Galileo's Double Star: The Experiment That "Proved" the Earth Did Not Move

Abstract

Great opportunities arise for teaching physics, astronomy, and their histories when new discoveries are made that involve concepts accessible to students at every level. Such an opportunity currently exists thanks to the fact that notes written by Galileo indicating that he observed the double star Mizar in the "Big Dipper" have recently come to light. His measurements of this star, given the scientific knowledge at the time, strongly supported the theory that the Earth was fixed in space and not moving. Had Galileo published these results, it is likely that widespread acceptance of the heliocentric theory in scientific circles would have been significantly delayed. In light of these notes, his later reference in his Dialogue to using double stars as a means of proving that the Earth was in motion is puzzling. The physics and mathematics behind Galileo's work is easily within reach of students in introductory physics and astronomy courses, so discussion of Galileo's Mizar work and its interesting implications can be used in virtually any class.

The first of two papers (both available on arXiv.org) on the subject of Galileo, stellar parallax, and the motion of the Earth. Of the two, this paper is written for a more general audience. It includes historical background information and explanation of the general phenomenon of parallax. The paper is particularly oriented towards use with introductory physics or astronomy classes. Second revision on arxiv (formatting improvements, typographical error corrections, a few minor wording changes). 16 pages including 3 figures