![]() ![]() He noted that while six or seven stars could be seen in the cluster with the naked eye, some thirty-five could be seen through a telescope. He went on to make observations of the stars in Orion and the Pleiades. ![]() The universe was obviously full of hidden treasures previously unseen by the naked eye observers of centuries past. Galileo was of the same opinion, and after studying the Milky Way with his telescope, came to the conclusion that Democritus was right. He speculated that the Milky Way was made up of tiny stars, too small to be seen with the naked eye. Another stated that it was a belt of compressed fire.ĭemocritus of ancient Greece was, perhaps, closest to the truth. One theory was that it was where the northern and the southern celestial hemispheres were joined. This misty river flowed across the heavens but no one clearly understood its true nature. He also turned his telescope toward the Milky Way. Through his low powered telescope, he saw craters, mountains, and shadows cast by the Sun rising over the lunar surface.Ĭlearly, the Moon was not as smooth and perfect as it seemed. Galileo, however, noticed something else. ![]() To the naked eye, the Moon appeared quite smooth, with the lunar “seas” appearing as dark patches upon its surface. Sketches of the Moon by Galileo, as it appeared in his book Sidereus. So when Galileo turned his telescope toward the Moon at the end of November 1609, he was in for something of a surprise. They were after all, created by God and therefore flawless. The Sun, Moon, and planets were thought to be perfect creations. The stars themselves were believed to be tiny points of “aether” affixed to crystal spheres that surrounded the Earth. Up until that time, it was thought that the Earth was at the center of everything and that the Sun, Moon, and planets all orbited it. But it was with this Galileo Galilei’s telescope that he began to uncover the true nature of the universe. With an objective lens of just 37mm and a magnification of 20x, it provided a field of view of only 15’ – or roughly half the size of the full Moon. Galileo’s telescope was primitive compared to even the most basic we might own today. What Did Galileo Observe With His Telescope? Less than six months later, he had made discoveries that would alter our view of the universe forever. By August that year, Galileo had built an 8 power telescope while just two or three months later, he had built another with a magnification two and a half times greater. ![]() Once Galileo heard about the telescope he was soon building his own and throughout 1609, he worked to improve his creations. A replica of one of Galileo’s earliest telescopes. It was Lippershey who submitted the earliest known patent for a refracting telescope in October 1608. No one seems to know what drew Galileo to astronomy in the first place, and while he made a number of inventions (including an early thermometer and a water pump) it’s not true to say he invented the telescope.Īgain, no one quite knows for sure, but it’s thought the telescope may have been invented by a German-Dutch spectacle maker called Hans Lippershey. Three years later, in 1592, he moved to Padua, where, as professor of mathematics, he taught geometry, mechanics, and astronomy. After attending a lecture on geometry, he switched his studies to mathematics, natural philosophy and fine art.Īt only 24 years old, he briefly became an instructor at the Academy of Arts of Drawing in Florence before returning to Pisa as the chair of mathematics the following year. It was while he was studying at the University of Pisa that he noticed a swinging chandelier and his interest in physics was awakened. Image Credit: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich This painting of Galileo dates back to about 1640. ![]()
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