Despite the common belief that Galileo was the originator of the telescope, it was actually first patented in 1608 by German-Dutch lensmaker Hans Lippershey, though it would not be called a "telescope" for three years, until which it was called a "Dutch Perspective Glass".  Its design involved a concave eyepiece aligned with a convex objective lens that was capable of magnifying objects by a magnitude of three.  Although Lippershey was the first to patnent his design, there is little information proving he was the origional inventor and the Instrument was greatly improved, however, a year later by Galileo, who was able to design a telescope capable of a magnification of 20 times.  This date is particularly significant since da Vinci's obvservations on the moon were made a century before the invention of the telescope.  His discoveries reguarding the moon's surface and illumination were made without any magnification or ability to see the surface with any clarity.