Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 52
DECEMBER 2023 OBSERVING
Exploring the Solar System by Charles A. Wood
Observing
the Moon
Mappers
Track down the craters
named after the giants of
lunar cartography.
T
he Moon was the first astronomical
object to be studied scientifically.
Even the first small telescopes revealed
details never before imagined. Many
observers soon began drawing maps to
record the lunar surface. Those who
drew the best-known ones were later
commemorated with crater names.
You can trace the development of lunar
cartography by observing the craters
honoring these early Moon mappers.
The best known (if not first) early,
fairly accurate rendering of the lunar
surface was by Galileo Galilei, whose
watercolors are an artistic record of
discovery in late 1609. With his 20×
telescope, Galileo famously discovered
hollows, mountains, deep valleys,
and flat plains - showing the Moon
was not an idealized perfect sphere
but a world with varied terrains that
reminded him of Earth. Despite his
extraordinary discoveries, he was honored
with an inconspicuous, 16-kmwide
(10-mile-wide) crater (Galilaei)
on the northwestern side of Oceanus
Procellarum, close to the lunar limb.
The earliest map of the nearly complete
visible lunar surface was made
by the Flemish mapmaker Michael
van Langren in 1645. He rushed his
map and included the least amount
of detail, naming craters after royalty
and Christian saints as well as ancient
philosophers and scientists. This was
52 DECEMBER 2023 * SKY & TELESCOPE
11
12
3
8
5
4
15
14
10
1
13
7
9
6
16
quickly followed by better maps made
by the Polish astronomer Johannes
Hevelius (1647) and Giovanni Riccioli
of Italy (1651). Both Hevelius and Riccioli
introduced their own systems of
nomenclature. Hevelius undertook the
first large scientific investigation of the
Moon, Selenographia, which included
descriptions of interesting features,
eclipses, phase maps, and areas visible
during good librations.
Riccioli published a two-volume
book about astronomy that included the
Moon and featured two maps drawn by
a fellow Jesuit, Francesco Grimaldi. The
nomenclature system introduced in the
Grimaldi/Riccioli map continues to be
the basis for naming features almost
four centuries later.
All of these mid-17th century
mappers are commemorated on the
Moon. Langrenus is a prominent,
132-km crater at the eastern shore of
Mare Fecunditatis - a crater named
by van Langren for himself. Hevelius
is a 114-km-wide, degraded version of
Langrenus, located south of Galilaei.
Grimaldi is the 235-km-wide, rimmed
central mare of what we now recognize
as the Grimaldi Basin, and immediately
to its northwest is 146-km Riccioli.
German astronomer Tobias Mayer
was the first to painstakingly measure
the positions of craters and other
NASA / GSFC / ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
Sky & Telescope - December 2023
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sky & Telescope - December 2023
Contents
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - Cover1
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - Cover2
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 1
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - Contents
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 3
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 4
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 5
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 6
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 7
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 8
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 9
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 10
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 11
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 12
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 13
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 14
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 15
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 16
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 17
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 18
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 19
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 20
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 21
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 22
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 23
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 24
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 25
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 26
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 27
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 28
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 29
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 30
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 31
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 32
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 33
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 34
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 35
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 36
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 37
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 38
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 39
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 40
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 41
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 42
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 43
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 44
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 45
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 46
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 47
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 48
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 49
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 50
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 51
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 52
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 53
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 54
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 55
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 56
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 57
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 58
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 59
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 60
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 61
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 62
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 63
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 64
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 65
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 66
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 67
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 68
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 69
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 70
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 71
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 72
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 73
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 74
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 75
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 76
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 77
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 78
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 79
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 80
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 81
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 82
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 83
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - 84
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - Cover3
Sky & Telescope - December 2023 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202501
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202412
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202411
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202410
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202409
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202408
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202407
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202406
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202404_qr
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202404
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202403
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202402
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202401_aus
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202401
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202312_aus
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202312
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202311
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202309
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202308
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202307
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202304_qr
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202302
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202301
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202212
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202211
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202209
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202208
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202207
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202205
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202204
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202202
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202109
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202107
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202105
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202103
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202101
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/skywatch_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202009
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202008
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202007
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202006
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202005
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202004
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202003
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202002
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_202001
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201912
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201911
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201909
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201908
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201907
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201906
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201905
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201904
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201903
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201902
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201901
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201812
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201811
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201810
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201808
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201807
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201806
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201805
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201804
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201803
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201802
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201801
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201712
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201711
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201710
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201709
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201707
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201706
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201705
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201704
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201703
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201702
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201701
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201612
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201611
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201610
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201609
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201608
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201606
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201605
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201604
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201603
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201602
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201601
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201512
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201511
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201510
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201509
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201508
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201507
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201505
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201504
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201503
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201502
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201501
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201412
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201411
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201410
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201409
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201408
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201407
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201406
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_mars
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201404
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201403
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201402
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201401
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201312
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201311
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201309
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201308
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201307
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201302
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201301
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201212
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201211
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201209
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201208
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201207
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201205
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201204
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201202
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201109
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201107
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201105
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201103
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201101
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201012
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201010
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201009
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201008
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201007
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201006
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201005
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201004
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201003
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201002
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aas/st_201001
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com