Sidera Lodoicea

Sidera Lodoicea - Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Iapetus Similar to Gallileo and his Galilean moons Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625-1812) discovered four moons around Saturn:

  1. Iapetus - October 25th, 1671
  2. Rhea - December 23rd, 1672
  3. Tethys - March 21st, 1684
  4. Dione - March 21st, 1684

Giovanni Domenico CassiniCassini named this group of moons in honor of king King Louis XIV of France. Sidera Lodoicea means Loisian Stars. King Louis XIV was king from 1643 to 1715 and was the patron of the Paris Observatory. Cassini was the director of the Observatory from 1671 to 1712.

Cassini published his discoveries in his Découverte de deux nouvelles planètes autour de Saturne in 1673 and in the Journal des sçavans in 1686.

These moons are four of the five largest around Saturn (after Titan). See all Saturn's moons.

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Tethys Dione Rhea Iapetus