How Much Do You Know About Galileo and His Telescope?

Who has not heard of Galileo? If this Italian mathematician and astronomer had not come forward with his theories about the Heavens, and not provided a telescope to view Heavenly bodies in the bargain, the world would have been left bereft of so much of valuable knowledge! He has to be thanked for destroying time-honored myths and beliefs, and letting people know the actual truth about what was happening in the skies.

It was in 1609 that Galileo began to seriously think of a device that would enable man to scan the skies and discover what lay there. His inspiration was a Dutchman who had created an amateur version of the modern telescope. This instrument could help bring distant objects closer to one's eyes, thus being able to view them in a more focused way.

When Galileo heard about this instrument and examined it, he felt that it offered immense possibilities for making fantastic discoveries! The hitch was that it needed a few improvements. Well, he got working on the device and finally brought forth a 10-power telescope in 1610. His first sighting with his new toy was the planet Jupiter accompanied by three satellites. Unlike his first belief that they were just standing there in a straight line, he discovered that they were in fact, orbiting round the planet. But, hadn't the church priests always maintained that the planet Earth was at the center of the universe? Now Galileo's telescopic discoveries had shattered their belief!

The priests of course, were not going to take this lying down! They resorted to quotations in the Bible, proclaiming that it was sheer sacrilege to go against what was mentioned in the Holy Book of the Christians! Galileo's protestations that man-made interpretations of the Bible could be wrong proved to be of no avail, and he was thrown into prison. He was also condemned for supporting Copernicus' theory about the solar system with the sun at the center of the planets. He was set free later on the condition that he no longer preach about Copernicus' beliefs.

But the thirst for more knowledge refused to be quenched. Hence, Galileo pursued his studies secretly. A thorough perusal of the "moons" helped him understand how tides on earth worked. Wishing to share his knowledge, he put down his thoughts on paper. Now, when the vengeful church priests came to know about this, they saw to it that he was dragged to court once again! The court did not imprison him, but placed him under house arrest. It did not bother him one whit; he just carried on with his research!

Later on, of course, his publications were compiled into one book-"The Starry Messenger". The book came out in 1610. There was no end to the excitement it aroused in the people who read his book! Galileo's telescope had provided information about various Heavenly bodies-Saturn had rings round it; there were spots to be seen on the sun; the earth was not flat but round; and Venus went through different phases, eventually reducing to just a sliver of light. This was just the beginning, and there was much more to come. Thus, Science and Galileo remained inseparable until his death in 1642!

Source:galileotelescope.org/