Galileo's drawings of Moon= s first and last quarter phases, done in 1610. These are the first published drawings of the Moon as seen through a telescope. The drawings are dramatic and relatively poor, but the description of mountains (and measures of their heights) and craters revealed that the Moon was not a perfect sphere as naively believed. The main maria are easy to identify, but the large crater on the terminator of both maps is larger than any in that area of the Moon and its identification is uncertain.

Source: http://www.space.edu/moon/timeline/1600s/1609-Galileo.html

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Last modified:  Thursday, January 27, 2005 06:02 PM