1
$\begingroup$

I want the answer to incorporate apparent magnitudes of those moons, power of his telescope, light pollution of that time, successful recreation of the scenario of watching Galilean moons using that telescope recently, possibilities of extraordinary eye sight, etc.

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
3
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ A simple Wiki's search may suffices: Galilean moons: Discovery. $\endgroup$
    – Mauro ALLEGRANZA
    Mar 29, 2018 at 12:15
  • $\begingroup$ Usually I don't consider Wikipedia a good source for these kind of information. $\endgroup$
    – user2974951
    Mar 30, 2018 at 15:45
  • $\begingroup$ There are good and bad papers in Wikipedia. Good papers give reference to sources. About Galileo, a good source is the book of Drake, "Galileo at work". $\endgroup$
    – Alexandre Eremenko
    Mar 30, 2018 at 17:22

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
8
$\begingroup$

There can be no doubt that he has seen them, for the simple reason that he determined their periods and configuration correctly, and published them. Therefore the other things (magnification of his telescope, light pollution etc.) are irrelevant for the answer. You can easily see them yourself using an 8x binocular.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
5
  • $\begingroup$ Our Astronomy instructor said Galileo's original telescope doesn't suffices the needs to watch those moons. I guess it's wrong. $\endgroup$
    – user2974951
    Mar 30, 2018 at 15:42
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @aquire: It is definitely wrong. We don't have Galileo's telescope to investigate it. But we have his publications on the subject which imply that he definitely saw these satellites and was able to measure their parameters correctly. $\endgroup$
    – Alexandre Eremenko
    Mar 30, 2018 at 17:19
  • $\begingroup$ Are there any successful recreations of his telescope? $\endgroup$
    – user2974951
    Mar 30, 2018 at 17:58
  • $\begingroup$ @aquire: I suppose there are. But I do not know how successful they are, and have no ready references. With information available on the web, you can try to make one yourself, using lenses from eyeglasses. I actually made one when I was a child:-) $\endgroup$
    – Alexandre Eremenko
    Mar 30, 2018 at 18:21
  • $\begingroup$ @aquire: here is the first site which came in my search: popsci.com/build-diy-replica-galileos-telescope, scitechantiques.com/Adler $\endgroup$
    – Alexandre Eremenko
    Mar 30, 2018 at 18:25

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.