Drew Burns

PHYS 1040
MWF—10:00am

Astronomy Group Project: Galileo Galilei – The Telescope

Some of Galileo’s greatest accomplishments were done with his telescope. Many have

credited him as the inventor of the telescope, although that is not true. However, this

misconception may come due to how Galileo revolutionized the telescope and its use in such a

way that he was able to make many discoveries and form or support many theories that have

proven to be truth in our day.

In 1609, Galileo learned about a spyglass-type instrument in the Netherlands that

showed distant things at an up close view. His first telescopes came from lenses he had

purchased at spectacle shops, but later he had figured out how to improve the design. He did

this by taking all matters into his own hands. Grinding and polishing his own lenses, he achieved

magnification of eight or nine time, while the spy glasses of his time were only providing three

times magnification. He was later able to reach magnification of up to 20 times.

Galileo pointed this improved version of the telescope to the sky, making many new

discoveries that revolutionized the way we see the universe. He was the first man to see craters

on the moon, he discovered sunspots, he tracked the phases of Venus and he even saw the

rings of Saturn, which was far greater than any who had preceded him. These were just a few of

his findings. He also found four moons orbiting Jupiter and, in general, discovered that there

were far more stars than ever thought of before by merely looking with the naked eye. Galileo

published Sidereus Nuncius (The Sidereal Messenger), to describe his discoveries. His findings

would prove to be revolutionary and earth-shattering.

All in all, the way that Galileo had improved and used the telescope changed the way

people looked at our place in the universe. His discoveries led to his end, causing an uproar in
 Drew Burns
PHYS 1040
MWF—10:00am

society, mainly the church who had turned against him and sought to put him away for

speaking and teaching blasphemies. In the end, Galileo’s findings—especially of Jupiter’s moons

and Venus’ phases—proved to the world that the Earth was not the center of the solar system,

backing up the Copernican system which stated that Earth and other planets orbit the Sun. For

his time, these discoveries were impressive and intact, holding up to what is now known as

truth.

Works Cited

Helden, Albert Van. “Galileo”. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 14 Feb,
2018. www.britannica.com/biography/Galileo-Galilei

Redd, Nola Taylor. “Galileo Galilei: Biography, Inventions & Other Facts”. Space.com.
Space.com. 14 Nov, 2017. www.space.com/15589-galileo-galilei.html Date Accessed: 21
Apr, 2018.

Cox, Lauren. “Who Invented the Telescope?”. Space.com. Space.com. 20 Dec, 2017.
www.space.com/21950-who-invented-the-telescope.html Date Accessed: 21 Apr, 2018.