BALILEO OALILEI B. What country was Galileo from? square 6. What did he build in 1609 to study the heavens? square What major observations did Galileo square

5. What country was Galileo from?<br />**Italy**<br /><br />6. What did he build in 1609 to study the heavens?<br />**A telescope**<br /><br />What major observations did Galileo make?<br />- **The moons of Jupiter:** Galileo discovered four large moons orbiting Jupiter, now known as the Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto).<br />- **Phases of Venus:** He observed that Venus exhibited phases similar to those of the Moon, which supported the heliocentric model of the solar system.<br />- **Sunspots:** Galileo observed dark spots on the surface of the Sun, challenging the notion of an unblemished celestial sphere.<br />- **Mountains and craters on the Moon:** He noted that the Moon's surface was not smooth but had mountains and craters.<br />- **Stars in the Milky Way:** Galileo discovered that the Milky Way was composed of a vast number of individual stars.<br /><br />These observations provided significant evidence against the geocentric model of the universe and supported the Copernican heliocentric theory.