The night sky on the night of Galileo's discovery of Jupiter's moons — 7 January 1610
On 7 January 1610, from Padua, Galileo Galilei turned his new telescope to Jupiter and saw three small 'stars' in a line beside the planet. Over the following nights they moved, and a fourth appeared: Galileo realised they were orbiting Jupiter — the first moons ever found around another planet. He published the discovery in Sidereus Nuncius that March.
The sky over Padua, Italy
This is the real sky above Padua, Italy (45.41°N, 11.88°E) on 7 January 1610 at 19:00 Padua local mean time (UTC+0:48) that night (1610-01-07 18:12 UTC). The Sun was 25° below the horizon: it was full night. The Moon (waxing gibbous, 96% lit) was 42° up in the east. Planets above the horizon: Jupiter (47° in the east). Brightest named stars up: Vega, Capella, Rigel, Procyon and Betelgeuse.
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