Editing Sidereus Nuncius (section)

==Reception==
The reactions to ''Sidereus Nuncius'', ranging from appraisal and hostility to disbelief, soon spread throughout Italy and England. Many poems and texts were published expressing love for the new form of [[Astronomy|astronomical]] science. Three works of art were even created in response to Galileo's book: [[Adam Elsheimer]]'s ''[[The Flight into Egypt (Elsheimer)|The Flight into Egypt]]'' (1610; contested by [[Keith Andrews (art historian)|Keith Andrews]]<ref name=Howard>{{cite journal|last1=Howard|first1=Deborah|title=Elsheimer's Flight into Egypt and the Night Sky in the Renaissance|journal=Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte|date=1992|volume=55|issue=2|pages=212–224|doi=10.2307/1482611|jstor=1482611}}</ref>), [[Cigoli|Lodovico Cigoli]]'s ''Assumption of the Virgin'' (1612), and [[Andrea Sacchi]]'s ''Divine Wisdom'' (1631).<ref name="Byard" /> In addition, the discovery of the Medicean Stars fascinated other astronomers, and they wanted to view the moons for themselves. Their efforts "set the stage for the modern scientific requirement of experimental reproducibility by independent researchers. Verification versus falsifiability…saw their origins in the announcement of ''Sidereus Nuncius.''"<ref name="Mendillo" />

But many individuals and communities were sceptical. A common response to the Medicean Stars was simply to say that the telescope had a lens defect and was producing illusory points of light and images; those saying this completely denied the existence of the moons.<ref name="Mendillo" /> That only a few could initially see and verify what Galileo had observed supported the supposition that the optical theory during this period "could not clearly demonstrate that the instrument was not deceiving the senses."<ref>Moran, B. ''Sidereus-Nuncius, or the Sidereal Messenger - Galilei, G'', n.d. Annals Of Science, 47(5), pp. 525–526.</ref> By naming the four moons after the Medici brothers and convincing the Grand Duke Cosimo II of his discoveries, the defence of Galileo's reports became a matter of State. Moran notes, “the court itself became actively involved in pursuing the confirmation of Galileo’s observations by paying Galileo out of its treasury to manufacture spyglasses that could be sent through ambassadorial channels to the major courts of Europe." The secretary to [[Giovanni Antonio Magini]], a Bohemian astronomer named [[Martin Horký]], published an incendiary pamphlet criticizing the ''Sidereus Nuncius,'' alleging in it that Galileo's observations were the result of poor lenses and influenced by personal ambitions. After gaining some traction in Italy, however, Horky's work was ultimately strongly rebutted.<ref>Bucciantini, Massimo; Camerota, Michele; Giudice, Franco (2015). ''Galileo's Telescope - A European Story Il telescopio di Galileo: Una storia europea.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-674-73691-7}}. pp 89–101</ref>

The first astronomer to publicly support Galileo's findings was [[Johannes Kepler]], who published an open letter in April 1610, enthusiastically endorsing Galileo's credibility. It was not until August 1610 that Kepler was able to publish his independent confirmation of Galileo's findings, due to the scarcity of sufficiently powerful telescopes.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Sleepwalkers|last=Koestler|first=Arthur|publisher=Penguin Books|year=1964|location=Great Britain|pages=375–383}}</ref>

Several astronomers, such as [[Thomas Harriot]], Joseph Gaultier de la Vatelle, [[Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc]], and [[Simon Marius]], published their confirmation of the Medicean Stars after Jupiter became visible again in the autumn of 1610. Marius, a German astronomer who had studied with [[Tycho Brahe]], was the first to publish a book of his observations. Marius attacked Galileo in ''Mundus Jovialis'' (published in 1614) by insisting that he had found Jupiter's four moons before Galileo and had been observing them since 1609. Marius believed that he therefore had the right to name them, which he did: he named them after Jupiter's love conquests: [[Io (mythology)|Io]], [[Europa (mythology)|Europa]], [[Ganymede (mythology)|Ganymede]], and [[Callisto (mythology)|Callisto]]. But Galileo was not confounded; he pointed out that being outside the Church, Marius had not yet accepted the [[Gregorian calendar]] and was still using the [[Julian calendar]]. Therefore, the night Galileo first observed Jupiter's moons was January 7, 1610 on the Gregorian calendar—December 28, 1609 on the Julian calendar (Marius claimed to have first observed Jupiter's moons on December 29, 1609).<ref name="Mendillo" /> Although Galileo did indeed discover Jupiter's four moons before Marius, [[Io (moon)|Io]], [[Europa (moon)|Europa]], [[Ganymede (moon)|Ganymede]], and [[Callisto (moon)|Callisto]] are now the names of Galileo's four moons.

By 1626 knowledge of the telescope had spread to China when German Jesuit and astronomer Johann Adam Schall von Bell published Yuan jing shuo, (Explanation of the Telescope) in Chinese and Latin.