Galileo Goes on Trial

On this day in 1633, Galileo Galilei went on trial for the second time. The Inquisition ultimately ruled that he had "rendered [himself] vehemently suspected by this Holy Office of heresy, that is, of having believed and held the doctrine ... that the sun is the center of the world, and that it does not move from east to west, and that the earth does move, and is not the center of the world.” Galileo spent the rest of his life under house arrest. Some 300 years later, the Catholic Church cleared his name of heresy. I shot this pic of Galileo's Astronomic Observatory Tower in Padua, Italy, 11 years ago.