Galileo's telescopic discovery of moons orbiting Jupiter was important because it showed that
A) the universe could contain centers of motion other than Earth.
B) Earth might move along an orbit and not leave the moon behind.
C) Jupiter was much more massive than Earth.
D) all of the above.
E) a and b above.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Galileo's telescopic discovery of moons orbiting Jupiter showed that the universe could contain centers of motion other than Earth, which challenged the geocentric model of the universe. It also showed that objects can orbit other bodies, which supported the Copernican model of the universe where the Earth and other planets orbit the sun. Therefore, options A and B are correct, but option C is not directly related to Galileo's discovery.

Galileo's Telescopic Discovery of Moons Orbiting Jupiter Was Important Because