400 Years Ago, Galileo Discovered Four Jovian Moons

krswan writes "OK, the moons themselves are much older, but on January 7, 1610 Galileo first observed '4 fixed stars' surrounding Jupiter. Observations of their changing positions led Galileo to postulate they were really moons orbiting Jupiter, which became further evidence against Aristotelian Cosmology, which led to problems with the Roman Catholic Church, etc... Jupiter will be low in the southwest (in the Northern Hemisphere) after sunset this evening — nothing else around it is as bright, so you can't miss it. Celebrate by pointing binoculars or a telescope at Jupiter and checking out the moons for yourself."

Comments

Re:I saw them myself...

[Tablizer]

while underway on my ship in the U.S. Navy, middle of the Indian Ocean...They had a set of huge binoculars...Found Jupiter and zoomed in as far as I could, and clearly saw some of the moons around it.

The darkness of the night sky doesn't make that much difference for seeing Jup's 4 main moons. The glare of Jupiter in its vicinity overwhelms any problems caused by city lights. Planets and their brighter moons are one of the few targets that light pollution doesn't hinder much. Just about any non-damaged 7x35+ binoculars in any city can still see up to 4 moons if Jupiter is high enough in the sky and no haze or overcast.

Or am I ruining a good story?

Re:Cue the wrath of amazing atheists

[BobMcD]

In defense of the atheists, it would probably be hard for Galileo to separate the two. Back then the Church often had the power to dictate what it was legal to believe. Not so much any more. It would be hard for me to imagine what he must have suffered.

Don't get me wrong, you are correct. Challenging centers of power is indeed a great way to draw their fire.

And it is a very tedious and oft repeated error of atheist militants that religions are antiscience.

No need to pick on the poor souls. They are already drowning in the irony that their rebellion drives them to dictate the beliefs of others, if even only through ridicule and spite. Just smile and let it slide. It will likely dawn on them eventually. Meanwhile it must drive them absolutely nuts to face a thinking believer, to the point that they would deny that it is possible to do both at the same time. Thus it is natural for them to attempt to deny the faithful access to science and reason. Good old fashioned dissonance...