Today in History: 1980 -- Voyager I takes the first pictures of Saturn's rings

On November 12, 1980, Voyager I, a NASA space probe launched on September 5, 1977, made its closest approach to Saturn and captured the first up-close images of Saturn's rings. Voyager I was launched with the purpose of visiting Jupiter and Saturn and giving us a better look at the largest planets in our solar system (and their moons). Saturn's rings are not visible from Earth with the naked eye and were first seen through a telescope by Galileo Galilei, in 1610, almost 370 years before the Voyager I.

To this day, Voyager 1 continues to send information back to Earth and, 30 years after its closest approach to Saturn, the space probe is located a mere 10.712 billion miles, only .2% of a single lightyear, from the sun.

For more information on Saturn's majestic, particle-based rings, pick up a copy of Astronomy For Beginners.

A collage of images of Saturn and its satellites taken by Voyage I on November 12, 1980