Galileo Demonstrates the Telescope
Explanation:
Galileo Galilei made a good discovery great. Upon hearing at age 40 that a
Dutch optician had invented a glass that made distant objects appear
larger,
Galileo crafted his own
telescope and turned it toward the
sky.
Galileo quickly discovered that our
Moon had
craters, that
Jupiter had its own
moons, that the
Sun has
spots, and that
Venus
has phases like our
Moon.
Galileo, who lived from 1564 to 1642, made many more discoveries.
Galileo
claimed that his observations only made sense if all the planets revolved
around the
Sun, as championed by
Aristarchus and
Copernicus, not the
Earth,
as was commonly believed then.
The powerful
Inquisition made
Galileo publicly
recant this conclusion, but today we know he was correct.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
