Hi,

starhopper44 wrote:
> For those interested, I dug back into my browser history & re-found
> the site that had the article; it includes an image of Galileo's
> sketch - here's a link:
> http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.rss.spacewire.html?pid=28689

There was an article about Galileo's observations in S&T in the early
90's, and I wrote one myself at around that time (although not published
in a magazine). This was at a time when reproducing ancient
observations via computer programs was something new and exciting.

I recall that there was some question whether or not Galileo had
recognized Neptune to be moving. One has to keep in mind that Galileo
had only a small poor telescope and his only means to record positions
was to sketch them.

Sense would suggest the following questions: if he did think he'd found
a planet, why didn't he continue to follow it? And if he thought he'd
discovered a new planet why was it forgotten rather than celebrated at
the time? To be honest, this work by Jamieson seems really thin to me;
I think he's just clutching at straws.

But reproducing ancient sky events is cool nonetheless! And SkyTools
can do it rather well. I used to do this sort of thing with my old
PC-Sky many years ago. I'd simulate a historical date and put myself at
the scene, imagining what it must have been like. For a while I even
published a newsletter called "Scenario" that would sometimes feature
historical events to recreate. I'll look around for them and post some
of these scenarios here. Seems like ages ago... and I guess it was!

Clear skies,
Greg

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico
skyhound.com