On alleged discovery of satellites of Jupiter by Simon Mayr (Marius)

TL;DR

This paper examines the historical claim by Simon Mayr of discovering Jupiter's satellites in 1614, analyzing evidence to assess the validity of his observations and the context of his assertions.

Contribution

It provides a detailed historical analysis that challenges Mayr's claim of satellite discovery, clarifying the timeline and observational evidence.

Findings

Mayr likely did not observe the satellites before December 1610

Historical evidence does not support Mayr's claim of discovery in 1614

Mayr's observational records are inconsistent and inaccurate

Abstract

In 1614, the German astronomer Simon Mayr published his claim to have discovered the satellites of Jupiter. Writing in the treatise Mundus Jovialis, Mayr made his assertion in a convoluted but unequivocal manner, earning the displeasure of Galileo Galilei, who published his harsh protest in 1623 in Il Saggiatore. Though objections of Galileo were fallacious in some respects, and though numerous scholars took to the field to prove claim of Mayr, none ever really succeeded, and the historical evidence remains to detriment of Mayr. On the basis of such historical evidence, including comparisons between Mundus Jovialis and earlier works of Mayr, independent discovery of the satellites by Mayr can be ruled out. Indeed, it is very likely that he never observed them before 30 December 1610, nearly a year after Galileo. The absence of a corpus of observations by Mayr and the inaccuracy of his tables are also puzzling.