Galileo Galilei was a ground-breaking astronomer who discovered, among other things, several of Jupiter's moons. To explore the skies, he relied on a telescopes that magnified objects with simple glass lenses. Although they were incredibly advanced at the time, modern telescopes have long since surpassed them. In fact, his instruments were simple enough for an amateur astronomer to build with a PVC pipe and two inexpensive glass lenses.

Stats

Time: 2 hours

Cost: $28

Difficulty: Easy

Tools

Measuring tape

Handsaw

Drill

Hot-glue gun

Scissors

Materials

50 mm double concave lens, 150 mm focal length

50 mm double convex lens, 1000 mm focal length

PVC pipe, 5-foot length, 2-inch inner diameter

PVC external end cap for 2-inch-diameter pipe 

Paper-towel or toilet-paper tube