SOLAR SYSTEM

Detailed explanation-1: -When Galileo pointed his telescope at Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, he made a startling discovery. The planet had four “stars” surrounding it. Within days, Galileo figured out that these “stars” were actually moons in orbit of Jupiter.

Detailed explanation-2: -On January 7, 1610, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei discovered, using a homemade telescope, four moons orbiting the planet Jupiter. Looking at what he thought were a group of stars, he realized the objects appeared to move in a regular pattern.

Detailed explanation-3: -Here is a sample of his observations as put forth in Siderius Nuncius, page 75. He determined that the periods of the four moons were 42 hours, 3.5 days, 7 days, and 16 days (Siderius Nuncius 118-119). Galileo was using a telescope with a 20x magnification, though 15x would be enough to see the moons, according to Dr.

Detailed explanation-4: -With his telescope, Galileo discovered mountains on the Moon, four satellites of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, dark spots tracking across the face of the Sun, the enigmatic “ears” of Saturn, and countless stars that were invisible to the unaided eye.

Detailed explanation-5: -Simon Marius claimed to have observed Jupiter’s moon as early as late November 1609 (about five weeks prior to Galileo) and had begun recording his observations in January 1610 at about the same time Galileo was first making his observations.

Detailed explanation-6: -Galileo pioneered astronomy as the first person to study celestial objects through a telescope. His observations, including the discovery of moons around Jupiter, helped revolutionize the way people think about the universe.