Our model maker, Erik te Groen, has been given a unique chance to see Galileo's original telescopes up close, thanks to our (international) connections. These telescopes can be seen in a museum in Florence, Italy, and because the telescopes were taken out of their case because a film crew was filming them, Erik could be there too and see the telescopes up close. This enabled him to accurately study, measure and photograph them. Erik is going to make very accurate replicas of this telescope. He expects to have the first one ready some time in 2009. We would like to share the exciting news with you that Erik has made a couple of very interesting discoveries about this telescope. At our observatory club we have two humble replicas of Galileo's telescopes, the replica Erik is working on right now will be one of very high quality and accuracy.