A View of Galelio's Sky

400 years ago, in 1610, Galileo Galilee took the Spyglass that was used for war, and turned its gaze to the heavens. Although Galileo did not invent the telescope, he was the first to use its powerful viewing lens for astronomical observation. Looking up, he positioned his two small pieces of glass to the most stellar of our outter space companions, La Luna. The Moon. Her silvery glow illuminates the dark night, enticing men with her perfectly spherical curve and complexion. The slow dance along an invisible trail puzzled early watchers as they stood mesmerized by the gentle waxing away of shadows and the inevitable return of the dark curtain. Yet the shy beauty, with all her grandeur and luminosity, bowed to the golden flame of master sun. A perfect companion to the king of the heavens.

And yet with a watchful eye, Galileo discovered imperfections. Deep caverns and rifts depicted not a polished, smooth surface but rather a jagged terrain scarred from the violence of an active beyond. With each passing night, the silent wax and wane of shadows spotlighted features which screamed of revelation. The Moon, goddess companion to The Sun, dethroned by the vulgar peeping eyes of one Italian. Modesty could not save The Queen, for in his observations Galileo revealed her earthlikeness. The Queen became The Sister.

Enraptured by his revelations and eager to discover all the secrets of the heavens, Galileo turned his scope away from little sister and onto her baby brother, wandering star Jupiter. Following in her steps and shining brilliantly, Jupiter crawls through the night sky as if trying to show his big sister how important he too is.

And in one fateful evening, Jupiter dethroned the entire human model of the universe.

Triple taking the sight within his lens Galileo observed four tiny stars hugging the glittering giant. Desperate for answers his gazed remained fixed for hours. In those moments his old eyes watched as the stars moved around like dancers around a campfire. Each maintained a personal rhythm, a style. Night after night the loyal children accompanied their great father through his tireless journey across the ecliptic. Doubtlessly familiar with Archimedes’ work Galileo might have shouted “EUREKA!” or “TROVATO!” as he was Italian.

With the evidence collected via his  “far”scope, Galileo set out to prove good old Copernicus’ heliocentric universe. And the rest, as they say, is history. 400 years later our earthbound skies tell a very different story. We now know we live in a universe filled with rocky earthlike planets, moons, comets, asteroids and dust grains so fine they sparkle like glitter. King Sun’s throne has been appropriately moved center, while our little planet glides 94,500,000 miles from its heat.

This is a great time of year to time travel back to Galileo’s days. At sunset Jupiter shines brilliantly through the darkening eastern sky, reaching our Florida zenith (straight up) around 10pm. Go out and find him. And when you do, erase your modern knowledge…and just look. Imagine yourself 400 years in the past, when the Moon was a graceful queen, the sun our loyal orbiter and the earth, the center of it all.