Slashdot Mirror
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.