Galileo’s Telescope

June 22nd, 2008 by

Alan

Rumors of a Dutchman creating a device that would bring objects closer so you could see them more
clearly reached Galileo in 1609. He started using the device after he refined it to a 10-power
telescope and made some amazing discoveries with it. In 1610, he looked around Jupiter to find
three satellites all in a straight line. When he looked back, they were in all directions. He
surmised they were orbiting Jupiter and that, if this were true, then the Earth wasn't the center
of the universe. This theory went against what the church taught.

The church believed Galileo to be quite wrong. They said everything he could see in his new
telescopic device went against everything the Bible said. Galileo argued that even the
interpreters of the Bible could have made a mistake in the interpretation. He was accused of
heresy, but proclaimed innocent and told not to teach any of the Copernican belief system

Unbeknowst to the church, Galileo continued to study Jupiter and the movements of its moons. He
also started working on a paper about the ocean's tides. He was brought before the court for
trying to teach the Copernican system after being told not to. He was placed on house arrest and
until his death in 1642, he investigated even more areas of science.

He made even more fascinating discoveries with his telescope. He found there companion stars next
to Saturn which were actually the edges of the rings that encircle the planet. He found spots on
the sun's surface, and watched Venus go through its many phases from a planet down to a sliver of
light

He published his findings in a book called The Starry Messenger in 1610. People were quite
excited about some of the theories found within the book. Imagine finding for the first time that
the Earth was round, and not flat. What would you think?

As they say just about anything can be found on eBay. Including Galileo's telescope.