Giovanni Battista Zupi

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Giovanni Battista Zupi or Zupus (c. 1590 – 1650) was an Italian astronomer, mathematician, and Jesuit priest.

He was born in Catanzaro. In 1639, Giovanni was the first person to discover that the planet Mercury had orbital phases, just like the Moon and Venus. His observations demonstrated that the planet orbited around the Sun. This occurred just thirty years after Galileo's first telescope design, and Zupi's was only slightly more powerful. He died in Naples.

Zupus crater on the Moon is named for him.