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Galilei, Vincenzo

(Encyclopedia) Galilei, VincenzoGalilei, Vincenzovēnchĕnˈtsō gälēlĕˈē [key], d. 1591, Italian lutenist, singer, writer, and composer; father of Galileo. As a member of the Florentine camerata (see…

Galileo (U.S.)

Destination: Jupiter. Launched: Oct. 18, 1989. Achieved Orbit: Dec. 7, 1995. Mission ended: Sept. 2003. Mission: To study the chemical composition and physical state of the largest planet in the…

Galileo

(Encyclopedia) Galileo (Galileo Galilei)Galileogălˌĭlēˈō; gälēlĕˈō gälēlĕˈē [key], 1564–1642, great Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist. By his persistent investigation of natural laws…

Pendulum Clocks

In 1656, Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch scientist, made the first pendulum clock, regulated by a mechanism with a “natural” period of oscillation. Although Galileo Galilei, sometimes credited…

The Search for Life in the Solar System

by Tim Porter While generations of cloned mice and asteroids the size of Texas dominate science in popular culture today, a NASA probe is quietly studying one of the most interesting objects in…

Jovian Moons

GanymedeEuropaCallistoIoAmalthea Jupiter has a total of 63 known satellites. The four great moons of Jupiter were discovered by Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) in Jan. 1610, and are called the…

Astronomical Terms

  The Milky Way, the galaxy containing our solar system, is about 100,000 light-years in diameter and about 10,000 light-years thick.   Aphelion: see Orbit. Apogee: see Orbit. Black hole…

Ferraris, Galileo

(Encyclopedia) Ferraris, GalileoFerraris, Galileogälēlāˈō fār-räˈrēs [key], 1847–97, Italian physicist and electrical engineer. He is noted for his work on alternating current and for his discovery (…