The forces of rotation caused red hot masses of stones to be torn away from the Earth and to be thrown into the ether, and this is the origin of the stars.
— Anaxagoras 428 BC
Thanks to the much-heralded International Year of Astronomy, this much we know: Galileo used a telescope to observe the moon in 1609. But the inventor of the revolutionary resolutionary device remains unknown, and its early history is muddied by simultaneous discoveries and competing claims.
Galileo wasnt the first to have or use a telescope, but the first to put it towards the heavens and make use of it for studies in astronomy
The attached power point file offers a great explanation of the evolution of the early use of the telescope.
Astrophotography equipment