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History of Astronomy Group
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Attached is a re-edited version of a video that was part of my talk last night on Galileo and his book of observations, Sidereus Nuncius - The Starry Messenger.
In it, I've compiled all of Galileo's observations of Jupiter and its 'Medicean stars' - what we now call the Galilean moons - and placed them alongside a screengrab from Stellarium, reset to the period 7th January to 2nd March 1610, to show what it was that Galileo was actually looking at...
Posted : 15/11/2017 11:04 am
Thank you Andy for an informative,illuminating and educating lecture.
First impression we get in history is that, Galileo pointed his telescope at Jupiter and said, "Oh look! Jupiter has four moons." You showed us how Galileo finally came to this conclusion through his observations. By examining his notes and taking us through his thought processes, you showed us how he went from thinking they were stars to finally concluding there were moons orbiting Jupiter.
The video brilliantly sums up the the observations Galileo made.
Posted : 19/11/2017 5:29 pm
Topic starter
Thank you, Bill! It was really fun to prepare the talk and I was delighted it seemed to go down so well.
Posted : 19/11/2017 5:35 pm
Topic starter
The photograph in this tweet is extraordinary. Look carefully...
"Cynthiae figuras aemulatur mater amorum” = “The mother of love (Venus) imitates the form of Cynthia (the Moon)” - Galileo
Posted : 20/11/2017 11:42 am
