Did Simon Marius observe Jupiter's satellites on January 8, 1610? An exercise in computation

2020/02/11 by Yaakov Zik, Zik, Yaakov, Giora Hon +3
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Historical Astronomy and Related Studies #History and Developments in Astronomy #History and Philosophy of Physics (physics.hist-ph) #History and Theory of Mathematics

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2002.04643

openalex publication_date 2020/02/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

The question, Did Simon Marius (1573-1625) observe Jupiter's satellites on January 8, 1610 (December 29, 1609 in the Julian calendar) is moot, for he did not disclose his research method and the instrument he used. To resolve this issue we apply astronomical codes and evaluate the visual performance of a replica of the telescope that Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) had used.

Citations

• Galileo's First Telescopic Observations

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