CHST787 Astronomy Vs.

Astrology
Galileo Galilei
Akash Patel
500564162
Prof.Conor Burns

The Black Death, believed to be one of the greatest tragedies in human history took out
more than half the population of Europe.(EyeWitness to History, 2001) In the midst of the rebirth
from this catastrophe rose an astronomer, philosopher, mathematician and engineer under the
name of Galileo Galilei. Galileo was born on February 15, 1564 in Pisa, Italy. He went to a
Monastery school and later studied medicine at the University of Pisa. Throughout his life,
Galileo made various developments in the field of science (Stillman, 2001). His development of
the telescope by increasing the standard magnification and using it to observe the heavens was a
defining step in observational astronomy. His observational analysis allowed him to discover and
record various astronomical bodies. These recorded observations allowed him to support the
heliocentric model of Copernicus. The successful advancements in his work paved a path to
better understanding astronomy and astrology in the renaissance as well as modern day.
The development of the telescope first began in the 13th century with the discovery of the
crafted lens. A Dutch lens maker under the name of Hans Lippershey implemented both the
convex and concave lens in one instrument, inventing the formally known telescope (Space,
2015). In the early 17th century, Galileo was brought to the attention of this spyglass instrument
and saw room for improvement. With experimentation, Galileo was able to develop a method to
produce a telescope with a magnification power of more than three. Also at the time, Galileo was
in a financial struggle and had a vision that the telescope was his key to success. With the vision
in mind, he approached the senate of Venice and impressed them with the power of his invention.
This was a defining step for the development of the telescope and also Galileo himself as it was a
confidence booster as well a solution to his financial issues. Galileo continued his efforts in
developing the telescope by increasing the magnification from model to model. Upon developing

a telescope with a magnification of nine, he turned to the heavens. Galileo became one of the
first ever in history to use the telescope for observational astronomy.
Galileo, also known as the father of telescopic astronomy, made astonishing
observational discoveries with the aid of the telescope. With one oh his developed model capable
of nine times the magnification, Galileo turned the telescope towards the stars. He noticed that
there were many celestial bodies that could be seen through this instrument but not with the
naked eye. This was an intriguing moment as no one had seen or even assumed that something of
such magnitude existed beyond our eyes. Just as he was beginning his journey in telescopic
astronomy, he diverted his focus on the closest celestial object to earth, the moon. The
misconception at the time of the moon being a smooth spherical object was cleared when Galileo
discovered the moon like the earth was filled with rugged valleys and mountains. Additionally he
discovered that the moon contained a lighter part which surrounded the hemisphere and dark
spots spread which were spread throughout the surface (Burns, 2015). This finding supported the
theory of the uneven moon as it proved the small dark spots were shadows of the uneven
geography on the moon. In his attempt to follow the moon, Galileo noticed that the line which
splits the moon into dark and bright areas, depending on where in the sky it rests, was wavy and
uneven. Contrary to common belief, if the moon were a smooth sphere the splitting line would
have been crisp and smooth, however the uneven plane of the moon showed otherwise. He also
noticed that the layout of light spots on the moon kept varying and they would appear and
disappear from time to time. This was more evidence towards the uneven surface of the moon as
this phenomenon could be explained taking inconsideration that there were mountains and
valleys on the moon and the light reflected towards the earth changed as the position of the moon
changed relative to the sun. The next big finding of Galileo came when he was observing the
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starry sky and stumbled upon Jupiter. He perceived beside the planet Jupiter were three other
bright celestial bodies that were in a straight line with its ecliptic. Two of the three supposed stars
were recorded to be on the eastward side of the planet and one on the westward side. To his
knowledge, Jupiter was in a westward retrograde motion at the time and so he expected Jupiter to
be west of the supposed stars but surprising found it to be east of the supposed stars two days
later. He was fascinated by what he saw as what he was visualizing made no sense according to
his knowledge on the motion of the planets. This was a defining moment because his observation
of this change was the leading factor into further investigating the moons of Jupiter the way he
did. From his continuous observations and tracking the changes of these astronomical bodies
near Jupiter, he was able to characterize them. Galileo was able to witness some sort of influence
of Jupiter on these supposed stars. Through his examinations he found that the number of visible
objects near the planet varied from two to four depending on the time. He also noticed that the
supposed stars were changing in size and position relative to time. The variance in number of
visible starlets could be explained by assuming they disappeared behind Jupiter out of Galileos
sight. The variance in position of the moons could be explained by the circular motion around
Jupiter and their position was relative to where they were in the cycle. The inconsistency in size
could be explained by difference in distance between the earth and the moons. The attributes of
the four moons truly depended on where they were on the cycle around Jupiter. Galileo
concluded by believing the four celestial bodies were the moons of Jupiter and not independent
stars (Campion, Nicholas, Kollerstorn, 2003). In his next phase of discoveries with the telescope,
Galileo put his attention towards the symbol of perfection, the sun. After reading upon other
observers theory of sun spots, Galileo did a little inquiry for himself. The common belief at the
time was the sunspots were satellites of the sun, but Galileo chose to differ and published in his

Letter of Sunspots that they were a part of the sun. This was a significant finding at the time as
this was against the common belief of the sun composed of perfection and filled with purity. The
next phase in Galileos findings was associated with the planet Saturn. He writes in an excerpt
the star of Saturn is not a single star, but is a composite of three, which almost touch each other,
never change or move relative to each other(Galileo Project,2015). The three composites
Galileo saw was actually Saturn itself and an illusion of the ring providing two more composites.
He also observed the planet changed shaped from an oval at times to a perfect sphere at others.
In addition to that, he also noticed the surrounding appendages would appear and disappear
relative to time. Although he got a great start, he wasnt able to follow through with the
investigation of the composites around Saturn to great depth. However, him discovering the
existence of such attributes near Saturn was quite a defining moment as he was able to spread
this knowledge and inspire people to study this in more depth through his publications. Another
planet Galileo happened to observe was Venus. From his observations he realised Venus shared
characteristics with the moon in terms of phases. It went from a full spherical shape during a full
moon to a small crescent during the new moon. This discovery was one of his biggest
breakthroughs at the time for him as it was solid proof the earth was not at the center of the solar
system. The discoveries of Galileo with the aid of telescope were significant as they laid out a
path for him to publicize Copernicuss heliocentric model of the planets
One of astronomical historys biggest moments came with the formulation of the
heliocentric model of the universe by a legend named Nicolaus Copernicus. The publication of
his book De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium sparked a revolution in the name of astronomy
to further investigate his ideologies (Burns, 2015). This planetary system was in contrast to the
long age Ptolemaic system as the center of the universe was considered the sun not the earth. As
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Galileos career progressed he became a strong believer and supporter of Copernicuss model. He
used his findings with the telescope to publicize the Copernicus revolution throughout Europe.
Galileos work towards this revolution began when he first aimed the telescope towards the
heavens. In his first discovery of the stars he noticed the planets increased in size proportionally
to each other whereas other stars stayed relatively the same (Taton, Rene,Wilson, 1989). This
finding was significant as it was support for what Copernicus could not support with hard
evidence. Copernicuss model was ground breaking and had mathematical evidence to support
for the most part. He stumbled when he realised that if the earth was actually orbiting the sun,
then why the position of some stars were not changing relative to the earths motion. The only
logical reasoning he could provide was the stars were too great of a distant to humanly observe
this effect. Galileos finding of the planets changing proportionally and not the distant stars
supported this Copernicus belief that the stars were at great distance for the parallax effect to be
visualized (Grego, Peter, Mannion, 2010). His next big discovery of the four moons of planet
Jupiter was vital support towards the heliocentric model. After a couple of days of observing,
Galileo was able to conclude that Jupiter had some sort of relation with these surrounding
celestial bodies. He realised they revolve around Jupiter and must be satellites of the great planet.
This was a significant moment in supporting Copernicus because it provided hope for the earth
and moon being a planet and satellite system. If there was solid evidence of existence of a similar
phenomenon elsewhere in the universe, it provided hope that a similar system can exists
elsewhere in the same universe. His next discovery of Venus sharing moon like attributes with its
phases was another breakthrough in the Copernican revolution. The long aged Ptolemaic model
stated that Venus was in between the earth and the revolving sun, however with this assumption
it was never possible to see a full phase of Venus. Although this theory did not prove anything

towards the heliocentric model, it showed that the age old Ptolemaic model was incorrect. This
was a significant moment in the revolution because it gave the mind set of that if the Ptolemaic
theory is faulty, then the Copernican model must be the correct one. Galileos work toward the
Copernican theory was of great significance as it laid a path way for others to follow on
throughout this revolution.
Galileos development of the telescope and the use of his remarkable discoveries to
support the Copernicus heliocentric model makes him one of the greatest astronomers of his
time. His work was of great significance in the scientific revolution where some of the greatest
developments in human history were made. As he took the telescope to towards the heavens, he
was able to inspire a lot of other scholars at the time through his publication of Starry messenger.
This was a significant moment in the Copernican revolution because it was one of the initial
steps in publicizing the heliocentric model. Although Galileo was able to secure a job as the
court philosopher and mathematician, he began to create heat in the eyes of the church. As a
result he was advised to stop his practices at once. Galileo managed to stay queit until he saw
hope when a known head of church was elected. With an attempt to utilize his ingenuity and use
the pope to his advantage, Galileo was once again active to the public which resulted heat in the
political world. This was a significant moment in the revolution as conflict always makes matters
more popular. Galileos needs to be publicly active ended in 1633 when he was found guilty for
suspicion of heresy and put under house arrest. Under his house arrest he worked on the physics
of moving-earth principles. His work would eventually be referenced to by other scholars,
leading to better and bigger discoveries. The works of Galileo were of great significance to the
scholars that followed after him as they were the fundamentals of observational astronomy with
the telescope. Galileo Galilee can arguable be considered one of the greatest supporter of
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Copernicuss heliocentric model publically. Although Galileo was purely astronomically based,
his works did directly or indirectly contribute to the development of astrology.
In the scientific revolution, the means of astrology were at an all-time low. Although
Galileo was purely scientific in his career, he knew the basics of astrology. His practice of
astrology was minute and in his youths before his entry into the scientific world (Galileiani,
2015). Even though Galileo may have not directly influenced astrology itself, it would be wrong
to say his work was significant in terms of development of astrology. The scientific revolution
may have ended astrology from everyday life, but it survived through the years and is still
practised to current day. With the new discoveries of Galileo and the scholars at the time, the
world of astrology was bound to change. All the beliefs and assumptions about the universe and
everything in it were revolutionizing. Astrology, which is a result of qualitative data derived from
quantitative data, develops as the quantitative data changes. With great assumption it can be
concluded that Galileos development of the Quantitative data of the universe have had an
immense impact in the field of astrology.
All in all, the father of telescopic astronomy, Galileo Galilei rose in a much needed era to
transform the opinions of the public on the heavens. He led this journey with the development of
the telescope and the discoveries of the heavens that follow with it. Using his discoveries he was
able to continue the movement towards the Copernicus heliocentric planetary model. Galileo
indeed laid a path to develop astronomy and astrology with his work. History is just not made to
be learnt and forgotten but it is remembered to be learned and to be inspired. That is exactly why
we remember Galileo Galilei today, his passion and confidence towards his work inspired people
generations after him.

References
Biblioteca Nazionale di Florence (BNF), Manoscriti Galileiani, VI, Tomo VII. Favaro Antonio
Ed., Le Opere di Galileo Galilei, Florence 1929-39, 20 Vols
Burns, Conor. Astronomy Versus Astrology. Toronto: Ryerson U, 2015. Print.
Campion, Nicholas, and Nick Kollerstorm. "Galileo's Astrology." History of Astrology and
Cultural Astronomy 7.1 (2003): n. pag. Web.
Cox, Lauren. "Who Invented the Telescope? | The First Telescope | Space.com." Space. N.p., n.d.
Web. 12 June 2015.
Drake, Stillman. Galileo: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001-0222. Very Short Introductions online. 2013-09-24. Date Accessed 23 May. 2015 .Web
Grego, Peter, and David Mannion. Galileo and 400 Years of Telescopic Astronomy. New York:
Springer, 2010. Print.
Taton, Rene, and Curtis Wilson. Planetary Astronomy from the Renaissance to the Rise of
Astrophysics. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1989. Print.
"The Galileo Project | Science | Satellites of Jupiter." The Galileo Project | Science | Satellites of
Jupiter. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 June 2015.
The Black Death, 1348 EyeWitness to History. www. Eyewitnesshistory.com(2001)