Poor Simon Marius

Who was Simon Marius? He was a German astronomer who claimed to have discovered Jupiter's four moons a few days before Galileo did. But he didn't publish his findings till 1614. Galileo published his in 1610, the same year he discovered the moons.

So instead of being famous for discovering Jupiter's first four moons, Marius is merely a footnote in history as the man who gave the moons their names -- Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, named after lovers of Jupiter.

This is a portrait of Simon Marius. He sure looks mad, doesn't he?



References:

Galilean Moons
Simon Marius
Marius portrait