refractor telescope, Galileo discovered four moons of Jupiter and for the first time in the history of the world observed the movement of a satellite around a planet. Using his telescope Galileo also observed that the phases of Venus were similar to lunar phases and argued that these observations empirically supported the theory that the earth moves around the sun. James Kepler a contemporary of Galileo's supported Galileo's observations. He was the first to attempt to derive mathematical predictions of celestial motions from assumed physical cases. Years of his research culminated in the publication of his "Epitome of Copernican Astronomy" in 1615 in which his three laws of planetary motion were outlined, theorising a heliocentric planetary system. By 1687 the marriage of physics and astronomy reached its epitome as Isaac Newton realised that the same force which attracted objects to the earth also fixed the moon in orbit around the earth and posited the law of universal gravitation. Astronomy in Australia More than 40,0000 years ago the indigenous people in Australia first observed the southern skies and developed a series of complex cosmic mythologies around the regular movement and appearance of stars, planets, the moon and sun. While different Aboriginal communities developed their own stories and explanations, there were shared threads between these cosmologies. Many groups engendered the sun as a woman warming the land. The moon was male, once young and slim (the waxing crescent moon) he grows fat and lazy as the full moon develops night after night. After breaking the law he is killed by his people (the new moon) and after being dead 3 days he rises to repeat the cycle. Other Aboriginal people such as the Kuwema people of the Northern Territory believe the moon grew fat by eating the spirits of those who disobey tribal laws. Aboriginal people in different areas used the sky as a calendar which indicated the time to move to a new location and food supply. For instance the Boorong people of Victoria knew that when the "Mallee-fowl" constellation (Lyra) disappears in October, to "sit with the sun", it was time to start gathering her eggs on Earth. Others used the first appearance of Orion in the sky to mark the time that Dingo puppies were about to be born. European astronomy in NSW In 1768 Cook set sail from Plymouth in England. His destination was Tahiti where he, the