Travels in Italy - Some Astronomical History

[RichardJ]

Just returned from Italy. Love mixing astronomy with travel.
Here are some images from Florence.

1. Some bits of Galileo – an index finger and a thumb and a tooth. Its an Italian thing.

2. The last two remaining telescopes made and used by Galileo. One of his original lenses is in the ornate holder below the telescopes.

3. The tomb of Galileo. The female figures are maths and geometry. Jupiter and the 4 moon he discovered are below him.

RichardJ :)

[Rigel003]

Thanks for the post. Especially liked the body parts. I also make a beeline for science museums when OS. The best have been the Greenwich Observatory, the truly enormous Deutsches Museum in Munich, and by far the best planetarium was in Vienna. Superb, super realistic recreation of the night sky. Setting off on Saturday for a week in Paris and a week in Venice but I these will be slim pickings.

[RichardJ]

Hi Graeme,

Might be a bit late as you need to book, but Paris Observatory is really worth a visit. The tour is in French but still a lot to see. Also, where Messier lived and observed is also worth visiting.

Richard.

[Regulus]

Thanks for sharing those Richard, things I have never seen.
The Roman church like to collect spare bits of peoples mortal remains, and in this instance I'm glad they did.

Trev