“A Watermark, and ‘Spidey Sense,’ Unmask a Forged Galileo Treasure”, an article so titled and published in a leading US daily, revealed a forged bit of Galileo’s notes, believed to be authentic till now.

The note a Galileo manuscript, one of the University of Michigan Library’s most prized possessions, is now thought to be the work of a 20th-century forger.

Nick Wilding, a historian at Georgia State University, revealed evidence suggesting the manuscript was a fake. The case was further investigated by the library and determined the findings as true. The university said Wednesday it had concluded that its treasured manuscript “is in fact a 20th-century forgery.”

False statement pointed out
Christopher M. Graney, of Vatican Observatory Foundation, said though the forgery was promptly pointed out, the daily also published an inaccurate statement. The article begins as follows-

"Galileo Galilei was peering through a new telescope in 1610 when he noticed something strange: several bright objects flickering around the planet Jupiter that seemed to change positions nightly. His discovery, of moons orbiting Jupiter, was a major crack in the notion, widely held since antiquity, that everything in the universe revolved around the Earth.

The finding, which was condemned by the Catholic Church, helped prove the theory of a sun-centered solar system."

Galileo’s discovery of moons orbiting Jupiter was not condemned by the Catholic Church, says Christopher. In fact, as soon as Jesuit astronomers in Rome could get their hands on a good telescope, they confirmed his discovery. Indeed, since confirmation by other scientists of new discoveries—especially scientists with solid reputations (like Fr. Christopher Clavius at Rome)—is an important part of any scientific breakthrough, arguably this finding received key confirmation by the Catholic Church.

He also affirms that the discovery of Jupiter’s moons was indeed a major crack in the notion, widely held since antiquity, that everything in the universe revolved around the Earth, but it did not help prove the theory of a sun-centered solar system. Some astronomers at the time saw the moons as evidence in favor of the idea of epicycles, as they were proof of circles moving on circles.
-NYT/VaticanObservatory