Movement of sunspots, 1613

Movement of sunspots, 1613. Illustrated plate from 'Istoria e Dimonstrazioni Intorno all Macchie Solari' by the Italian astronomer, physicist and mathematician Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), published in 1613, showing movement of 'maculae' (sunspots) on the surface of the Sun. Although Galileo was not the inventor of the telescope, he was the first to use it successfully for astronomical observation, discovering mountains on the Moon, the phases of Venus, and four moons of Jupiter, as well as sunspots. Amongst Galileo's many achievements is his suggested general scientific approach to the investigation of celestial phenomena. He supported the Copernican heliocentric model of the Solar System, which led to him being found guilty of heresy by the Inquisition in 1633. ©SSPL/Science Museum