Giovanni Battista Zupi

Giovanni Battista Zupi or Latinized Zupus (* 1590 in Catanzaro, † 1650 in Naples ) was an Italian astronomer, mathematician and priest of the Jesuit order.

In 1639 Zupi first discovered that the planet Mercury in its orbit phase shows similar as is the case with the moon and Venus. His observations showed that Mercury orbits the sun. This happened just 30 years after Galileo Galilei had built his first telescope; Zupis telescope had only a slightly higher performance.

The crater Zupus on the Moon was named in his honor.

Swell

• British Astronomical Association. Who's Who in the Moon. Memoirs of the British Astronomical Association, Volume 34, Part 1 ( 1938). The passage in question Zupus is also in the book review by CA Chant in the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Volume 33 (1939 ), pp. 67-68, reproduced; Online version of the meeting

• Born in the 16th century
• Died in 1650
• Italian
• Astronomer (17th century)
• Mathematicians (17th century)
• Jesuit
• Man