Until the advent of the telescope by Galileo in 1609, man could only observe the heavens with the unaided eye. It was in this year that Galileo heard of a wonderful instrument known as an "optical tube" which could bring distant objects much closer. He quickly set about to reinvent the tube, and with modifications eventually obtained a 30X magnification. With this invention he laid the physical groundwork for the establishment of the Copernican solar system.

Imagine his wonderful delight when, for the first time he gazed upon the mountains and craters of the moon. He also viewed that the dark side of the moon had a faint illumination to it. He reasoned that this illumination was caused by the earth (earth shine) and in viewing this phenomena proved that the earth must reflect sunlight much like the other planets of the solar system. To tour a modern day telescope observatory view the Mt Wilson Virtual Tour. You will learn about one of the most famous telescopes in the world. It is located outside Pasadena, in Southern California.

Types of Telescopes