worth the wait it always

67
00:02:55,350 --> 00:02:53,920
looks more impressive when it's higher

68
00:02:57,030 --> 00:02:55,360
in the sky

69
00:02:58,869 --> 00:02:57,040
you can read more about saturn this

70
00:03:03,990 --> 00:02:58,879
month on nasa's international year of

71
00:03:09,589 --> 00:03:06,070
you can learn all about nasa's missions