Giovanni Cassini

Giovanni Cassini was born June 18th, 1625 in Perinado, Italy. When he was young, he was interested in astrology (study of influences of stars and planets on human life), and that got his first job at the Penzano Observatory. During his life, he worked as an astronomer at the Penzano Observatory, a professor of astronomy at the University of Bologna, director of the Paris observatory, and an astrologer/astronomer for the court of Louis the XIV.

Giovanni achieved many things in his life. In 1665, he determined the rotation periods of Jupiter and Mars by looking at Jupiter’s great red spot. He discovered four of Saturn’s moons: Iapetus (Year 1671), Rhea (Year 1672), Tethys (Year 1684), and Dione (Year 1684).

In 1675, He was one of the first to observe the polar caps of Mars. In addition, he discovered that Saturn’s rings are separated into two parts by a gap, which is now called “The Cassini Division”. His Co-worker, Ole Roemer, also used some of Giovanni’s work to calculate the velocity of light.

Giovanni Cassini had many things named after him, some of these include:

·        Cassini – Huygens Mission to Saturn

·        The Cassini Division in Saturn’s rings

·        Cassini crater on Mars

·        Cassini crater on the Moon

·        Cassini’s Laws

·        24101, an asteroid

Giovanni’s son, grand-son, and great grand-son all followed him as directors of the Paris Observatory. In 1711 Cassini became blind, and died on September 14, 1712 in Paris.

http://www.astronomy-for-kids-online.com/giovanni-cassini-biography.html  http://messier.obspm.fr/xtra/Bios/cassini.html