Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe Location of death: Prague, Czechia Cause of death: unspecified Remains: Buried, Tyn Church, Prague, Czechia Gender: Male Nationality: Denmark Executive summary: Copper-nosed Danish astronomer The Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe was born on the 14th of December 1546 at the family seat of Knudstrup in Scania, then a Danish province. Of noble family, he was early adopted by his uncle, Joergen Brahe, who sent him, in April 1559, to study philosophy and rhetoric at Copenhagen. The punctual occurrence at the predicted time, August 21st, 1560, of a total solar eclipse led him to regard astronomy as "something divine"; he purchased the Ephemerides of Johann Stadius (3rd ed., 1570), and the works of Ptolemy in Latin, and gained some insight into the theory of the planets.

Entered as a law student at the university of Leipzig in 1562, he nevertheless secretly prosecuted celestial studies, and began continuous observations with a globe, a pair of compasses and a "cross-staff." He quit Leipzig on the 17th of May 1565, but his uncle dying a month later, he repaired to Wittenberg, and thence to Rostock, where, in 1566, he lost his nose in a duel, and substituted an artificial one made a copper alloy. In 1569 he matriculated at Augsburg, and devoted himself to chemistry for two years (1570-72). On his return to Denmark, in 1571, he was permitted by his maternal uncle, Steno Belle, to install a laboratory at his castle of Herritzvad, near Knudstrup; and there, on the 11th of November 1572, he caught sight of the famous "new star" in Cassiopeia.

He diligently measured its position, and printed an account of us observations in a tract entitled De Nova Stella (Copenhagen, 1573), a facsimile of which was produced in 1901, as a tercentenary tribute to the authors memory. Tycho's marriage with a peasant girl in 1573 somewhat strained his family relations. He delivered lectures in Copenhagen by royal command in 1574; and in 1575 travelled through Germany to Venice. The execution of his design to settle at Basel was, however, anticipated by the munificence of Frederick II, king of Denmark, who bestowed upon him for life the island of Hveen in the Sound, together with a pension of 500 thalers, a canonry in the cathedral of Roskilde, and the income of an estate in Norway. The first stone of the magnificent obervatory of Uraniborg was laid on the 8th of August 1576; it received the finest procurable instrumental outfit; and was the scene, during twenty-one years, of Tycho's labors in systematically collecting materials -- the first made available since the Alexandrian epoch -- for the correction of astronomical theories.

James VI of Scotland, afterwards James I of England, visited him at Uraniborg on the 20th of March 1590. But by that time his fortunes were on the wane; for Frederick II died in 1588, and his successor, Christian IV, was less tolerant of Tycho's arrogant and insubordinate behavior. His pension and fief having been withdrawn, he sailed for Rostock in June 1597, and re-commenced observing before the close of the year, in the castle of Wandsbeck near Hamburg. He spent the following winter at Wittenberg, and reached Prague in June 1599, well assured of favor and protection from the emperor Rudolph II. That monarch, accordingly, assigned him the castle of Benatky for his residence, with a pension of 3000 florins; his great instruments were moved there from Hveen, and Johannes Kepler joined him there in January 1600. But this phase of renewed prosperity was brief.

After eleven days illness, Tycho Brahe died on the 24th of October 1601, at Benatky, and was buried in the Teynkirche, Prague. Tycho's principal work, entitled Astronomiae Instauratae Progymnasmata (2 vols., Prague, 1602-03) was edited by Kepler. The first volume treated of the motions of the sun and moon, and gave the places of 777 fixed stars (this number was increased to 1005 by Kepler in 1627 in the "Rudolphine Tables.") The second, which had been privately printed at Uraniborg in 1588 with the heading De Mundi Aetherei recentioribus Phaenomenis, was mainly concerned with the comet of 1577, demonstrated by Tycho from its insensible parallax to be no terrestrial exhalation, as commonly supposed, but a body traversing planetary space. It included, besides, an account of the Tychonic plan of the cosmos, in which a via media was sought between the Ptolemaic and Copernican systems.

The earth retained its immobility; but the five planets were made to revolve round the sun, which, with its entire cortege, annually circuited the earth, the sphere of the fixed stars performing meanwhile, as of old, its all-inclusive diurnal rotation. Under the heading Astronomiae Instauratae Mechanica, Tycho published at Wandsbeck, in 1598, a description of his instruments, together with an autobiographical account of his career and discoveries, including the memorable one of the moon's "variation." The book was reprinted at Nuremberg in 1602 (cf. Hasselberg, Vierteljahrsschrift Astr. Ges. xxxix. iii. 180). His Epistolae Astronomicae, printed at Uraniborg in 1596 with a portrait engraved by Geyn of Amsterdam in 1586, were embodied in a complete edition of his works issued at Frankfort in 1648. Tycho vastly improved the art of astronomical observation. He constructed a table of refractions, allowed for instrumental inaccuracies, and eliminated by averaging accidental errors.

He, moreover, corrected the received value of nearly every astronomical quantity; but the theoretical purpose towards which his practical reform was directed, was foiled by his premature death. Father: Otte Brahe (d. May-1571) Mother: Beate Bille Tycho Brahe Biography Tycho Brahe Biography By Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor | February 4, 2013 02:37pm ET MORE Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe made the most accurate celestial observations of his time and challenged the prevailing belief in how the universe was organized. And while most people may think of scientists as stodgy academic types, Brahe's flamboyant lifestyle and ignominious death would have made some of today's wild celebrities look like choirboys. This is a watercolor of Tycho Brahe from around 1600 as he looked shortly before his death. His bushy mustache and slightly deformed nose with its prosthesis are visible. A colorful life Born in Denmark in 1546, Brahe's parents were members of nobility. He was raised by his wealthy uncle, and attended universities in Copenhagen and Leipzig.

Though his family badgered him to study law, Brahe chose instead to pursue astronomy. In 1566, 20-year-old Brahe fought a fellow student in a duel over who was the better mathematician. As a result, he lost a large chunk of his nose. For the rest of his life, he donned a metal prosthetic to cover the disfigurement. A mysterious death Brahe died in 1601 at the age of 54. While attending a banquet, societal customs did not allow him to excuse himself before his host. Brahe had drunk excessively, but refused to leave to use the bathroom. It is thought that this caused his bladder to burst and led to his subsequent death. However, scientists who opened Brahe's grave in 1901 to mark the 300th anniversary of his death claimed to find mercury in his remains, fueling rumors that the astronomer was poisoned. Some even accused a jealous Johannes Kepler of the crime. Brahe's body was exhumed again in 2010. Tests on his bones and beard hairs showed that mercury concentrations in his body were not high enough to have killed him.

Researchers also found that greenish stains around the nasal areas of Brahe's corpse contained traces of copper and zinc, indicating that his fake nose was made of brass and not silver or gold, as many had believed. Tycho Brahe pronunciation When Brahe was born, his Danish name was Tyge Otteson Brahe. However, he adopted a Latinized form, Tycho Brahe, when he was about 15 years old. There is not much consensus about how the name is pronounced in English. Some say his first name is "tee-ko"; others say "tie-ko." His last name is pronounced either "brah," "bra-hay" or "bra-hee." He is sometimes referred to only by his first name, as in Tycho Crater on the moon, the Tycho Deep Space capsule and Tycho's Supernova Remnant . A precise view of the heavens Despite his colorful life and death, Brahe contributed a great deal to the field of astronomy. At the time, astronomers held to the idea that the heavens were composed of separate individual spheres, with everything revolving around the Earth.

[See also our overview of Famous Astronomers and great scientists from many fields who have contributed to the rich history of discoveries in astronomy.] This image comes from a very deep Chandra observation of the Tycho supernova remnant. Low-energy X-rays (red) in the image show expanding debris from the supernova explosion and high energy X-rays (blue) show the blast wave, a shell of extremely energetic electrons. These high-energy X-rays show a pattern of X-ray "stripes" never previously seen in a supernova remant. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Rutgers/K.Eriksen et al.; Optical: DSS In 1572, Brahe observed a supernova in the constellation of Cassiopeia. Brighter than Venus, the new star remained visible for a year and a half. In 1577, he observed a comet. Current theory taught that both were disturbances in the atmosphere. However, Brahe's precise measurements revealed differently. He proved that the supernova never changed with regard to the surrounding stars, and that the comet orbited beyond the path of the moon, contradicting the idea that the heavens never changed.

In 1575, King Frederick II sought to keep the now-famous Brahe in Denmark by offering him his own island and financial support to study astronomy. There, Brahe built an enormous observatory, where he kept meticulous observations of the heavens. While most astronomers only focused on observing heavenly bodies at specific, unusual points in their orbits, Brahe intently tracked them in their entire visible orbit across the sky, creating the most precise observations made at the time. Some of his measurements were accurate to half an arc minute, which is especially admirable given that they were all made before the advent of the telescope. Although Brahe's observations revealed the flaws of the current system, he did not embrace Nicolaus Copernicus ' newly proposed sun-centered model. Instead, he offered a model that combined the two, setting the moon and sun in orbit around the Earth even as the other five known planets circled the sun. The model became popular among those who wanted to leave the older view behind but weren't ready to embrace the idea of the sun at the center of the solar system. How Kepler got his start Brahe's precise measurements laid the foundation for a new understanding of the motion of the planets.

German astronomer Johannes Kepler contacted him at the end of the sixteenth century in an effort to obtain copies of the Danish astronomer's research. Brahe countered with a suggestion that Kepler could work as his assistant, helping him to compile his data. However, Brahe proved more tightfisted than Kepler had anticipated and refused to share his measurements of the planets and their orbits. Instead, he suggested Kepler work on solving the Mars dilemma that plagued astronomers. Because of its orbit, Mars appears to occasionally move backwards across the sky, causing many astronomers to suggest epicycles, tiny circles within their orbit. Even Copernicus' suggestion that the planets orbited the sun in circles could not account for the red planet's strange motion. Kepler, using Brahe's detailed observations, realized that the planets moved around the sun not in circles but in stretched out circles known as ellipses. However, the problem took him almost a decade to solve, and Kepler didn't publish it until well after Brahe's death. Although Brahe's family intended to reap as much financial gain as possible from Brahe's observations, Kepler, by his own admission, less-than-ethically acquired them after Tycho died.

— Nola Taylor Redd, SPACE.com Contributor Author Bio Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor Nola Taylor Redd is a contributing writer for Space.com. She loves all things space and astronomy-related, and enjoys the opportunity to learn more. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English and Astrophysics from Agnes Scott college and served as an intern at Sky & Telescope magazine. In her free time, she homeschools her four children. Follow her on Twitter at @NolaTRedd Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor on Latest on Tycho Brahe Biography Tycho Brahe Facts & Biography | Famous Astronomers Born: Dec 14, 1546 in Knutstorp Castle, Scania, Denmark, Denmark–Norway Died: Oct 24, 1601 (at age 54) in Prague, Holy Roman Empire Nationality: Danish Famous For: accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations The Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe first became interested in astronomy when he realized that it could accurately predict the eclipse of the sun. During his time, the planetary tables astronomers used were inaccurate, which was a problem that he set out to change.

Brahe’s Early Life Brahe was born in Knudstrup, a town which is now in Sweden. He was a twin, but his twin died shortly after birth. His parents were aristocrats, but when Brahe was a toddler he was taken in and raised by his uncle. He entered the University of Copenhagen at around age 12 and stayed there for six years. The Immutability of the Heavens On November 11, 1572, the first new star to be noticed in 1600 years appeared in the night sky in Cassiopeia. Brahe’s observations proved that this object actually was a star and, as a result, disproved the old idea that the heavens were immutable. The star was actually a supernova, SN 1572, which was the remnants of an exploded star. In 1577, Brahe also destroyed the idea that comets originated in the earth’s atmosphere. He showed that the Great Comet of 1577 was actually a body that moved through space. Brahe’s Career Brahe worked on the island of Hven in Denmark for more than 20 years.

He also built the Uraniborg and the Stjerneborg for him and his students to further their astronomical research and studies. The island had been granted to him by Frederick II, King of Denmark. However, Brahe ran afoul of the government and moved to Prague in 1597. There he enjoyed the patronage of the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II. Brahe not only studied astronomy, but drew up horoscopes for the court because astronomy and astrology were considered to be closely related. To Brahe, the placement of the planets always seemed very different from where they were actually observed in the sky. Brahe decided to observe the planets in a systematic way and to observe them every night over a sustained period of time. Other astronomers had performed their planetary observations when the planets were in critical points in their orbits. Brahe’s new technique of observing the planets may have been one of his greatest contributions to astronomy. While in Prague, Brahe also met Johannes Kepler , the German astronomer. Kepler became his assistant and used Brahe’s observations to confirm and refine the Copernican system, which Brahe had rejected.

Brahe’s Nose Tycho Brahe also studied at the University of Leipzig as well as the German universities of Wittenberg and Rostock, then the University of Basel in Switzerland. While he was at Rostock, Brahe fought a duel with a Danish nobleman. The nobleman cut off a bit of Brahe’s nose. After that, Brahe wore a prosthetic that was allegedly made of gold and silver, though he may have worn base metals for everyday use. Brahe used this disability to his advantage, for it inspired him to take up the study of alchemy and medicine. Brahe’s Death Tycho Brahe died in 1601 after a banquet. Most reports say that he died from a urinary or kidney problem, but some scholars believe he was poisoned. One of the murder suspects, interestingly, is Johannes Kepler. Also, there is a theory that his brother murdered him, too. Brahe’s body is buried in Prague. Famous Astronomers Tycho Brahe Biography â Profile, Childhood, Life And Timeline SN 1572 Image Credit A Danish nobleman, Tycho Brahe made important contribution to astronomy.

He devised his own instrument, even before the invention of the telescope, to observe the heavens. The instruments allowed Brahe to determine the movements of celestial objects and the motion of the solar system even more precisely. In particular, Brahe made significant contributions in the study of the moon and the planet Mars, which would later prove extremely useful to another astronomer, Johannes Kepler. Known to be an interesting character, Braheâs theories were instrumental in the development of the studies on planetary motion and he even made significant contributions in the field of Mathematics. Of all the historical works, his works on Lunar theory and his works on Ptolemaicâs idea catapulted him to fame. He was even given the position of Imperial astronomer to Emperor Rudolph II, to whom he proposed the Rudolphine and Prutenic Tables a short while before his death. Read on to know more about this interesting personality. Childhood And Early Life Born in 1546, Brahe was the eldest son of a noble Danish family who occupied themselves with hunting and warfare. However, Brahe had an uncle, who was far more educated and childless.

Thus, Brahe’s father made a pact with the uncle saying that if he ever had a son, the uncle could take full responsibility for the boy and raise him as his own. But the father went back on his word and wanted to keep Brahe for himself after he was born. When the second child was born, the uncle kidnapped Brahe and raised him as his own son. Thus, Tycho stood to inherit a large estate from his uncle later in life. Education As a young boy, Brahe wanted to study Latin and Law. With the support and encouragement from his uncle, Brahe entered the University of Copenhagen to study law and philosophy, much against the will of his parents. One day, Brahe observed a partial eclipse of the sun, and as he learnt the basic tables based on Copernicus’ theory and also studied some of Ptolemy’s works, he decided to study the astronomical tables and the positions of the planets, much to the amusement of his uncle. This sudden bout of energy was not taken seriously and his uncle sent Brahe to Leipzig, in Germany to study law at the age of sixteen. It was at the Leipzig that Brahe realized that he was obsessed with astronomy.

He bought several books and instruments and stayed up several nights observing the stars. One night, Brahe observed that Jupiter and Saturn passed very close to each other, something that was not predicted accurately by Copernicus or Alfonsine—two of the greatest astronomers. Shocked, Brahe realized that their observations were not at all accurate and that it was high time he came up with a few tables of his own observations. Realizing that studying law was a hopeless attempt, he decided to channel all his energies into studying astronomy. Career Brahe realized that it was time for him to pursue astronomy seriously. He was only nineteen then. In Germany, he decided to affiliate himself with a group of famous astronomers and proposed his ideas to them. His theories were criticized at first, but then slowly, Brahe convinced the astronomers that they would be requiring more complex instruments to predict the nature of the universe and the celestial movements more accurately. As telescopes were not invented at the time, he suggested large quadrants to understand the lines and the patterns of the various planets and stars. Setting up quadrants required a large amount of effort and time. This was the beginning of Brahe’s accurate astronomical observations.

In 1572, an astronomical event changed Brahe’s life forever. On November 11, while walking back home from an alchemy lab in Germany; Brahe noticed that the night sky was unusually bright. He could not believe his eyes and the new star that brightened the sky to such an extent was indeed a Supernova—a celestial wonder that was sighted only twice before, one of them, during the birth of Christ. Many leading astronomers such as Thomas Diggs and Maestlin tried to predict the movement and detect the source of this new nova. However, their endeavors were unsuccessful. Coincidentally, Brahe had just finished working on a new astronomical device, known as the ‘sextant’ that could peer further into the sky than any of the other instruments that even existed. His technology was far ahead of his time and he was finally able to gauge the source and the movement of the Supernova. Brahe concluded that the new star did not move at all and was located in the eighth sphere of the universe. He published this account the following year and shot to fame, though he was very hesitant to publish the works since he was a nobleman.

He even received several requests from budding astronomers to teach them astronomy, but he never obliged, owing to his lineage. However, during the course of time, he agreed to accept the position of Imperial astronomer proposed to him by Emperor Rudolph II towards the late 1590’s just before his death. Observatories Through the course of his life, Brahe built a couple of observatories. He published his first findings in 1572 from the first observatory at Herrevad Abbey. Brahe also built an observatory, ‘Uraniborg’ in 1576 and then another one called ‘Stjeneborg’ in 1581. Uraniborg was more of a research center where budding students, lecturers and enthusiasts could work on the subject of astronomy between the years 1576 to 1597. Following the publication of his famous book, ‘Astronomiae instauratea mechanica’ in 1598, Brahe moved to Prague and built a new observatory in a castle and worked there for a year. He was then called by the emperor and lived with the emperor till his death.

He was instrumental in preparing birth charts, weather forecast, the prediction of astronomical events such as the Great Comet of 1577 and the Supernova of 1572. Personal Life Brahe was ridiculed by his family all his life for studying astronomy and was labeled a ‘stargazer’. The only support he ever received was from his uncle, who passed away much before Brahe could establish himself as a full-fledged astronomer. In one unfortunate incident with another student, Brahe lost his nose in a tempered dual and the lost piece was replaced by a gold and silver alloy. Towards the end of 1571, Brahe fell in love with a woman named Kirsten and lived with her without being bound by marriage. In Danish law, being a nobleman gave you the benefit of living openly with another woman without having to actually get married to her. She would receive all of his noble privileges, title and even status and their children would be considered legitimate. Together, they had eight children, two of them died in infancy. The couple lived together for almost thirty years, until Brahe’s death. Death And Legacy Brahe suddenly contracted a kidney ailment and died on October 24, 1601.

He was no longer able to urinate and often complained of excruciating pain. Before dying, he worked with Johannes Kepler and worked on the Rudolphine Tables with him. A budding astronomer himself, Kepler would take after Brahe’s work after his death. It is said that Brahe might have suffered and succumbed to a certain kidney condition called ‘uremia’ or mercury poisoning. Following Brahe’s death, some of the greatest astronomers such as Johannes Kepler, Galileo and Riccioli followed Brahe’s geo-heliocentric models and Tycho’s planetary model to develop their own theories. Brahe’s distinctive contributions to the lunar theory also doubled the discoveries and the study of the moon after his death by many of his successors. His observations were also central to the theory of the scientific revolution. The crater ‘Tycho’ is named after him and even the Tycho Brahe Planetarium in Copenhagen was erected owing to his priceless astronomical contributions. Famous Works Brahe, Tycho (1546-1601) -- from Eric Weisstein's World of Scientific Biography Brahe, Tycho (1546-1601) Danish name: Tyge Brahe.

Danish astronomer who set out to make accurate observations in order to be able to determine whether the Ptolemaic or Copernican system was the more correct. He was sponsored by King Frederick II of Denmark (not to be confused with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II , who lived from 1194-1250), who built him a castle on the island of Hveen (now Ven) between Denmark and Sweden called Uraniborg. This was the first real astronomical observatory, although alchemical researches were pursued in the basement. From Hveen, Brahe used a quadrant circle to sight the planets and stars. His large, accurate instruments yielded measurements which were accurate to within four minutes of arc. He compiled an extensive table of planetary positions and a star catalogue and made the most accurate naked eye astronomical measurements of his day. Brahe observed the Comet of 1577 and, by parallax measurements, determined that it was farther away than the moon and not an atmospheric phenomenon as Aristotle had claimed. This shattered Aristotle's notion of crystalline spheres, since the comet would have to travel through the spheres in its path through the heavens.

He also observed the supernova of 1572, which inspired him to write De Nova Stella. Brahe developed his own "geoheliocentric theory" of planetary motions, in which the Sun Coat-of-arms of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) - Numericana Crest: A peacock feather between two horns Sable a fess Argent, each bearing four peacock feathers [fesswise]. Tycho Brahe 's precise naked-eye observations of the motion of the planets paved the way for the accurate mathematical descriptions given by his famous assistant, Johannes Kepler (in the form of three laws that would later be completely explained by Newtonian physics ). In 1578, Tycho Brahe was awarded the very prestigious Order of the Elephant for services rendered to the Danish Crown. The second scientist to be so honored would be Niels Bohr , in 1947. Early in November 1572, Tycho Brahe was one of many individuals who independently observed a spectacular new star (actually, a Type Ia supernova explosion) in the Cassiopeia constellation.

At first, the nova outshone Venus and it would remain visible to the naked eye for more than a year. Tycho was able to show that the phenomenon lacked any measurable observational parallax, which proved that it was located well beyond the confines of the Solar system . The detailed account Tycho gave in De nova et nullius aevi memoria prius visa stella (1573) thus established that the "sphere of fixed stars" was definitely not as immutable as previously thought. Tycho's Nova was one of about 8 supernovae visible to the naked eye in recorded history. Its remnant (SN 1572, or 3C 10) is now mostly a radio source. In this famous portrait, Tycho Brahe is surrounded by the arms of his noble ancestors, with his own paternal arms at the top, left of center.

Clockwise from bottom right, the names read: Gyldenstern (Gyldenstierne), Kahbiller (Kabel), Markeman (Markmand), Axellsønner, Rosenkrans (Rosenkrantz), Longer (Lunge), Ruder (Rud), Braher (Brahe), Biller (Bille), Ulfstander (Ulfstand), Ronnor (Rønnow), Troller (Trolle), Longer (Lunge), Rosenspar, Storawase, and Axellsønner. Gyldenstierne The two names of Rosenkrans and Gyldenstern stand out because of the pair of Shakespearean characters (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern) in the Tragedy of Hamlet , prince of Denmark, which William Shakespeare (1564-1616) wrote around 1601 (the year Brahe died).

The relevant ancestors of Tycho Brahe (ahnentafels #22 and #23) are Erik Rosenkrantz (1427-1503) and Sophie Gyldenstierne (+1477), parents of Kirstine Rosenkrantz (+1509), the maternal grandmother of Tycho Brahe's mother, Beate Bille (1526-1605). It seems most likely that the two famous Shakespearean characters were modeled after an inseparable pair of vocal students from the University of Wittenberg (founded 1502), Knud Gyldenstierne and Frederick Rosenkrantz, who visited England and Scotland in 1592, as part of the Danish legation. Both, like Tycho Brahe himself, were from the close-knit Danish nobility. Not surprisingly, the three men were relatives. Frederick Rosenkrantz is presented as a third cousin of Tycho Brahe's. Incidentally, Rosenkrantz returned to London in 1600 just as Hamlet was being written (he had just visted Tycho Brahe in Prague, traveling with Johannes Kepler ).

This piece of trivia keeps popping up on the Internet, with various speculations next to elements of the above explanation: 1996 : Klaus Ole Kristiansen. 1997 : Peter D. Usher (press release). 1999 follow-up . 2001 : David P. Stern (quoting Ferguson about the 1592 historical pair). 2003 : New Shakespeare Fellowship. Bassanio (quoting Jim Swank). Etc. Weirdly, references to the page you're now reading appeared almost simultaneously (October 1, 2006) in 3 different discussions of this issue. Within 3 days, we had acknowledged all of those, here. A funny thermal equilibrium about reciprocal credits was even quickly reached with the thread started by Baez (without private contacts). 2006 : Zeborah Fitchett, Tim Silverman, Brian M. Scott (quoting this page). 2006 : John Baez (picture link, quote of Eric Altschuler), Tim Silverman. 2006 : Banubula (a former study partner of Eric Altschuler at Harvard).

The above portrait was engraved in copper in Amsterdam in 1586, and was used extensively by Tycho Brahe in his own publicity... In 1590, Tycho sent 4 copies of it (along with 2 copies of his 1588 book) to a prominent member of Merton College, namely: Thomas Savile (d. 1593) brother of the warden of the College, Sir Henry Savile (1549-1622). Tycho Brahe was apparently craving for English epigrams and he suggested that some excellent English poets might compose them to praise him and his work... Tycho Brahe asked Savile to be remembered to the mathematician John Dee (1527-1609) and also to Dee's pupil Thomas Digges (1546-1595). Back in 1938, the renowned Shakespeare researcher Leslie Hotson argued that Shakespeare obtained much of his knowledge of Science from Thomas Digges and might have learned of Tycho Brahe (and the above portrait) through Digges.

The Death of Tycho A dubious legend has it that Tycho died from a burst bladder after a banquet where he refrained from leaving the table to relieve himself, which would have been a breach of etiquette. Actually, Tycho fell ill at that banquet (on October 13, 1601) and found himself in a medical condition which made it painful and difficult for him to urinate. He died 10 days later. In the 1990s, a forensic analysis of hair from Tycho's beard was carried out and left no doubt that he died from mercury poisoning. One dose was delivered at the time of the infamous banquet and Tycho ingested another large dose the day before he died (the accompanying high level of calcium being consistent with ingestion in milk). Wild speculations , most notably by Joshua and Ann-Lee Gilder , have blamed Kepler for the murder (I, for one, find that very hard to believe). More recently , evidence has surfaced that the murderer may have been a cousin of Tycho's who was visiting at the time, Count Eric Brahe, acting on behalf of King Christian IV of Denmark (1577-1648).

Professor Peter Andersen, a specialist of Danish renaissance who discovered a lost diary of Eric Brahe in 2008, estimates that the details recorded by Eric Brahe amount to an indirect confession... At the time of his death, Tycho was exiled in Prague because the Danish king had turned against him for reasons that were unclear to historians until recently. However, it seems that rumors were circulating that Tycho Brahe had a liaison with Queen Sophie , the mother of Christian IV. Tycho may even have been the king's biological father... Brahe, Tycho Encyclopedia > People > Science and Technology > Astronomy: Biographies Tycho Brahe Brahe, Tycho (tĪˈkō brä) [ key ], 1546–1601, Danish astronomer. The most prominent astronomer of the late 16th cent., he paved the way for future discoveries by improving instruments and by his precision in fixing the positions of planets and stars. From Brahe's exact observations of the planets, Kepler devised his laws of planetary motions (see Kepler's laws ).

Brahe's achievements included the study of a supernova (first observed in 1572 and now known as Tycho's supernova) in the constellation Cassiopeia and the discoveries of a variation in the inclination of the lunar orbit and of the fourth inequality of the moon's motion. He never fully accepted the Copernican system but made a compromise between it and the Ptolemaic system. In the Tychonic system, the earth was the immobile body around which the sun revolved, and the five planets then known revolved around the sun. Given funds by the Danish king Frederick II, Brahe built on the island of Ven a castle, Uranienborg, and an observatory, Stjarneborg. He was deprived of his revenues by Christian IV in 1596 and left Ven (1597); in 1599 he settled near Prague under the patronage of the German emperor Rudolf II.

He published (1588) De mundi aetherii recentioribus phaenomenis, the second volume of a projected three-volume work on his astronomical observations; from an incomplete manuscript and notes Kepler edited Volume I, Astronomiae instauratae progymnasmata (1602). Brahe's Astronomiae instauratae mechanica (1598) contained his autobiography and a description of his instruments. See biographies by J. L. Dreyer (1890, repr. 1963) and J. A. Gade (1947). The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. See more Encyclopedia articles on: Astronomy: Biographies Tycho Brahe - Biography, Facts and Pictures Tycho Brahe Lived 1546 – 1601. Tycho Brahe was a larger than life aristocratic astronomer whose observations became the foundation for a new understanding of the solar system and ultimately gravity.

Brought up by an uncle who had kidnapped him, Tycho defied both his natural and foster parents to become a scientist rather than a nobleman at the Royal Court. Never one to refuse liquor or back down in an argument, as a young man he lost most of his nose in a duel. He continued to argue vehemently with a variety of foes for the rest of his life. In addition to being an extraordinary character, Tycho was a brilliant astronomer, whose work was substantially more accurate than his peers. His lunar theory was the best ever devised, and he produced data for the best star catalog that had ever been compiled. His outstandingly rigorous observations enabled his one-time assistant Johannes Kepler to discover that planets move around the sun in elliptical orbits. Advertisements Beginnings Tycho Ottesen Brahe was born into a highly aristocratic, very wealthy family on December 14, 1546. He was born in his parents’ large manor house at Knutstorp, in the Danish region of Scarnia, which is now in Sweden. Tycho’s father was Otte Brahe, a member of the Royal Court. His mother was Beate Bille, also an important aristocrat.

Tycho was the second of the couple’s 12 children. Although we usually refer to scientists by their surnames, in some cases we use their first names – Galileo, for example. This is also the case with Tycho Brahe, who is usually referred to simply as Tycho, pronounced ‘Teeko.’ Kidnapped Something rather remarkable happened to Tycho in his second year of life – he was kidnapped by his uncle and aunt, Jørgen Brahe and Inger Oxe, when his parents were away from home. Tycho’s uncle and aunt were childless, and they believed that Jørgen was entitled to a lawful son and heir to his estates. Tycho’s natural parents eventually agreed to this, so Tycho was raised by his uncle and aunt as if he were their own son. A Scholar, Not a Warrior The Brahe family was powerful and militaristic. By tradition their male children became warriors serving the interests of the family, the King, and the Danish nobility. However, Tycho’s foster mother, Inger, had come from an academic family and she persuaded her husband that Tycho should receive an academic education.

Tycho began school aged six or seven, a grammar school where he probably learned the classical languages, mathematics, and the Lutheran religion. University and Astronomy In April 1559, aged 12, Tycho matriculated at the University of Copenhagen. He studied a general classical curriculum for three years, during which time he became increasingly absorbed in astronomy. He bought a number of important books in the field, including Johannes de Sacrobosco’s On the Spheres, Peter Abian’s Cosmography, and Regiomantus’s Trigonometry. Tycho’s interest in astronomy began with the solar eclipse of August 21, 1560. In Copenhagen this eclipse was barely noticeable – less than half of the sun was covered. The eclipse inspired Tycho not because it was spectacular, but because astronomers had predicted exactly when it would happen. Tycho was fascinated, and wanted to learn how he too could make predictions like this. Astronomy was actually an excellent fit for Tycho’s mathematical skills and his eye for detail. Germany and a Discovery The second century BC astronomer Hipparchus makes observations. In the 1560s astronomers still used similar equipment.

In March 1562, aged 15, Tycho matriculated at the University of Leipzig in Germany, where again he followed a classical curriculum. He was supervised at Leipzig by Anders Vedel, a well-educated, twenty-year-old Dane. Vedel had been appointed by Tycho’s foster parents, who had decided Tycho’s future career would be as a legal advisor the Royal Court. Vedel was tasked with keeping the rather headstrong Tycho on the straight and narrow, but he did not succeed. Tycho secretly continued to devote as much time as he could to astronomy. Using just a basic, fist-sized celestial sphere and string, Tycho discovered that tables of predictions of planet positions sourced from the works of both Ptolemy and Nicolaus Copernicus were rather unsatisfactory. A Purpose in Life In August 1563, aged 16, Tycho began his first logbook of astronomical observations. An astronomer in the 1500s makes observations using a cross staff. He observed a one-in-twenty-year conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, and again noted errors in both Copernicus’s and Ptolemy’s predictions.

Using Ptolemy’s data tables, the conjunction timing was wrong by a month! It became Tycho’s goal to produce truly accurate predictions of planetary positions based on accurate observations. In April 1564, aged 17, Tycho bought a cross staff to make his observations. The cross staff was so large that his supervisor must have become aware that Tycho was devoting a lot of his time to astronomy. Tycho did not care – there was no need for secrecy any more. He had decided that astronomy would be his life’s work. Denmark and Death In the summer of 1565, Tycho returned to Denmark, where his step-father Jørgen had been in the process of making Tycho his legal heir. Unfortunately for Jørgen and Tycho, a war with Sweden had intervened. Jørgen was appointed Vice Admiral of the Danish Fleet and died of pneumonia in the summer of 1565 after falling into the water. Tycho inherited nothing, because the paperwork making him Jørgen’s legal heir was incomplete.

The law said that everything went in trust to his foster-mother; when she died Jørgen’s estates were to be distributed among the whole Brahe family. A Nose for Trouble In April 1566, aged 19, Tycho arrived back as a student in Germany. In December he had an argument one evening with another Danish student who, like him, was studying at the University of Rostock. The cause of the argument is not known. Sometimes it’s claimed they were arguing about which of them was the better mathematician, but this is probably a myth. No doubt alcohol played a part in the dispute – Tycho enjoyed dining and drinking heartily. After further disagreements, the two students fought a duel with swords, which resulted in Tycho losing the front of his nose and picking up a permanent scar on his forehead. A year later, he returned to Denmark, where he began experimenting with metal fittings to disguise his nose’s disfigurement. He wore a skin-colored metal prosthetic for the rest of his life. Getting Serious At the end of 1567, Tycho left Denmark again for a tour of Germany and Switzerland. He was now 21.

In spring 1569, he arrived in Augsburg, where he spent 14 months learning how to make high-precision astronomical instruments. His ambition was to build instruments allowing him to make observations true to within one arc minute (one-sixtieth of a degree). The first instruments designed by Tycho Brahe in Augsburg. On the left, an instrument to measure the angle between heavenly bodies. On the right an enormous quadrant whose radius was 5.5 meters. Death and Wealth When news reached him that his natural father, Otte Brahe, was ailing, Tycho returned to Denmark. His father died in May 1571, leaving 23-year-old Tycho a substantial legacy. Tycho Brahe’s Contributions to Science Astronomy without a Telescope Galileo Galilei studied the heavens with a telescope for the first time in 1609. Sadly, Tycho did not live long enough to see this. All of his observations were made with the naked eye, using the finest astronomical instruments in Europe.

Although he did not quite succeed in his ambition to make all his measurements accurate to with one arc minute, many of them did meet this standard, and his observations were a phenomenal five times more accurate than his peers were making. The New Star Tycho made his first significant discovery on November 11, 1572. Observing the night sky from an uncle’s home, Tycho was amazed to see a new light brighter than Venus in the sky. He studied the new heavenly body for a year. He deduced that it was a star because, unlike closer bodies such as the planets, its position relative to the other stars did not change. In 1573, Tycho’s name became well-known in astronomical circles when he published De nova stella – The New Star. Although other people had also observed the new star, Tycho published the most comprehensive study of it. Tycho’s new star gradually faded until, after a year, it was no longer visible to the naked eye. The Latin word nova is still used for stars that suddenly get brighter. We now know that Tycho’s new star was actually a supernova. Tycho’s observation of the new star, showing its location compared with other named stars.

On the right is a modern X-ray image of the remnants of Tycho’s supernova, cataloged as SN 1572. Tycho’s discovery was another nail in the coffin for Aristotle’s world view that the heavens beyond the moon are perfect and unchanging. Hipparchus had previously refuted Aristotle’s view with his observation of a new star in 134 BC. The Distance to a Comet Tycho’s sketch of the comet orbiting the sun. The comet’s tail points away from the sun. The Great Comet of 1577 made people fearful, because comets were seen as bad omens. Tycho recorded the comet’s positions between November 13, 1577 and January 26, 1578, after which he could no longer see it. Tycho used Hipparchus’s parallax method to measure the comet’s distance. Unfortunately, there was insufficient parallax for him to pin down the distance, but he was able to say that: The comet was much farther away from our planet than the moon is – at least six times as far. This refuted the popular idea that comets traveled within the earth’s atmosphere.

The comet’s tail always pointed away from the sun. The comet’s path was associated with the sun, not the earth. A Balanced Response to Comets, Doom, and Gloom As was customary, Tycho wrote to the King with astrological predictions based on the comet’s appearance. He followed the usual line that the comet was a sign of bad things to come. Unusually for the time, however, his recommendations did not focus on the supernatural. He told the King that the comet’s negative effects could be moderated if suitable policies were used in governance and if people used their free will in a levelheaded way. A New Star Catalog The comet had another far-reaching consequence for Tycho and science. It prompted him to begin making observations with a view to producing his own star catalogue to replace Ptolemy’s ancient work. Tycho had accurately recorded the positions of 777 stars by 1592, and he eventually amassed data for 1,006 stars. Tycho’s catalog was later worked on and published by Johannes Kepler . Uraniborg – Fortress of Astronomy The King wished to reward Tycho for some diplomatic work he had performed and awarded him the 3 square mile (7.5 sq.

km) Danish island of Hven. On this island, in about 1580, Tycho completed the construction of Uraniborg, a palace-observatory, named after Urania, the Muse of Astronomy. Plan of Stjerneborg showing the underground observing chambers. Tycho’s island was rather windy and he realized he could never make highly precise astronomical measurements unless he had perfect stillness. He decided to build an underground observatory, which he completed in 1581. Tycho called his underground observatory Stjerneborg, meaning Star Castle. Tycho now carried out research on a scale few other astronomers could match. He was the wealthiest scientist in Europe and his work at Uraniborg was also generously supported by the King. He employed skilled workers to build him the very finest astronomical instruments, and he attracted flocks of students eager to become disciples in the astronomical temples of Uraniborg and Stjerneborg. Shattering the Heavenly Spheres Michael Maestlin, the German astronomer who became Johannes Kepler’s teacher, had also observed the 1577 comet. Although his instruments were less sophisticated that Tycho’s, he had analyzed the comet’s movement in greater detail than Tycho.

Where Tycho said the comet was a least 6 times farther away than the moon, Maestlin had calculated the comet’s daily distance from the earth. Maestlin asserted that the comet had moved from about 3 times farther away than the moon to 30 times farther away than the moon. This implied that the comet must have traveled through the crystal spheres of Mercury and Venus. Since Aristotle’s time, people had believed planets were held in orbit around the earth by concentric ‘heavenly spheres.’ In Tycho’s time these spheres were imagined to be hard, clear, and crystalline. In 1586, Cristoph Rothmann wrote Tycho pointing out that comets’ paths carried them through the crystal spheres. Tycho was stunned by the thought that comets could break through the crystal spheres. Could it be that the spheres did not exist? Other scientists had also questioned the substance of the heavenly spheres. Jean Pena in Paris, for example, had rejected them in 1557 based on light refraction. Tycho’s System If the heavenly spheres were not real, then what did the universe really look like? Tycho was familiar with the concepts of the earth-centered solar system and the sun-centered solar system.

The mathematics for these systems had been presented by Ptolemy and Copernicus. Tycho was dissatisfied with their efforts – even as a 15-year-old he had found flaws in the planet positions predicted by their models. He also thought the earth was simply too heavy to fly at an enormous speed through the heavens as Copernicus’s system suggested. Tycho tried to produce a model consistent with the best of both Ptolemy and Copernicus. He said that Copernicus was right – the five planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – do orbit the sun. However, the moon, the sun and the stars orbit the earth, as Ptolemy had said. The Tychonic System. Earth is at the center of the universe. The moon, the sun, and the stars orbit the earth. The five planets orbit the sun. Tycho could only discover such a system because he had thrown away the idea that crystalline spheres hold the heavenly bodies in their orbits. At first Tycho said he: “could not bring myself to allow this ridiculous penetration of the orbs, so that for some time, this, my own discovery, was suspect to me.” Tycho Brahe

Question: What nationality was astronomer Tycho Brahe?
Answer: Danish