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Planetary Formation

20 March 2016 · Published

Completing the Work of Galileo

WordPress backup · National Geographic Picture Atlas of Our Universe, Roy A. Gallant, 1980

Original wording. Not rewritten as Paper I. Withdrawn claims stay visible so the record is not erased.

Looking through his telescope, Galileo at first saw only three moons in a straight line across Jupiter… Eventually Galileo counted four objects and realized that they were orbiting Jupiter: Their behavior made them moons, not stars.

Some astronomers refused to believe Galileo’s claim. They felt the Solar System with its seven “planets” was complete… Some of them refused even to look through Galileo’s telescope. But eventually even Galileo’s bitterest enemies had to admit that Jupiter had moons.