KEY TERMS

• • Galileo

    Galileo Galilei is perhaps the best known astronomer in history. He is usually credited as the first scientist to use the telescope (in 1610, at the time a cutting edge military technology) to view the heavens. His most famous discoveries include the four large moons of Jupiter, mountains and craters on the Moon, sunspots, the phases of Venus, and the rings of Saturn. Galileo lived in Italy from 1564 to 1642 and is also notable for his work in mathematics and physics. A Lego® minifigure of Galileo is mounted onboard the Juno spacecraft, along with a plaque that celebrates the great astronomer.