Kenny Wilker, age 12, of Florence, South Carolina, for his question:

Who made the first map of the moon?

The astronomers of ancient Babylon charted the path of the moon many thousands of years ago. Almost certainly some of these and also other early astronomers made drawings of what they saw on the face of the moon. Chances are, these lunar maps were not con¬sidered as serious records worthwhile preserving. During this era of human history, the moon's motions were of prime importance. They were used as a basis of estimating the passage of time and charting calendars. Whatever lunar maps were doodled in these remote times no longer exist.

Mapping the lunar landscape was not taken seriously until about the 17th century. Several maps from this period have been preserved. Around 1610, Galileo made a rather vague sketch of the moon that shows rough outlines of its major surface features. During the next few years, several astronomers used their simple telescopes to sketch more de¬tailed maps of the moon. The best of them was done by the Italian astronomer Riccioli

in 1651. Other lunar map makers had their own names for the moon's features but even¬tually Riccioli's system of naming the so called seas and major craters prevailed.