SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT OF SATURN

Italy
End of the XIX Century
h 67 cm

SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENT OF SATURN

Italy
End of the XIX Century
h 67 cm
Demonstration model of the planet Saturn with its rings for the simulation of the orbiting rings around the celestial body. Provenance: Private collection. References: Musée des Arts et des Métiers in Paris. Unique in the world, this demonstration model of the planet Saturn and its rings was made in Italy at the end of the 19th Century. The book “Le sens de la visite” (1997), by Jean-Claude Carrière and Michel Séméniako, talks about a rare scientific instrument invented by engineer and builder Weyhler at the end of the 19th century as part of his research on terrestrial magnetism and various natural phenomena. Currently held in the Musée des Arts et des Métiers in Paris, this specimen is the only one having elements in common with the astronomical mechanism here presented. A brass plate with the inscription "Demonstration model of Saturn and its rings" explains the origin and function of our mechanical device characterized by an excellent and solid manufacture. By turning a handle, it created an air vortex able to wave a thin strip of paper, representing the rings of the gas giant. Foreshadowing the most recent astronomical discoveries, the constructor of this incredible scientific instrument had understood very well the physics of the celestial body: wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 kilometers per hour and are the second fastest among the Solar System's planets. Well known since most ancient times, many centuries before the invention of the telescope, Saturn is one of the five planets of our Solar System visible to the naked eye. The distinctive feature of this gas giant is represented by its fascinating ring system, composed of dust, ice, and other small rocks orbiting around it and forming a flat disk. Of unknown origin, the rings of Saturn were discovered in 1655 by Dutch mathematician Christiaan Huygens. However, the first astronomer to observe its peculiar form was Galileo in 1610, discovering four of its satellites. But, due to the low power of his telescope, the Italian scientist could not clearly distinguish the structure of the planet. He wrote to the Duke of Tuscany that ‘Saturn is not alone but is composed of three’ and described the rings as Saturn's "ears". The name Saturn derives from the archaic Roman deity of agriculture, a figure corresponding to that of Kronos, Titan of Time of the pre-Olympic Greek mythology. Also known as “the Lord of the Rings”, Saturn has often been cited by some of the most important literary authors of all time: Dante Alighieri in the Divine Comedy, particularly in the XXI Canto of Paradiso, Voltaire in the tale Micromégas (1752) and Jules Verne in Off on a Comet (1877). In the 20th Century, when modern science confirmed that Saturn is actually a planet without solid surface and with an atmosphere hostile to life, the attention of literary and cinematographic science-fiction authors shifted to its moons that became the scenario of the narration. In Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn (1958), Isaac Asimov extensively cites the rings of Saturn, setting the sequel of the story on its satellites Mimas and Titan. In the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), by Arthur C. Clarke, the narration ends on the Saturnian moon Iapetus, unlike the 1968 homonymous film by Stanley Kubrick and the sequel of the book, set on the Jupiter system. Finally, among the most recent film productions, we cannot fail to mention Christopher Nolan's masterpiece, Interstellar (2014), in which the protagonists reach a wormhole near the orbit of Saturn before undertaking a trip into a black hole.