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Online Database Allows Scientists To Recreate Early Telescopes
sciencehabit writes "When Galileo Galilei shook up the scientific community with evidence of a heliocentric world, he had a little tube fitted with two pieces of glass to thank. But just how this gadget evolved in the nascent days of astronomy is poorly known. That uncertainty has inspired a group of researchers to compile the most extensive database of early refracting telescopes to date. Now, the scientists plan to use modern optics to recreate what Galileo — and the naysaying observers of his time — experienced when they first peered through these tubes at the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter, and the phases of Venus."
Disappointed that there were no pictures of the type "this is what Galileo saw .. and this is what Newton saw ... and this is with a reasonably priced modern telescope ... and this is from an observatory".
That would have put things in perspective
You can buy a really cheap, and good quality "Galileo Scope" http://galileoscope.org/. It's a great starter / educational scope and the optics can be swapped out to see what Galileo saw and for more modern lenses.
Scientific community of Galileo time knew that world is heliocentric. Religion community didn't.
I can build a crude telescope in my garage using the EXACT techniques he used. It's not hard.
http://galileo.rice.edu/lib/st...
And then just half ass the optics by only looking through them as you grind. dont use modern collimation techniques and you will get the nasty blurry full of chromatic nasty that he had to deal with.
The other problem is that pollution and light pollution is 9000% higher than what he had.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
... with light pollution.
I would find this interesting.
As someone who's just got into telescopes themselves after years of my brother casually using a telescope worth more than my car (he's an astrophysicist, though, so that's his game) I was bought a relatively cheap amateur one.
I was quite surprised, in modern times, to be able to see Jupiter's clouds and Saturn rings quite clearly within only a few hours of learning how to use the damn thing and picking targets by eye (none of this Go-To crap), in my backyard, in the crowded suburbs of London, with streetlights only a few meters away, on a pseudo-clear night. And I didn't have RA motors or even proper polar alignment, I was literally just chasing the brightest dots around the sky manually to look at them.
I know astronomy was "easier" for the ancients and for Galileo-era astronomers without such hurdles, but I had always assumed that they pretty much were cancelled out by the poor quality of the optics back then. But I was quite amazed to be able to clearly see, with a £100 scope and the default eyepieces, such detail wobbling in front of me because of the heat of the atmosphere near me.
And even photographing them was much easier than I was led to believe (though I really need to polar-align and get my brand-new RA motor set up so I can do longer exposures).
Honestly, I thought it would be so much harder, hearing for years from well-known astronomers like Sir Patrick Moore, etc. how much the cities destroyed the night sky. I'm sure they do. I'm sure that I *should* be able to see the Milky Way unaided. But, damn, a tiny £100 Newtonian with its supplied cheap mount and eyepieces can do wonders.
I'm not claiming some great feat of astronomy, I'm sure this hasn't really been a shock to anyone who was interested in amateur astronomy before me. But I'm also sure Galileo saw quite clearly a lot of things that were always visible and easy to record, just maybe not always surface detail and rings (which I'm sure he would have thought were there, even if it was just on the edge of his brain supplying that brief glimpse of the whole object through his imperfect lenses and low magnification scope against the shimmering atmosphere and movement of his equipment).
I have a page on my website (warning: long and boring) where I show my first-ever (and worst) images taken through my scope. Sure, it's a 70mm aperture, but I can't imagine that Galileo was seeing that much worse, but maybe distorted and more "lucky" good shots as it went into the smooth parts of his optics.
He might have had to spend years with craftsmen and glass-blowing skills, honing his devices, but I'm pretty sure he would have been able to see almost as much as anyone can - even modern city-dwellers - with just a cheap scope.
Sorry, Dice...you lost a loyal reader.
soylentnews.org
Oh, and for the last time: BUCK FETA.
Great warrior...hrmph! Wars not make one great.
Because you just know that these telescopes were used for looking at bodies during the daylight too!
... with light pollution.
Given the available light sources, they probably used the term to complain about the servant holding the torch getting soot on their lenses.
I'm afraid I can't use the "Galileo Scope" or even own one: I'm Catholic.
"...and the naysaying observers of his time — experienced when they first peered through these tubes..."
Some of the naysayer's didn't look through them at the heavens. Today, some slashdotter's take it for granted that first hand evidence, the "show me" stuff, is good stuff. Back in those days, and for a lot of people today lacking modern sophistication, belief, a priori knowledge, doctrine, etc., was the source of truth, facts, descriptions of reality and so forth. So, when Galileo urged people to look through the telescope, the response was often a decline, sometimes a scathing decline.
Further reading: Galileo's Daughter, a nice history of Galileo's life, as seen through letter's from one of his daughter's that still survive.
Of course the real trouble for Galileo was probably some kind of personal feud with the Pope, some sidekicks of the Pope exaggerating the "insults" hurled by Galileo towards the Pope, etc. But the Church then was not really plugging its ears with fingers shouting "la-la-la I don't hear nothing" like the present day Creationists are doing when evolution is taught in biology classes.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Galileo and other early inventors were bitter rivals for the secrets of optics. Lots of deception, aggrandizement, hard feelings and litigation.
Ancient tales of magical mirrors play a part in the tale of telescopy. We have numerous accounts of, say, a man atop the highest tower in Alexandria, who, with the aid of a magical glass, can see all that happens in London. These tall tales go on and on -- magical mirrors and lenses which see distant sights, peers around corners, see through walls ... mostly far-fetched, yet meaningful in an age of discovery.
I read a book on the topic -- the title escapes me, sorry -- thin, scholarly study. Good stuff, recommended.
-kgj
everything we need & more is within our reach here now, no gadgets required. momkind is the undisputed centerpeace of our universe just like always. no wonder the externally based WMD on credit MANic viagrants must continually attempt to complicate everything...
Can't really redo the view, the early observing sites are all in heavily light polluted areas
-- 73 de KG2V For the Children - RKBA! "You are what you do when it counts" - the Masso
Padova, not Florence
Galileo moved thee in 1592 and he stole Hans Lippershey telescope in 1608.
The Galilean moons where discovered in 1610 with a telescope that had a magnification that was roughly 30x (from the original 3x of Lippershey design)
But just how this gadget evolved in the nascent days of astronomy is poorly known. That uncertainty has inspired a group of researchers to compile the most extensive database of early refracting telescopes to date.
If poorly known, then with what did they create the database from? It would appear that the information was already known and available and they digitized it into a database.
Can't really redo the view, the early observing sites are all in heavily light polluted areas
Also, using modern optics are probably not going to give the same view as the technology of the time produced, even if there wasn't the light pollution. Even in modern telescopes, for any given aperture, it is the quality of the lens and/or mirrors that dictate the view.
We need to use optics that closely approximates the technology of the time. If we still have the ability to create the glass that Galileo created then we won't even need to approximate it, we'll have the real thing.
If that happens to be "modern" optics, that's fine, but insisting on using modern glass-production techniques is unnecessary.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
ensures that we can never see what they saw.
... are our scientist devolving in knowledge that they would have to ask the AI of the internet?
ROTFLMAO @ "Chumpy" -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...
(You sure "talk a good game" -> http://games.slashdot.org/comm... but you can't even produce a MERE SCRIPT!, windbag... you couldn't build shit, loser!)
You aren't even on the leve of a "script kiddie", & full of HOT AIR!
You certainly won't reply there in that 2nd link I posted either, as that would remove your downmods to my posts like this one you can't validly disprove or justify your downmod on -> http://games.slashdot.org/comm...
Oh, I suspect that IS the case here (simply logging out of a registered account & trolling by ac is a common troll trick around here OR using alternate registered 'luser' accounts sockpuppets to do the job will also, & Lumpy is LOADED with those & trolling - which doesn't matter: He PROVES he's all talk, no action (or skills, OR brains, lol))
(You're all TALK, & NO action "CHUMPY!)
* :)
(You know it, I know it, & so does anyone reading AND laughing their asses off @ you now... lol!)
APK
P.S.=> Answer the question in the subject-line Lumpy - since you had to "eat your wrods" in the 1st link above flavored with your FOOT IN YOUR MOUTH + the "bitter taste of SELF-defeat", lol...
... apk