Who described the rings of Saturn as "ears of a teacup"?

Who described the rings of Saturn as “ears of a teacup”? Galileo did.

In 1610, Galileo Galilei turned one of the newly improved telescopes toward Saturn and saw a strange, elongated shape. His instrument could not resolve the planet’s rings as a separate, continuous structure, so Saturn appeared to have objects—or “ears”—projecting from either side. He also used the term “handles” in describing the puzzling appearance.

Galileo’s observation was an important milestone, but he did not understand what he had seen. The rings seemed to change or disappear as Saturn’s orientation shifted, adding to the mystery. In 1655, Christiaan Huygens used a better telescope to identify the structure as a thin ring surrounding Saturn.

A common mix-up is saying Galileo discovered the rings in their modern, correct form. More precisely, he was the first to observe their unusual telescopic appearance; Huygens correctly explained it decades later. The rings are made mainly of ice particles, with smaller amounts of rock and dust.