Giovanni Domenico Cassini

This article is about the Italian-born astronomer. For his French-born great-grandson, see Dominique, comte de Cassini. For his French-born grandson, see César-François Cassini de Thury.

Giovanni Domenico Cassini
Born(1625-06-08)8 June 1625
Perinaldo, County of Nice
Died14 September 1712(1712-09-14) (aged 87)
Paris, France
NationalityItalian and French
Alma materThe Jesuit College at Genoa
Known forCassini Division
Cassini identity
Cassini's laws
Cassini oval
First to observe the division in the rings of Saturn
ChildrenJacques Cassini
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
astrology
astronomy
engineering
InstitutionsUniversity of Bologna
Signature

Giovanni[a] Domenico Cassini, also known as Jean-Dominique Cassini (8 June 1625 – 14 September 1712) was an Italian (naturalised French)[1] mathematician, astronomer, astrologer and engineer. Cassini was born in Perinaldo,[2][3] near Imperia, at that time in the County of Nice, part of the Savoyard state.[4][5] Cassini is known for his work on astronomy and engineering. He discovered four satellites of Saturn and noted the division of its rings; the Cassini Division was named after him. Giovanni Domenico Cassini was also the first of his family to begin work on the project of creating a topographic map of France. In addition, Cassini also created the first scientific map of the moon. [6]

The Cassini space probe, launched in 1997, was named after him and became the fourth to visit Saturn and the first to orbit it.


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  1. ^ Joseph A. Angelo, Encyclopedia of Space and Astronomy, Infobase Publishing – 2014, page 114
  2. ^ "Giovanni Domenico Cassini (June 8, 1625 – September 14, 1712)". Messier Seds.org. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  3. ^ "Giovanni Domenico Cassini: The rings and moons of Saturn". Surveyor in Berlin.de. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  4. ^ Augusto De Ferrari (1978), "Cassini, Giovan Domenico" Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 21 (Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana).
  5. ^ Gandolfo, Andrea. La provincia di Imperia: storia, arti, tradizioni. Blue Edizioni, 2005.
  6. ^ "c11371-07". British Library Images. Retrieved 24 October 2024.