Tube length1.2 m
2.2 thousandthsOne World Trade Centers
5.9 tenthsDoor heights
4Bread loaves
Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Galileo's Telescope
The tube that revealed Jupiter's moons/Inventions & Discoveries
In 1609, Galileo Galilei built an improved refracting telescope with about 20x magnification. The instrument was roughly 1.2 meters long with a lens diameter of about 3.7 cm. With it, he discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter, observed the phases of Venus, and saw craters on the Moon. His observations provided key evidence supporting the Copernican heliocentric model of the solar system.
Measurements
Objective lens diameter3.7 hundredths m
2.47Blueberry diameters
135 millionWater molecules
167 millionthsHoover Dam heights
Estimated mass1.5 kg
556 millionthsBlue whale tongues
8.24Apples
Tube diameter5 hundredths m
2.5Grape diameters
2.62Penny diameters
Age13.2 billion s
3.6 hundredthsHolocene eras
14Generations
27.5 millionShowers
Built in 1609
Magnification20 x
1.82Soccer teams
20Thumbs up