L'affermazione selenografica di Giovan Battista Riccioli, tra nomenclature celesti e cartografie planetarie

Abstract

Since ancient times, the stars visible to the naked eye were grouped into constellations. The constellations and the planets, moving among them, received a name to be distinguished. This nomenclature was then consolidated among peoples and over the centuries. When Galileo Galilei turned his telescope to the sky in the fall of 1609, it became immediately clear that celestial objects were more numerous and complex than could ever have been expected, and that new names and new maps would soon be needed. The Moon was the first celestial body that revealed its complex nature. Many 17th century astronomers devoted themselves to selenography, such as Michel Florent van Langren (1600-1675) or Johannes Hevelius (1611- 1687), who developed their own nomenclature. However, the one proposed by Giovanni Battista Riccioli (1598-1671) in the Almagestum novum proved successful compared to the others. He associated the various lunar spots with the names of famous astronomers and savants of ancient and contemporary times. In 1932 the International Astronomical Union chose Riccioli’s hypothesis as the starting point for the modern nomenclature of the Moon.