Physics college students participate in viewing of uncommon ‘ringless Saturn’ – Information

Galileo first seen Saturn’s signature rings in 1610, describing them then because the planet’s ears. But when he tried to view them once more in 1612, the rings have been gone.

“Has Saturn swallowed its children?” the well-known astronomer puzzled, alluding to the Roman god with the identical title who devoured his baby in worry he would overthrow him sooner or later.

What Galileo didn’t know was that each 13 to fifteen years, Saturn’s rings align completely with our line of sight from Earth, making them seemingly “disappear” — a phenomenon referred to as “ring plane crossing.” On a transparent moonlit night Wednesday, Assistant Professor of Physics Jason Ezell joined a bunch of professors and college students within the Academic Circle with three telescopes — together with a Dobson telescope roughly 10 toes in size — to see Saturn from the identical uncommon angle Galileo noticed it 513 years earlier.

“Thinking back to his time, everybody was telling Galileo he was just seeing things when he started reporting on the moons of Jupiter, sunspots and Saturn’s rings — which he called ‘ears’ the first time he saw them,” Ezell stated. “Then one day, they’re no longer there. It really bedeviled him, and he vowed to never look at Saturn again.”

When uncommon celestial occasions occur, Ezell can usually be discovered on campus with a bunch of scholars and lenses pointed to the skies. Most just lately — in April of 2024 — he hosted a gathering of greater than 300 Campbell college students for the massive photo voltaic eclipse. He crammed the stands at Barker-Lane Stadium seven years earlier for one more eclipse that he televised on the enormous scoreboard.

Junior biology pre-med main Noah Crews stated there’s nice academic worth in attending viewings with professors and fellow college students, as a result of they signify all that’s nice about physics.

“I believe physics is the best way to understand our universe,” Crews stated. “Physics is found in chemistry and in biology, and if you want to understand how it all works, you have to see it all through physics. Having events like this is a great way to showcase the program. You get to look up at the stars and see a ringless Saturn … and then you can learn why it’s happening.”