He was full of himself and could really embarrass people. He believed in experiment and observation and he trusted his senses. The other thing he brought to this was skill as an artist. So when he looked at the moon from what he knew about perspective, he realized he was looking at mountains. But he surely wasn't a belief in Catholic, but he didn't care whether his view was conflicted with the priest.
This year marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s use of the first telescope. On this week’s show, we reflect on how telescopes have shifted our perspective on how small we are in size, space, and time. We also discuss how they help astronomers discover new and interesting aspects of the universe, from Earth-like planets to supernova, from black holes to the Big Bang.
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