On this date, Jan. 7, 1610, astronomer Galileo Galilei, with a homemade telescope, noticed three points of light near Jupiter. Initially believing they were distant stars, Galileo’s repeated ...

Galileo Galilei identified four of Jupiter's orbiting moons, examined Saturn, observed the varying phases of Venus, and scrutinized sunspots on the surface of the sun. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images) 4.

"Eight minutes later, the orbiter started receiving data from the descent probe, which slammed into the top of the Jovian atmosphere at a comet-like speed of 170,000 kilometers per hour," NASA ...

Galileo continued writing in conversational language for his landmark 1632 work, Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del ...

Jupiter used to be twice as big as it is now — it could have held 2,000 Earths; ... 1610, by Italian scientist Galileo Galilei. Io imaged by NASA's Galileo spacecraft. (Image credit: ...

Stunning new Jupiter photos from NASA’s Juno spacecraft reveal storms, ... Callisto, Ganymede and Io — which were first discovered by Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610.

If conditions are clear, anyone with a pair of binoculars or a telescope may even be able to pick out details, such as Jupiter’s four largest moons — Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa.The four ...

More than 400 years ago, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei peered at Jupiter through his telescope, inspecting what he thought were three stars. In looking, he realized they were not stars but ...

The real notes on Jupiter's moon are part of the Sidereus Nuncius Dossier at the Florence National Central Library. This undated file image shows an etching of astronomer Galileo Galilei. AP Photo ...

Jupiter's four best-known moons are the Galilean moons, discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610. They are named Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa, after figures in Greek mythology associated with ...