Question

When Galileo first looked at the Milky Way with a telescope, what did he observe that the band of light was actually made of?

1) Lightning beams
2) Numerous individual stars
3) One very large star
4) Several very small meteors

Answer 1

Galileo discovered that the Milky Way is composed of numerous individual stars when he viewed it through his telescope. This significant finding contributed to the realization that our galaxy contains billions of stars, and that there are billions of such galaxies in the universe.

Step-by-step explanation:

When Galileo first looked at the Milky Way with a telescope, he observed that the band of light was actually made of numerous individual stars. Beginning his astronomical work in 1609, he noticed that many stars too faint to be seen with the eye were visible with his telescope. This revelation changed our understanding of the cosmos profoundly, showing that the Milky Way was not a singular object but a vast collection of stars. We now understand that our Sun is just one of the many billions of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. This galaxy is just one among billions in the vast universe, each containing innumerable stars like those Galileo observed through his early telescope.