THE

SIDEREAL MESSENGER

The original Latin title is Sidereus Nuncius. While often translated as "Messenger," it can also mean "Message," suggesting the news being delivered from the heavens themselves.

UNFOLDING GREAT AND MARVELOUS SIGHTS,

AND PROPOSING THEM TO THE ATTENTION OF EVERY ONE,

BUT ESPECIALLY PHILOSOPHERS AND ASTRONOMERS,

BEING SUCH AS HAVE BEEN OBSERVED BY

GALILEO GALILEI

A GENTLEMAN OF FLORENCE,

PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PADUA,

WITH THE AID OF A

TELESCOPE

Galileo did not invent the telescope (the spyglass originated in the Netherlands), but he significantly improved the design for astronomical use, which is why he describes it here as "lately invented by him."

lately invented by him,

Respecting the Moon’s Surface, an innumerable number of Fixed Stars,

The "Fixed Stars" were historically believed to be attached to a distant sphere that rotated around the Earth, as they did not move in relation to one another like the planets did.

the Milky Way, and Nebulous Stars, but especially respecting

Four Planets which revolve round the Planet Jupiter at

different distances and in different periodic times, with

amazing velocity, and which, after remaining

unknown to every one up to this day, the

Author recently discovered, and

determined to name the

MEDICEAN STARS.

Galileo named these newly discovered moons of Jupiter the "Medicean Stars" (original Latin: Sidera Medicea) to secure the patronage of the powerful Medici family, specifically Cosimo II, the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

VENICE 1610.