SPACE — On November 21, 1676, Danish astronomer Ole Romer discovered the speed of light. Before Romer knew it, scientists thought light traveled instantaneously, or very quickly.
Romer disproves this common belief by accident. At that time, he was studying Io, a moon orbiting Jupiter. He tried to calculate how long it would take Io to orbit Jupiter in hopes of using it as a cosmic clock.
Ole Romer. Image: Britannica
He saw Io disappear behind Jupiter and reappear on the other side. Romer did this repeatedly every 42 hours.
Surprisingly, the timing of the eclipse was inconsistent. When Earth is closest to Jupiter, the eclipse occurs 11 minutes earlier. Likewise, when the two planets were farthest apart, the eclipse was 11 minutes behind schedule.
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Romer discovered the pattern and made an accurate prediction regarding the eclipse of Io on November 9, 1676. Then on November 21, he took his findings to the Royal Academy of Sciences. Romer explained that the finite speed of light was the cause of the difference in eclipse times. Source: Space.com
2023-11-21 16:00:00
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