附註:Includes bibliographical references and index.
1 Introduction -- 2 A Jupiter Primer -- 3 Before the Telescope -- 4 The Seventeenth Century -- 4.1 First Telescopic Observations -- 4.2 'Recognition' -- 4.3 Sightings of Jovian Features -- 4.4 Cosmological Implications -- 4.5 Questions on Precedence -- 4.6 Late Seventeenth-Century Work -- 4.7 Patronage -- 4.8 A Century of Discovery -- 4.9 Summary -- 5 The Eighteenth Century -- 5.1 Did the Permanent Spot = the Great Red Spot? -- 5.2 A Jovian Mystery 5.3 The Search for the 'Surface' of Jupiter -- 5.4 Northward -- 5.5 The Shape of Jupiter -- 5.6 The Herschels -- 5.7 Further Contributions from the Continent -- 5.8 Why Observe Jupiter? -- 5.9 Summary -- 6 The First Half of the Nineteenth Century -- 6.1 Observations from Germany ('Barges') -- 6.2 The State of Knowledge at Mid-19th Century -- 6.3 Recurring Spots in the South Temperate Zone -- 6.4 Equatorial Plumes -- 6.5 A Widely Distributed Painting of Jupiter -- 6.6 Where To Observe? -- 6.7 A Latter-Day Italian Observer -- 6.8 Summary -- 7 The 1860s and 1870s -- 7.1 The Oblique Streak 7.2 The Challenge of Time-Varying Phenomena -- 7.3 Awareness of Colour on Jupiter -- 7.4 Mayer's Ellipse -- 7.5 Initial Reports Focusing on the Equatorial Zone -- 7.6 A Detailed Description of Jupiter and 'Portholes' -- 7.7 Continued Reports Focusing on the Equatorial Zone -- 7.8 A Disturbance on Jupiter -- 7.9 The Significance of the EZ Reddening -- 7.10 Summary -- 8 The Modern Discovery of the Great Red Spot -- 8.1 Observations Made at Parsonstown -- 8.2 Observations Made at Moscow -- 8.3 The 1874 Apparition -- 8.4 Published Drawings: from Few to Many -- 8.5 Possible South Temperate Ovals 8.6 Reports from the Southern Hemisphere -- 8.7 The Great Red Spot -- 8.8 The Rotation of Jupiter -- 8.9 Summary -- 9 Theories of Jupiter -- 9.1 Initial Inquiries into the Physical Nature of Jupiter -- 9.2 What is Heating Jupiter? -- 9.3 Whither the Jovians? -- 9.4 Earth-Like or Sun-Like Joviophysics? -- 9.5 The Search for Periodicities in the Jovian
摘要:Since the earliest times one of the brightest lights in the heavens has been that of Jupiter, mythical king of the gods and the largest planet in the solar system. It was only natural that peoples from the dawn of history would be interested in such a planet and, indeed, Jupiter was one of the first objects to be observed with the telescope. Even today Jupiter captures the public interest like no other planet: a vast gaseous world, home to violent storms (larger than the Earth) that have raged for centuries. Galileo's Planet: Observing Jupiter before Photography presents the history of humankind's quest to understand the giant planet in the era before photography, a time when the only way to observe the universe was with the human eye. The book provides a comprehensive and fascinating account of the people involved in this quest, their observations, and the results of their findings. Many of the planetary features studied in detail by today's space probes were once glimpsed by keen-eyed, amateur astronomers. These Earth-bound explorers made up for their modest instruments and viewing conditions with their patience, perseverance, and passion for the night sky. Their greatest challenge was the fifth planet from the Sun and the search for its imagined surface-a revelation of the "real Jupiter." In the process, these part-time observers redefined the meaning of the word "planet." The book recounts their story from the earliest times right up until the invention of the camera. --provided by publisher
