Cassini's Map of the Moon
This is the first scientific map of the moon and was produced in Paris by astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini. Working in the 1670s, Cassini used a telescope to make careful observations of the moon’s pock-marked surface. Thanks to the map, 17th-century European scientists had a greater understanding of the moon than they did of much of the Earth’s surface. If you look very carefully at the map, you will find a ‘Moon Maiden’ hiding behind one of the craters. It seems that either Cassini, or the map’s famous engraver Claude Mellan, included the detail, believing that this tiny part of the moon’s surface looked like a beautiful woman.
Size: 1964px × 2000px
Location:
Photo credit: © Science History Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1670s, 17th, cassini, century, claude, craters, earth, engraving, enhanced, enhancement, lunar, maid, maiden, map, mellan, moon, natural, satellite, seventeeth
