To the moon and back

Today marks two important astronomical anniversaries, which gives me the perfect opportunity for a posed blip with props (see extra).

Today in 1609, Galileo Galileo demonstrated one of his early telescopes, with a magnifications of about 8 or 9, to Venetian lawmakers. His telescopes were also a profitable sideline for Galileo, who sold them to merchants who found them useful both at sea and as items of trade.

Also, on this day in 1835, The "Great Moon Hoax", also known as the "Great Moon Hoax of 1835" was a series of six articles published in The Sun (a New York newspaper), about the supposed discovery of life and civilization on the Moon. 

The story was advertised on August 21, 1835, as an upcoming feature allegedly reprinted from The Edinburgh Courant. The first in a series of six was published four days later on August 25. These articles were never retracted, however on September 16, 1835, The Sun admitted the articles were in fact fabricated.

Anyway, I thought these anniversaries were fun.

Have a good Sunday, all.