The German astronomer Johannes Hevelius used a microscope to create the first detailed map of Earth’s natural satellite.
With just a measuring device and a standard sight, Hevelius compiled a catalog of over 1,500 stars with unprecedented accuracy. This was the most comprehensive celestial map of its time. However, through his use of the microscope, Hevelius is known as the “father of the lunar map.” He created the first detailed map of the Moon, documenting every crater, slope, and valley that he could observe through his microscope.
Hevelius was born in 1611 in Danzig, Poland. His father owned a successful brewery and wanted his son to become a merchant like him. At the age of 19, Hevelius studied law at the University of Leiden. He returned to Gdańsk in 1634 and became a brewer, but his mathematics teacher, Peter Krüger, inspired him to pursue astronomy.
The surface of the Moon as depicted in Hevelius’s manuscript. (Photo: Amusing Planet)
In 1641, Hevelius built an observatory on the roofs of three adjacent houses he owned in Gdańsk. He equipped the observatory with many advanced instruments, including a large Keplerian telescope with a focal length of 46 meters. This observatory, named Sternenburg meaning “Castle of Stars,” became one of the best observatories in Europe at the time, hosting Polish King John III Sobieski and English astronomer Edmond Halley.
One of Hevelius’s major early works was the lunar map. Through observations with his microscope, Hevelius spent countless nights sketching the Moon’s surface, similar to Galileo four decades earlier, but Hevelius’s work far surpassed that of the Italian astronomer. When Hevelius sent his drawings to his friend Peter Gassendi, an astronomer in Paris, Gassendi was so impressed that he encouraged his friend to continue the project.
Hevelius continued mapping the Moon, creating an engraving for every manuscript. After five years, he produced about 40 engravings. These formed the first accurate detailed map of the Moon’s surface. Hevelius published his work under the title Selenographia.
Hevelius also named dozens of lunar features. However, most of these names became outdated as they were based on geographical features on Earth and were later replaced. Nonetheless, some names are still in use today, such as the term “Alps” to refer to mountains on the Moon.
In 1679, a fire at his home and observatory destroyed all of Hevelius’s equipment and books. However, Hevelius’s daughter preserved the catalog of stars, Catalogus Stellarum Fixarum. This manuscript is currently held at Brigham Young University. Hevelius passed away in 1687.
