|
|
Article: New mysteries replace the old: the Galileo probe is sending surprises from the biggest planet in our solar system.(Jupiter)
- Article from:
- Insight on the News
- Article date:
- December 23, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
The Galileo probe is sending surprises from the biggest planet in our solar system.
Any time anyone takes a close look at Jupiter, the experience is humbling and unsettling. This has been true since 1610, when Galileo Galilei wrote "The Starry Messenger," a brief treatise concerning four bright objects he saw circling the planet. (A man named Simon Marius actually discovered the moons a year earlier and gave them their names: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.) "Starry Messenger" marked the beginning of Galileo's tragic battle with the Roman Catholic Church, casting doubt that all celestial bodies circled the Earth and eventually costing him his life.
...