Exploration of the Moon invention of the telescope, an increasing number of people began to recognise the Moon as a sphere, though many believed that it was "perfectly smooth". In 1609, Galileo Galilei drew one of the first telescopic drawings of the Moon in his book and noted that it was not smooth but had mountains and craters. Later in the 17th century, Giovanni Battista Riccioli and Francesco Maria Grimaldi drew a map of the Moon and gave many craters the names they still have today. On maps, the dark parts of the Moon's surface were called "maria" (singular "mare") or seas, and the
Lunar craters named lunar craters are "satellite craters": their names consist of the name of a nearby named crater and a capital letter (for example, , , and so on). Lunar crater chains are usually named after a nearby crater. Their Latin names contain the word "Catena" ("chain"). For example, "Catena Davy" is situated near the crater Davy. The red marker on these images illustrates the location of the named crater feature on the near side of the Moon. Lunar craters Lunar craters are impact craters on Earth's Moon. The Moon's surface has many craters, almost all of which were formed by