The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1874-05-21
Invention OF the Telescope.

In the year 1909, the same year il
which Keplcr published his celebrated
commentary on Mars, Galileo paid visi
to Venice, where he heard, in the course
of conversation, that a Dutchman, of the
name of Jansens, had constructed and
presented to Prince Maurice an instru
ment, through which he saw distinct oh
jects maghiiled and rendered more dis
tinct, as If they had been brought nearei
to the observer.
This report was credited by some and
disbelieved by Others; but, in a few
days, Galileo received letter from
James Badovere, at Paris, which placed
beyond doubt the existence of such an
instrument. The idea instantly filled
his mind as one of the utmost import.
ance to science and so thoroughly was
he acquainted with The properties Of
lenses, that he not only discovered the
principle of its construction, but was
soon able to complete telescope for his
own use
Into one end of leaden tube he fitted
aspectacle glass, plain on one side and
convex on the other; and in the other
end he placed another spectacle-glass,
concave on one side and plain on the
other. He then applied to his eye the
concave glass, and saw objects "pretty
large and pretty near him." They then
appeared three times nearer, and nine
times larger in surface than to the naked
eye. He soon after made another, which
represented objects Sky times larger !;
and sparing neither labor nor expense,
he finally constructed an instrument so
excellent as " to shcw things almost a
thousand times larger, and about thirty
times nearer to the naked eye."
There is, perhaps, no invention that
science has presented to man so extraOr-
dinary in its nature, and so bOundless in
its influence, as that of the telescope
To the uninstructed mind, the power of
seeing an object thousand miles distant,
as large as if it were brought within a
mile of the observer, must seem almost
miraculous and to the philosopher
even, who thoroughly comprehends the
principles upon which it acts, it must
ever appear one of the most elegant ap-
plicatiOns of scienne.
To have been the first astronomer, in
whose hands such gift was placed, was
preference to which Galileo owed much
of his future reputation. No sooner had
he completed his telescope, than he ap-
piled it to the heavens; and, on the 9TH
of January, 1913, the first day of its use,
he saw around Jupiter three bright little
stars, lying in line parallel to the eclip-
tic, two to the east and one to the west
of the planet. Regarding them as Ordi-
nary stars, he never thought of estimat-
ing their distances.
Immediately, on the following day,
when he accidently directed his tele-
scope to Jupiter, he was surprised to see
the three stars to the west of the planet.
To produce this effect, it was requisite
that the motion of Jupiter should be di-
rect though, according to calculation, it
was actually retrograde. In this dilemma,
he waited with impatience for the even
ing of the 9th, but unfortunately the sky
was covered with clouds.
On the tenth he saw only two stars to
the east, circumstance which he was no
longer able to explain by the motion of
Jupiter He was, therefore, compelled
to ascribe the change to the stars them
selves; and upon repeating his observa-
tiOns on the 11th, he no longer doubted
that he had discovered three planets re-
volving round Jupiter. On the 18th of
January, he, for the first time, saw the
satellite