Planetary Observations by Angelo Secchi

Secchi’s observations of Mars in 1858 reveal the observer’s keen eye for detail in addition to providing an early example of the obscuration of surface markings due to a dust storm. He was responsible for adding the term ‘canal’ to the vocabulary of the Red Planet. He made physical observations of the clouds of Jupiter and of the structure of the rings of Saturn, while his observation of the absorption bands in the spectra of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus remains an important contribution to planetary science.