Well here we are in jolly old Italy. You may have already met Galileo if you travelled with me as we studied motion. There he is again "Hello Galileo, can I ask you some more questions?"

"You again, I thought I already talked to you about my marvelous ideas of motion."

"You did, I just wanted to ask you about some of your astronomical discoveries."

"Ah yes. Well, let me start off by speaking about the moons of Jupiter. You see the Church has forbidden us to look into the sky. But, I made myself a looking glass that allowed me to see farther and deeper into space. I saw a marvelous thing. I saw a giant planet which I called Jupiter. Like Earth it had a moon orbiting it. But Jupiter had not one, but four moons surrounding it. So you see the Earth is not the only planet with an orbiting satellite. With my telescope, I also made an incredible discovery when looking at the Sun. I saw that it was a giant fireball with dark black sun spots."

"Very interesting Galileo. Now, what is your position on the placement of Earth in the universe?"

"Well, to me it is obvious. The Earth orbits the Sun. Copernicus' data was so indisputable. The only problem I have with this model is that others, such as the church, do not believe me. They claim that I am wrong, and that God would not put his masterpiece - man - anywhere else but the center of all things. Many people know me, so the church can't kill me, but they can punish me, which is the scary thing."

"Well Galileo, I hope it works out for you. Thank you for your time."

The Sun was at the centre of the universe

The Earth was not othe only planet with moons. Jupiter had 4 moons.

The sun was not a perfectly luminous object as it had sun spots.

Galileo was a true hero because he challenged the recognized religious authority. He saw the Sun at the center of the universe, and like Copernicus, the planets orbited the Sun. Galileo had also discovered four moons of Jupiter, as well as Sun spots. In his life he was supported by many, as well as denounced by many. At the age of 70, he was forced by the church to state that he was wrong about all of his work. He was not allowed to write or speak of the Copernican heliocentric system again. Galileo died an abused old man, but his drive and scientific principles remain very much a presence in today's scientific world. Our next hero is Johannes Kepler, who changed the way we think of motion in the heavens. Just click on the Time Machine to continue!