Galileo's Telescope
Rumors of a Dutchman creating a device that would bring objects closer so you could see them more clearly reached Galileo in 1609. He started using the device after he refined it to a 10-power telescope and made some amazing discoveries with it. In 1610, he looked around Jupiter to find three satellites all in a straight line. When he looked back, they were in all directions. He surmised they were orbiting Jupiter and that, if this were true, then the Earth wasn't the center of the universe. This theory went against what the church taught.
The church believed Galileo to be quite wrong. They said everything he could see in his new telescopic device went against everything the Bible said. Galileo argued that even the interpreters of the Bible could have made a mistake in the interpretation. He was accused of heresy, but proclaimed innocent and told not to teach any of the Copernican belief system.
Unbeknownst to the church, Galileo continued to study Jupiter and the movements of its moons. He also started working on a paper about the ocean's tides. He was brought before the court for trying to teach the Copernican system after being told not to. He was placed on house arrest and until his death in 1642, he investigated even more areas of science.
He made even more fascinating discoveries with his telescope. He found there companion stars next to Saturn which were actually the edges of the rings that encircle the planet. He found spots on the sun's surface, and watched Venus go through its many phases from a planet down to a sliver of light.
He published his findings in a book called “The Starry Messenger” in 1610. People were quite excited about some of the theories found within the book. Imagine finding for the first time that the Earth was round, and not flat. What would you think?
Telescopes
Factors To Consider When Purchasing A Telescope
Optical Features Of Telescopes
Viewing The Night Sky With A Telescope
Telescopes
... solar filter on the telescope before you gaze at the sun. Beginning astronomers like to count the sunspots. If you start sketching the spots and where they are each day, you will begin to see the pattern of the sun's rotation. Another fun thing to do is watch during a solar eclipse when the moon passes ...
Viewing The Night Sky With A Telescope
... They also meet in the evenings so you can learn how to observe the night sky. It is truly fascinating to see the images with your own eyes instead of just looking at pictures on the web or in books. Telescopes are used for two reasons. One is to see fainter objects and the other is to magnify images far ...
... sheet of paper on the side across from the flashlight. Walk away from the paper until you see a small picture of the flashlight on the paper. Tell your assistant take the paper to the focal point. Go around to the back side of the paper and check the image in your magnifying glass. Adjust until the image ...
... having a rainbow of color surrounding them. So instead of using a lens to focus light, Newton tried a small curved metal mirror in the back of the telescope. He also made a discovery in 1666 about the light of colors. Newton figured out that the scope's problems were due to the color spectrum much more ...
Finding The Telescope That Meets Your Needs
... Your telescope should never shake once while you are using these. In some telescopes, you may not get a choice. Check out the eyepieces that come with your telescope. Some don't come with any. Make sure you have a couple so you can vary the magnification of the object you are viewing. You also need to ...