Galileo realises that he has discovered worlds orbiting Jupiter!

Exactly 400 years ago tonight* Galileo sees two stars to the east of Jupiter, one of which is twice as bright as last night. This is the night on which he is amazed to accept that the only explanation of his observations is "I have now accepted without the shadow of doubt that there were in the heavens three stars wandering about Jupiter, just as Mercury and Venus go round the Sun"

That folks is truly awesome. Having observed Jupiter on just four nights he reaches the correct conclusion that the Copernican system applies to Jupiter just as it applies to the Sun

Source of this information is a new translation of Sidereus Nuncius http://bit.ly/7WsibK

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