The System of Saturn

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will be seized with wonder, once they have seen Saturn surrounded by a ring original: "annulo circundatum" — This is the first definitive claim in history that the "arms" or "ears" seen by earlier astronomers were actually a detached ring. and encircled as if by a crown? And they will marvel that this is the very shape which, though it remains perpetually the same, nonetheless assumes various appearances Huygens is explaining that while the ring itself doesn't change, our perspective of it from Earth changes, which explains why earlier astronomers were so confused by Saturn's shifting shape., and has stubbornly frustrated the conjectures of astronomers until now. Nor would it have reached the ears of all as something any less new and unexpected—that a certain planet original: "Planetã" — In this era, the term "planet" was often used for what we now call moons or satellites. never seen before has been discovered in the sky—had the Medicean stars original: "stellæ Mediceæ" — The four largest moons of Jupiter, discovered by Galileo and named in honor of the Medici family, Prince Leopold's ancestors. not already taken away the charm of novelty. But as for this companion of our Saturn, the longer it lay hidden, and the greater the effort required to bring it down to Earth Huygens uses "bringing it down to Earth" as a metaphor for making the distant visible through his superior telescopes., the more we must rejoice in its discovery. Indeed, this one body, which was missing until now, finally completes the assembly of the wandering stars and brings their number to twelve; I almost dare to assert that a greater number than this will not be found hereafter. Huygens believed in a "system of the world" based on numerological harmony. At this time, there were 6 known planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) and 6 known moons (the Moon, the 4 Medicean moons of Jupiter, and Huygens' new discovery, Titan), totaling 12. Certainly, these satellites are now equal in number to those greater and primary bodies, among which this Earth must be placed.