thumb | right | A 1612 method of observation of the sun
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The year 1612 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Astronomy
- The first description of the Andromeda Galaxy based on observations by telescope is given by Simon Marius.
- December 28 – Galileo observes the planet Neptune for the first time when it is in conjunction with Jupiter, but mistakenly catalogues it as a fixed star because of its extremely slow motion along the ecliptic, and it will not be properly identified until 1846.
Medicine
- Santorio Sanctorius puts the thermometer to medical use.
Births
- approx. date – William Gascoigne, English inventor (died 1644)
Deaths
- February – John Gerard, English herbalist (born c. 1545)
- February 6 – Christopher Clavius, German mathematician and astronomer (born 1537)
- February 12 – Jodocus Hondius, Flemish cartographer (born 1563)
- November 20 – Sir John Harington, English inventor (born 1561)