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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology pp 1Cite as

Huygens

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Christiaan Huygens (1629–1695) was born in The Hague (Netherlands). He studied law and mathematics in Leiden and then studied and built microscopes and telescopes. With his own telescope, he discovered Titan, Saturn’s biggest satellite, in 1655. In 1659, he found the explanation of the changing appearance of Saturn, due to its rings, which he published in Systema Saturnium. In 1656, he built the first pendulum clock with the objective of determining longitudes at sea. He developed in his Traité de la Lumière the first wave theory of light. His posthumous work, Cosmotheoros, published in 1698, deals with the nature of the universe and the habitability of other worlds. The probe of the Cassini-Huygens mission, which landed on Titan’s surface on January 14, 2005, was named after him.

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Saturn

Titan

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  1. LESIA - Bâtiment ISO (n°17), Observatoire de Paris - Section de Meudon, 5, Place Jules Janssen, 92195, Meudon, France

    Therese Encrenaz

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  1. Therese Encrenaz
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Correspondence to Therese Encrenaz .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Encrenaz, T. (2014). Huygens. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_744-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_744-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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