* The telescope was invented by Hans Lippershey, a Dutch spectacle maker, around 1608.

* Galileo Galilei was the first to use the telescope for astronomical observations. He made significant improvements to the telescope and used it to discover the phases of Venus, the moons of Jupiter, sunspots, and the craters on the moon, which provided strong evidence supporting the heliocentric theory.

Nicolaus Copernicus was the Polish astronomer who first proposed the heliocentric theory, which states that the Earth revolves around the Sun, not the other way around. However, he didn't have the technological tools (like the telescope) to prove his theory.

Galileo's observations provided crucial evidence for the heliocentric theory, but he didn't invent it.