Christiaan Huygens: Saturn's Moon Titan

Christiaan Huygens was a Dutch scientist and mathematician born in 1629. Huygens was known for his work with early studies of the rings of Saturn and later the discovery of Saturn’s moon Titan. Huygens would grind his own lenses for his telescope and invented what is now known as the Huygenian eyepiece. He was also known for his work as a physicist, probabilist, and horologist. Placing two plano lenses in a telescope, separated by an air gap, creates the Huygenian eyepiece. The lenses should have the plane sides facing the eye. These eyepieces are best used in long focal length telescopes. These lenses are no longer used today but during Huygens’ time, they were innovative. Huygens and his brother Constantijin created their
own lenses. Huygens made discoveries in optics and astronomy, which helped him to improve on existing telescope designs. He created some of the best lenses of the time. Huygens used a telescope of his design to observe the rings of Saturn and later discover Titan. Huygens theorized that Saturn’s rings were solid. Others had observed Saturn and commented on its oblong shape but Huygens, with his improved telescope, was able to discern that the oblong shape was actually created by Saturn’s rings. While observing Saturn Huygens also discovered a moon orbiting the planet, which he named Titan. When NASA sent the Cassini probe to Saturn they also sent the Huygens probe to land on Titan. When the probe landed on Titan it was discovered that Titan is the most likely candidate for extraterrestrial life in our universe. At the end of his life, Huygens wrote a paper called the Cosmotheoros, which speculated on extraterrestrial life and what would be needed to sustain it. He did not fully understand what was needed to support life at the time so today his writings are seen as more fantasy than science but he did state that water is a necessity for life. He thought that the dark and light spots on Jupiter and Mars were water and ice on the planets. Huygens took a religious view on extraterrestrials and believed that God did not place those other planets in the universe simply to be observed by Earth, there must be other beings on those planets. He also believed that the planets were placed so far away because he never intended for their inhabitants to meet (Huygens, 1762). The probe Huygens landed on Titan in 2005.
It was attached to the Cassini probe that orbited Saturn until 2017. Huygens was the first and only probe to ever land on Titan. The probe discovered what looked like pebbles of water ice, which was covered in a haze of methane around the landing site. The video from the landing showed large bodies of liquid, which were later determined to be hydrocarbon by the Cassini probe. It was speculated that the surface is made up of sand like material made of ice or now. The temperature at the landing sight was determined to be about -290 degrees Fahrenheit. The Huygens probe discovered a lot of new data and information about Titan that has since been
analyzed. The Cassini probe was sent to orbit Saturn in 1997. It orbited Saturn for 13 years. The probe taught scientists a lot about Saturn and its moons. The data is still being analyzed. One surprise discovery was that Saturn’s moon Enceladus might have a salt-water ocean under its crust. It was discovered that the moon spews water vapor out of its poles. This discovery led to mission changes so that Cassini would fly-by Enceladus more to gather more data. During these fly-bys, it was determined that there may be hydrothermal vents on Enceladus. These vents could give life to organisms. Cassini also learned about Saturn’s rings, which are not solid as Christiaan Huygens thought.
The probe sent back information about the composition of the rings as well as images. Through the images it can be seen that these rings are not smooth, in fact, there are spots where huge clumps stick out. Along with information about Saturn’s rings, Cassini observed the huge jet stream that occupies Saturn’s north pole. It was discovered that there is a huge hurricane at the center of this jet stream. The hurricane has an eye that is about 50 times larger than any hurricane on Earth (Kohler, 2015). During its final orbits around the planet, Cassini got close to this storm and there is hope that more data will reveal more about this anomaly. During the mission, 7 moons were discovered orbiting Saturn, some of which are in the rings. Getting a spacecraft so close to this far out planet led to many discoveries that have both confirmed and debunked some commonly believed theories. It has led scientists to rethink what they know about this area of
space. Christiaan Huygens initial discoveries were a precursor to this historic mission. Most importantly he discovered Titan, the moon on which the probe named after him landed. His initial observation led to this landing and the discovery of Titan’s atmospheric and surface composition as well as the theory that Titan may be habitable by an organism that needs methane the same way Earth-based organisms need water. This would disprove his theory that all living things need water. The Cassini probe observed the rings that Huygens observed through his home made telescope. He thought that these rings were a solid mass but the Cassini probe shows that they are made up of pieces of ice, rock, and dirt. The fact that the rings are not solid is not a new discovery but Cassini sent back more data than was had previously. Moons and other masses were also discovered in between the rings that were previously unseen. Huygens’ inventiveness with telescopes revolutionized the design of the lens, which led to better telescopes, which could see more than their predecessors. Without his innovations he would never have made his observations in the field of astronomy and others that followed him may not have been able to make their own discoveries without the better optics of the lenses he created. His discoveries in all fields started conversations and led to further observations and discoveries. The Cassini-Huygens mission has brought forth many new discoveries and changed our view of Saturn and its moons. The potential for life was discovered, new moons were found, and close up observations were made. This mission is revolutionary and has sparked interest in going back to this little area of the universe. Without Huygens and his discoveries this mission may not have happened the way it did, it may not have happened at all. It is important to continue to explore space and learn more about our universe.