What are the Moons of Saturn?
Saturn, the second-largest planet in the Solar System and the sixth most distant from Sun, possesses sixty confirmed moons, only three less than its neighbor, the kingly Jupiter. Seven of these moons are large enough to be roughly spherical, having achieved hydrostatic equilibrium, and would be considered dwarf planets if they were in orbit around the Sun. These moons are Titan, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus, Mimas, and Enceladus. Five of Saturn’s moons were discovered within the first century of the invention of the telescope. Titan was the first to be discovered, by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens in 1655. This discovery was followed by the observation of Tethys, Dione, Rhea, and Iapetus between 1671 and 1684 by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini. A probe which arrived at the Saturnian system in 2004 was named Cassini in his honor. In 1789 Mimas and Enceladus, the remaining spheroid moons, were discovered by William Hershel. Since then, 53 additional moons have been disco
Saturn, the second-largest planet in the Solar System and the sixth most distant from Sun, possesses sixty confirmed moons, only three less than its neighbor, the kingly Jupiter. Seven of these moons are large enough to be roughly spherical, having achieved hydrostatic equilibrium, and would be considered dwarf planets if they were in orbit around the Sun. These moons are Titan, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Iapetus, Mimas, and Enceladus. Five of Saturn’s moons were discovered within the first century of the invention of the telescope. Titan was the first to be discovered, by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens in 1655. This discovery was followed by the observation of Tethys, Dione, Rhea, and Iapetus between 1671 and 1684 by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini. A probe which arrived at the Saturnian system in 2004 was named Cassini in his honor. In 1789 Mimas and Enceladus, the remaining spheroid moons, were discovered by William Hershel. Since then, 53 additional moons have been dis
