Galileo: the Telescope &
the Laws of Dynamics
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was a pivotal figure in the development of
modern astronomy, both because of his contributions directly to
astronomy, and because of his work in physics and its relation to
astronomy. He provided the crucial observations that proved the
Copernican hypothesis, and also laid the foundations for a correct
understanding of how objects moved on the surface of the earth
(dynamics) and of gravity.
Newton, who was born the same year that Galileo died, would build on
Galileo's ideas to demonstrate that the laws of motion in the heavens and
the laws of motion on the earth were one and the same. Thus, Galileo
began and Newton completed a synthesis of astronomy and physics in
which the former was recognized as but a particular example of the latter,
and that would banish the notions of Aristotle almost completely from
both.
One could, with considerable justification, view Galileo as the father both
of modern astronomy and of modern physics.
The Telescope
Galileo did not invent the telescope (Dutch spectacle makers receive that
credit), but he was the first to use the telescope to study the heavens
systematically. His little telescope was poorer than even a cheap modern
amateur telescope, but what he observed in the heavens rocked the very
foundations of Aristotle's universe and the theological-philosophical
worldview that it supported. It is said that what Galileo saw was so
disturbing for some officials of the Church that they refused to even look
through his telescope; they reasoned that the Devil was capable of making
anything appear in the telescope, so it was best not to look through it.
Sunspots
Galileo observed the Sun through his telescope and saw that the Sun
had dark patches on it that we now call sunspots (he eventually went
blind, perhaps from damage suffered by looking at the Sun with his
telescope). Furthermore, he observed motion of the sunspots indicating
that the Sun was rotating on an axis. These "blemishes" on the Sun were
contrary to the doctrine of an unchanging perfect substance in the
heavens, and the rotation of the Sun made it less strange that the Earth
might rotate on an axis too, as required in the Copernican model. Both
represented new facts that were unknown to Aristotle and Ptolemy.
The Moons of Jupiter
Galileo observed 4 points of light that changed their positions with time
around the planet Jupiter. He concluded that these were objects in orbit
around Jupiter. Indeed, they were the 4 brightest moons of Jupiter, which
are now commonly called the Galilean moons (Galileo himself called them
the Medicea Siderea---the ``Medician Stars''). Here is an animation based
on actual observations of the motion of these moons around Jupiter.
These observations again showed that there were new things in the
heavens that Aristotle and Ptolemy had known nothing about.
Furthermore, they demonstrated that a planet could have moons circling
it that would not be left behind as the planet moved around its orbit. One
of the arguments against the Copernican system (and the ORIGINAL
heliocentric idea of Aristarchus) had been that if the moon were in orbit
around the Earth and the Earth in orbit around the Sun, the Earth would
leave the Moon behind as it moved around its orbit.
The Phases of Venus
Galileo used his telescope to show that Venus went through a complete set
of phases, just like the Moon. This observation was among the most
important in human history, for it provided the first conclusive
observational proof that was consistent with the Copernican system but
not the Ptolemaic system.
The crucial point is the empirical fact that Venus is never very far from
the Sun in our sky. Thus, as the following diagrams indicate, in the
Ptolemaic system Venus should always be in crescent phase as viewed
from the Earth because as it moves around its epicycle it can never be far
from the direction of the sun (which lies beyond it), but in the Copernican
system Venus should exhibit a complete set of phases over time as viewed
from the Earth because it is illuminated from the center of its orbit.
It is important to note that this was the first empirical evidence (coming
almost a century after Copernicus) that allowed a definitive test of the two
models. Until that point, both the Ptolemaic and Copernican models
described the available data. The primary attraction of the Copernican
system was that it described the data in a simpler fashion, but here finally
was conclusive evidence that not only was the Ptolemaic universe more
complicated, it also was incorrect.
Myriad Observations Showing Phenomena Unknown to Aristotle
In addition to the observations noted above, Galileo made many other
observations that undermined the authority on which the Ptolemaic
universe was built. Some of these included
1. Showing that the planets were disks, not points of light, as seen
through the telescope.
2. Showing that the great "cloud" called the Milky Way (which we
now know to be the disk of our spiral galaxy) was composed of
enormous numbers of stars that had not been seen before.
3. Observing that the planet Saturn had "ears". We now know
that Galileo was observing the rings of Saturn, but his telescope
was not good enough to show them as more than extensions on
either side of the planet.
4. Showing that the Moon was not smooth, as had been assumed,
but was covered by mountains and craters.
As each new wonder was observed, increasing doubt was cast on the
prevailing notion that there was nothing new to be observed in the
heavens because they were made from a perfect, unchanging substance. It
also raised the credibility issue: could the authority of Aristotle and
Ptolemy be trusted concerning the nature of the Universe if there were so
many things in the Universe about which they had been completely
unaware?
Galileo and the Leaning Tower
Galileo made extensive contributions to our understanding of the laws
governing the motion of objects. The famous Leaning Tower of Pisa
experiment may be apocryphal. It is likely that Galileo himself did not
drop two objects of very different weight from the tower to prove that
(contrary to popular expectations) they would hit the ground at the same
time. However, it is certain that Galileo understood the principle involved,
and probably did similar experiments. The realization that, as we would
say in modern terms, the acceleration due to gravity is independent of the
weight of an object was important to the formulation of a theory of
gravitation by Newton. Here is an animation of experiments with inclined
planes that Galileo probably did to confirm these ideas.
Galileo and the Concept of Inertia
Perhaps Galileo's greatest contribution to physics was his formulation of
the concept of inertia: an object in a state of motion possesses an ``inertia''
that causes it to remain in that state of motion unless an external force
acts on it. In order to arrive at this conclusion, which will form the
cornerstone of Newton's laws of motion (indeed, it will become Newton's
First Law of Motion), Galileo had to abstract from what he, and everyone
else, saw.
Most objects in a state of motion do NOT remain in that state of motion.
For example, a block of wood pushed at constant speed across a table
quickly comes to rest when we stop pushing. Thus, Aristotle held that
objects at rest remained at rest unless a force acted on them, but that
objects in motion did not remain in motion unless a force acted constantly
on them. Galileo, by virtue of a series of experiments (many with objects
sliding down inclined planes), realized that the analysis of Aristotle was
incorrect because it failed to account properly for a hidden force:
the frictional force between the surface and the object.
Thus, as we push the block of wood across the table, there are two
opposing forces that act: the force associated with the push, and a force
that is associated with the friction and that acts in the opposite direction.
Galileo realized that as the frictional forces were decreased (for example,
by placing oil on the table) the object would move further and further
before stopping. From this he abstracted a basic form of the law of inertia:
if the frictional forces could be reduced to exactly zero (not possible in a
realistic experiment, but it can be approximated to high precision) an
object pushed at constant speed across a frictionless surface of infinite
extent will continue at that speed forever after we stop pushing, unless a
new force acts on it at a later time.
Galileo and the Church
Galileo's challenge of the Church's authority through his assault on the
Aristotelian conception of the Universe eventually got him into deep
trouble with the Inquisition. Late in his life he was forced to recant
publicly his Copernican views and spent his last years essentially under
house arrest. His story certainly constitutes one of the sadder examples of
the conflict between the scientific method and "science" based on
unquestioned authority. Unfortunately, there still are many forces in
modern society that would shackle the scientific method of open enquiry
in idealogical chains of one kind or another.
Amusingly, In 1992, John Paul proclaimed that the Vatican had erred
when it condemned Galileo about 400 years earlier—this investigation
started in 1979.
icolaus Copernicus’ contribution to the astronomical history was large
and it was a huge impact as well. He changed the way of thinking, not
only astronomically but also religiously. This was because the Catholic
teachings were based on the theory
Earth Centered Universe
that the Universe was Earth centered. It also went against the theory
that a Greek astronomer Ptolemy argued about, the theory that the
Earth was a stationary sphere that was in the center of the Universe
and that the other planets (including the Sun) was orbiting around the
Earth. This theory had been thought up of in 150 A.D. and had been
used since then, so it was taken in widely, making Copernicus’ theory a
very large impact. Even though Copernicus’ theory most went up
against those two obstacles, many still had problems with this theory
because if the Earth was orbiting and spinning, many thought that if one
jumped up, then one would be left behind in that very spot, so the
person would travel, which of course they knew did not happen. Even
so, in the end, Copernicus’ theory was correct.
t the time when Copernicus thought up the theory, the Earth centered
astronomy was in trouble. The calender was out of step; the lunar orbit
had the moon’s apparent size changing when it did not. Ptomely’s Earth
centered Universe was not into place. This is why Copernicus tried to
prove how the Universe really orbited.
n the beginning, Copernicus started by relocating the Sun. When he
centered the Sun, he then started mixing the planets up, stating that the
Earth was the 3rd farthest planet from
Copernicus' Theory (Sun Centered Universe)
the Sun. Back then, the only planets known and found were Mercury,
Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. His studies as
a mathematician helped him greatly in locating how far the planets were
from the Sun. He then said that all the planets were orbiting around the
Sun, but the Moon ignored the Sun’s orbit and orbited around the
Earth’s orbit.
his theory answered the fact that the planet’s sizes were different
throughout the year and the fact that the orbits of the planets were
irregular now and then would be explained. He wrote his theory in a
book, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the Revolutions of the 
Heavenly Spheres), which was already written in 1530 but did not
publish until after his death in 1543. It is said that his book did
not publish straight away and ended up being published after
his death because Copernicus was afraid that he would be
declared heretic by the Catholics. This was because anyone
who opposed the Catholic teachings were tortured, kept away,
etc. That was what happened to Galileo who believed in
Copernicus’ theory and proved it.
The Copernican Planisphere, illustrated in 1661 by Andreas Cellarius.
Credit: Public domain
In the early 1500s, when virtually everyone believed Earth
was the center of the universe, Polish scientist Nicolaus
Copernicus proposed that the planets instead revolved
around the sun. Although his model wasn't completely
correct, it formed a strong foundation for future
scientists to build on and improve mankind's
understanding of the motion of heavenly bodies.
[Related: Famous Astronomers: List of Great Scientists in
Astronomy]
Indeed, other astronomers built on Copernicus' work and
proved that our planet is just one world orbiting one star
in a vast cosmos loaded with both, and that we're far
from the center of anything. Here is a brief biography of
Copernicus:
Celestial education
Born on Feb. 19, 1473, in Warmia, Poland, Mikolaj Kopernik
(Copernicus is the Latinized form of his name) traveled to
Italy at the age of 18 to attend college, where he was
supposed to study the laws and regulations of the
Catholic Church and return home to become a canon.
However, he spent most of his time studying mathematics
and astronomy. Due to his uncle's influence, Copernicus
did become a canon in Warmia, but he asked to return to
Italy to study medicine and to complete his law
doctorate. (Of course, he may also have been thinking
that the skies above Italy were clearer than above
Warmia, according to Famous Scientists.
Nicolaus Copernicus
Credit: Public Domain
While attending the University of Bologna, he lived and
worked with astronomy professor Domenico Maria de
Novara, doing research and helping him make
observations of the heavens. Copernicus never took
orders as a priest, but instead continued to work as a
secretary and physician for his uncle in Warmia.
When he returned to Poland to take up his official duties,
his room in one of the towers surrounding the town
boasted an observatory, giving him ample time and
opportunity to study the night sky, which he did in his
spare time.
A new model
In Copernicus' lifetime, most believed that Earth held its
place at the center of the universe. The sun, the stars,
and all of the planets revolved around it.
One of the glaring mathematical problems with this
model was that the planets, on occasion, would travel
backward across the sky over several nights of
observation. Astronomers called this retrograde motion. To
account for it, the current model, based on the Greek
astronomer and mathematician Ptolemy's view,
incorporated a number of circles within circles —
epicycles — inside of a planet's path. Some planets
required as many as seven circles, creating a
cumbersome model many felt was too complicated to
have naturally occurred.
In 1514, Copernicus distributed a handwritten book to his
friends that set out his view of the universe. In it, he
proposed that the center of the universe was not Earth,
but that the sun lay near it. He also suggested that
Earth's rotation accounted for the rise and setting of the
sun, the movement of the stars, and that the cycle of
seasons was caused by Earth's revolutions around it.
Finally, he (correctly) proposed that Earth's motion
through space caused the retrograde motion of the
planets across the night sky (planets sometimes move in
the same directions as stars, slowly across the sky from
night to night, but sometimes they move in the opposite,
or retrograde, direction).
Copernicus finished the first manuscript of his book, "De
Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium" ("On the Revolutions
of the Heavenly Spheres") in 1532. In it, Copernicus
established that the planets orbited the sun rather than
the Earth. He laid out his model of the solar system and
the path of the planets.
He didn't publish the book, however, until 1543, just two
months before he died. He diplomatically dedicated the
book to Pope Paul III. The church did not immediately
condemn the book as heretical, perhaps because the
printer added a note that said even though the book's
theory was unusual, if it helped astronomers with their
calculations, it didn't matter if it wasn't really true,
according to Famous Scientists. It probably also helped
that the subject was so difficult that only highly educated
people could understand it. The Church did eventually
ban the book in 1616.
The Catholic Church wasn't the only Christian faith to
reject Copernicus' idea.
"When 'De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium' was
published in 1543, religious leader Martin Luther voiced
his opposition to the heliocentric solar system model,"
says Biography.com. "His underling, Lutheran minister
Andreas Osiander, quickly followed suit, saying of
Copernicus, 'This fool wants to turn the whole art of
astronomy upside down.'"
Copernicus died on May 24, 1543, of a stroke. He was 70.
He was buried in Frombork Cathedral in Poland, but in an
unmarked grave. Remains thought to be his were
discovered in 2005.
Johannes Kepler, (born December 27, 1571, Weil der
Stadt, Württemberg [Germany]—died November 15, 1630,
Regensburg), German astronomer who discovered three major laws of
planetary motion, conventionally designated as follows: (1)
the planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus; (2) the
time necessary to traverse any arc of a planetary orbit is proportional to
the area of the sector between the central body and that arc (the “area
law”); and (3) there is an exact relationship between the squares of the
planets’ periodic times and the cubes of the radii of their orbits (the
“harmonic law”). Kepler himself did not call these discoveries “laws,” as
would become customary after Isaac Newton derived them from a new
and quite different set of general physical principles. He regarded them
as celestial harmonies that reflected God’s design for the universe.
Kepler’s discoveries turned Nicolaus Copernicus’s Sun-centred
system into a dynamic universe, with the Sun actively pushing the
planets around in noncircular orbits. And it was Kepler’s notion of a
physical astronomy that fixed a new problematic for other important
17th-century world-system builders, the most famous of whom was
Newton.

Kepler's theory of the solar system.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Among Kepler’s many other achievements, he provided a new and
correct account of how vision occurs; he developed a novel explanation
for the behaviour of light in the newly invented telescope; he discovered
several new, semiregular polyhedrons; and he offered a new theoretical
foundation for astrology while at the same time restricting the domain in
which its predictions could be considered reliable. A list of his
discoveries, however, fails to convey the fact that they constituted for
Kepler part of a common edifice of knowledge. The matrix of
theological, astrological, and physical ideas from which Kepler’s
scientific achievements emerged is unusual and fascinating in its own
right. Yet, because of the highly original nature of Kepler’s discoveries,
it requires an act of intellectual empathy for moderns to understand how
such lasting results could have evolved from such an apparently
unlikely complex of ideas. Although Kepler’s scientific work was centred
first and foremost on astronomy, that subject as then understood—the
study of the motions of the heavenly bodies—was classified as part of a
wider subject of investigation called “the science of the stars.” The
science of the stars was regarded as a mixed science consisting of a
mathematical and a physical component and bearing a kinship to other
like disciplines, such as music (the study of ratios of tones)
and optics (the study of light). It also was subdivided into theoretical
and practical categories. Besides the theory of heavenly motions, one
had the practical construction of planetary tables and instruments;
similarly, the theoretical principles of astrology had a corresponding
practical part that dealt with the making of annual astrological forecasts
about individuals, cities, the human body, and the weather. Within this
framework, Kepler made astronomy an integral part of natural
philosophy, but he did so in an unprecedented way—in the process,
making unique contributions to astronomy as well as to all
its auxiliary disciplines.
ir Isaac Newton (Dec. 25, 1642 - March 31, 1727) was an English
mathematician and physicist who invented calculus (simultaneously but
independently of Leibniz), formulated the law of gravitation and discovered
the laws of motion. He also investigated the nature of light, discovering that
sunlight is made of light of different colors; the spectrum is, in order from long
to short wavelength: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Newton
also developed a reflecting telescope (it used mirrors to solve the problem of
chromatic aberration, in which the light from stars was surrounded by a
spectrum of colors as the components of white light came into focus at
different places within the telescope). Newton was the first person to
explain tides scientifically (1686).
Newton's Law of Gravitation (formulated in 1666) describes the gravitational
attraction between objects; the force of their gravitational attraction (F)
depends only on their masses and the distance between them, according to the
formula F = Gm1m2 / r2. The universal gravitational constant (abbreviated G) is
the constant of proportionality in Newton's equation; G is a fundamental
constant of nature that determines the strength of the force of the gravitational
interaction between objects. In 1798, Henry Cavendish determined the
numerical value of G to be 6.668 x 10-8 dynes-cm2/g2. This extraordinary
formula can be used to determine the mass of the Earth or to determine
interactions between celestial bodies.
Newton's Three Laws of Motion are:
1. An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and an object in uniform
motion tends to remain in that state of motion, unless an external
force is applied to it (the Law of Inertia).
2. A force causes acceleration (a change in the velocity) of an object
(F=ma).
3. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
The deepest crater on the moon is named for Newton; it is 8.85 km deep
Sir Isaac Newton contributed significantly to the field of
science over his lifetime. He invented calculus and provided a
clear understanding of optics. But his most significant work
had to do with forces, and specifically with the development of
a universal law of gravity. [See also our overview of Famous
Astronomers and great scientists from many fields who have
contributed to the rich history of discoveries in astronomy.]
Motion in the universe
The popular myth tells of an apple falling from a tree in his
garden, which brought Newton to an understanding of
forces, particularly gravity. Whether the incident actually
happened is unknown, but historians doubt the event — if
it ocurred — was the driving force in Newton’s thought
process. His most famous work came with the publication
of his "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica"
("Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy"),
generally called Principia. In it, he determined the three
laws of motion for the universe.
The first describes how objects move at the same
velocity unless an outside force acts upon it. (A force is
something that causes or changes motion.) Thus, an
object sitting on a table remains on the table until a force
– the push of a hand, or gravity – acts upon it. Similarly,
an object travels at the same speed unless it interacts
with another force, such as friction.
His second law of motion provided a calculation for how
forces interact. The force acting on an object is equal to
the object's mass times the acceleration it undegoes.
Newton's third law states that for every action in nature,
there is an equal and opposite reaction. If one body
applies a force on a second, then the second body exerts
a force of the same strength on the first, in the opposite
direction. [VIDEO: Final Nail in Newton's Theory]
From all of this, Newton calculated the universal law of
gravity. He found that as two bodies move farther away
from one another, the gravitational attraction between
them decreases by the inverse of the square of the
distance. Thus, if the objects are twice as far apart, the
gravitational force is only a fourth as strong; if they are
three times as far apart, it is only a ninth of its previous
power.
These laws helped scientists understand more about the
motions of planets in the solar system, and of the moon
around Earth.
A scientist across disciplines
While a student, Newton was forced to take a two year
hiatus when plague closed Trinity college. At home, he
continued to work with optics, using a prism to separate
white light, and became the first person to argue that
white light was a mixture of many types of rays, rather
than a single entity. He continued working with light and
color over the next few years, and published his findings
in “Opticks” in 1704.
Disturbed by the problems with telescopes at the time, he
invented the reflecting telescope, grinding the mirror and
building the tube himself. Relying on a mirror rather than
lenses, the telescope presented a sharper image than
refracting telescopes at the time. Modern techniques
have reduced the problems caused by lenses, but large
telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope use
mirrors. [Stacking Up the 10 Biggest Telescopes on Earth]
As a student, Newton studied the most advanced
mathematical texts of his time. While on hiatus, he
continued to study mathematics, laying the ground for
differential and integral calculus. He united many
techniques that had previously been considered
seperately, such as finding areas, tangents, and the
lengths of curves. He wrote De Methodis Serierum et
Fluxionum in 1671, but was unable to find a publisher.
Newton also established a cohesive scientific method, to
be used across disciplines. Previous explorations of
science varied depending on the field. Newton
established a set format for experimentation still used
today.
Brahe’s Discoveries
Brahe contributed a lot to the field of astronomy. Astronomers at the
time believed that the heavens consist of separate individual spheres
that all revolve around the Earth. In 1572, he studied a supernova in
Cassiopeia. The new star stayed visible for one and a half year. In
1577, Brahe studied a comet. Existing theory taught that the
occurrences were disorders in the atmosphere, but his accurate
measurements exposed differently. Brahe attested that the supernova
didn’t change with regard to the nearby stars. He also proved that the
comet orbited further than the moon’s path, opposing the theory that
the heavens never altered.
Continued Observations
In 1575, King Frederick II wanted to keep Brahe in Denmark by giving
him financial support and his own island to study astronomy. Brahe built
a large observatory where his detailed observations of the heavens
were kept. While the majority of astronomers only concentrated on
studying heavenly bodies at exact, odd points in their orbits, he
carefully tracked them in their whole observable orbit across the sky,
making the most accurate observations proposed at the time. Some of
the measurements he made were precise to 1/2 an arc minute. This is
particularly admirable as these measurements all made before the
introduction of the telescope.
Beginning Theories of Solar Orbit

Even though his observations exposed the flaws of the present system,
he didn’t embrace the sun-centered model of Nicolaus Copernicus.
Instead, Brahe provided a model which combined the two, placing the
sun and moon in orbit around Earth even as the other 5 recognized
planets orbited the sun. The model became popular among people who
wanted to abandon the older idea, but weren’t prepared to embrace the
proposal of the sun at the solar system’s center.

His accurate measurements provided the foundation for a

fresh understanding of the movement of the planets. Johannes
Kepler contacted Brahe at the end of the 16th century in an
effort to get copies of his study. Brahe instead suggested
Kepler to be his assistant, assisting him to collect his data.

On the other hand, Brahe was stingier than Kepler had

expected and declined to share the measurements of the
planets as well as their orbits he made. Instead, he
recommended Kepler to focus on solving the Mars dilemma
that overwhelmed astronomers.

Due to its orbit, Mars seems to occasionally travel backwards

across the sky, which caused many astronomers to propose
epicycles, tiny circles in their orbit. Copernicus’ proposal that
the planets revolved around the sun in circles couldn’t even
account for the strange motion of the red planet.

Using Brahe’s thorough observations, Kepler understood that

the planets orbited the sun not in a circular motion, but in
ellipses or stretched out circles. The problem, however, took
Kepler almost one decade to resolve and he did not publish it
until after the death of Brahe. Even though Brahe’s family
planned to obtain as much financial benefit as possible from
his observations, Kepler less-than-ethically got them after
Tycho’s death.