"In a world illuminated only by fire, Galileo described in detail the surface of the Moon, which we now know is 238, 857 miles away. His Sidereal Messenger, also translated as Starry Messenger, was the first-ever treatise to detail astronomical observations made through a telescope."
(quote from the The Teaching Company's introduction to The Sidereal Messenger, written by Galileo in 1610 )
A treatise by Galileo came to me via email recently. I put it aside, meaning to read it when I had some time. When I finally read the treatise a few days ago, I felt as if I were reading someone's blog entry because, in translation, the tone is somewhat conversational, like a letter. Galileo's voice and times came alive for me. It's a verbal telescope into the time when the telescope was first invented. I like what I am guessing are his drawings and a diagram of a telescope.
Imagine how bright the moon, planets and stars were in 1610!
Coastal Northern California in Mendocino county just north of the Gualala River, between 1973 and 1994, is a place where I was able to see the vast night sky as it appears only when one is far removed from large metropolitan areas and their artificial lights.
(the above image, THE BLACK AND WHITE SERIES: INDEPENDENT CHILD / HIS FIRST WORD WAS "LIGHT," was created by am in 2005 on Arches watercolor paper, using Payne's Grey (watercolor) and Permanent White (gouache). The moon and planets are from drawings my mother made as she looked out over the ocean and saw the Moon, Jupiter, Mars and Venus on June 14, 1991)
