Tycho Brahe kept a drunken elk in his entourage, supposedly had an affair with the queen of Denmark, and totally changed our understanding of the universe itself.
Wikimedia CommonsTycho Brahe bedazzle Europe with his scientific insightfulness and has since fascinated historians thanks to his unusual secret living .
Some 400 years after his expiry , Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe remains relatively unidentified to most hoi polloi today . Nevertheless , his planetal observance and other ethereal discoveries paved the way for future scientific breakthroughs that helped form our very understanding of the universe as we know it — and his private sprightliness was just as fascinating .
The Unusual Early Life Of Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe and his twinned buddy wereborn to one of Denmark ’s baronial familiesin December of 1546 . Brahe ’s counterpart , sadly , died before he had even been baptized , leaving him as the firstborn of his parents ’ 12 children and the sole successor to his house ’s ancestral castle and circumstances .
Yet for the majority of his childhood , Brahe was actually raised by his wealthy uncle , Jørgen Thygesen Brahe . The reasons behind young Brahe ’s living situation have never been fully explained and some historian claim that the boy was actually kidnapped by his loaded , but heirless , uncle .
Whatever the reason , Brahe ’s father eventually came to some sort of agreement with his uncle and the boy fondly withdraw that his uncle , “ liberally provide for me during his life until my eighteenth year ; he always treated me as his own son and made me his inheritor . ”
Wikimedia CommonsTycho Brahe dazzled Europe with his scientific acumen and has since fascinated historians thanks to his unusual private life.
Wikimedia CommonsA wall painting from the observatory Tycho Brahe built with funding from the King of Denmark .
Brahe’s Foray Into Astronomy
When Tycho Brahe was just 13 , he was sent by his uncle to study natural law at the University of Copenhagen . In 1560 , however , Brahe witness an result that would change not just his course of action of subject area but the trend of his intact life .
European astronomers had predicted that there would be a entire solar eclipse on August 21 of that year . At the time , the science of astronomy was still somewhere between the realms of science and superstition . When the Sun did in fact disappear behind the moon on the appointed day and plunged the world into duskiness , people were astonied .
Wikimedia CommonsTycho Brahe
Wikimedia CommonsA mural from the observatory Tycho Brahe built with funding from the King of Denmark.
For some people , the proclamation of the eclipse was a signal to panic and in France , people flocked by the dozens to make their confessions to priests . For Tycho Brahe , however , the momentous event marked a changing point in his biography that he could never forget .
Although he still obeyed his uncle ’s wishes and meditate the law by day , by dark he get to study the Shangri-la .
Brahe purchased several astronomical tool and commence to read the few books about uranology that were available . The science had alter little since the days of the Greeks . And Ptomley’sAlmagest , written around 150 A.D. , still attend as the base reference for most of the world ’s astronomers .
Wikimedia CommonsTycho Brahe
Almagestnot only explained the motion of the Sun , Moon , and know planet ( which allow astronomers to make fairly accurate forecasting about eclipses ) but also provided the ecliptic coordinates of more than 1,000 stars . Soon , however , Tycho Brahe would be making discovery that proved this millenary - old gospel of astronomy a scrap out of date .
Wikimedia CommonsThe “ Frank Stella nova ” ( new adept ) that Tycho Brahe discovered in the constellation Cassiopeia .
A Missing Nose And A Celestial Discovery
Tycho Brahe then spent the ten between 1560 and 1570 studying at universities in Copenhagen in Denmark , and Leipzig , Wittenberg , Rostock , Basel , and Augsburg in Germany . During the course of instruction of his studies and travels , he accumulated a vast wealthiness of knowledge about mathematics and uranology , acquiring an impressive collection of scientific instrument along the way .
In 1566 , an debate over either a mathematical calculation or an astronomical anticipation ( depending on the origin ) escalated into aviolent sword duel , during which the scholarly person lost a part of his nose . For the residuum of his life , he tire out a type of metal prosthetic over his missing nose , reportedly made of gold or silver ( but which a mod exhumation actually revealed to be brass ) .
Brahe returned to Denmark around 1570 and built himself an lookout station at the former monastery of Herrevad Abbey , which had lately do into self-command of one of his relatives . It was at Herrevad in 1572 that Tycho Brahe made a foreign watching one November dark .
Wikimedia CommonsThe “stella nova” (new star) that Tycho Brahe discovered in the constellation Cassiopeia.
Brahe ’s optic were drawn to a champion in the night sky that was shining shining than the major planet Venus . Even more surprising , the headliner was appearing in a spot no star had ever been show , in the configuration Cassiopeia .
Internet Archive / FlickrTycho Brahe
Upon further written report , he realized that not only had he discovered a “ new star , ” but that it was a fixed star that was further aside than the Moon and all the other planets .
Internet Archive/FlickrTycho Brahe
In 1573 , he put down his findings in the bookDe Nova Stella , which garnered him renown as an stargazer throughout Europe . In the rule book , the title of which translates to “ On the New Star , ” Tycho Brahe also prove the term “ nova ” to describe a raw star topology ( although the especial maven he strike has since been assort as a supernova ) .
Wikimedia CommonsTycho Brahe named his testing ground “ Uraninborg ” after the Hellenic muse of uranology .
Tycho Brahe Finds A New Way Of Looking At The Heavens
This astronomical discovery was an important one , as the novel star Tycho Brahe discovered upended everything that had previously been assumed about the celestial sphere .
If everything in the creation was not fixed and lasting , then almost anything could be possible . Whereas former astronomers had focused merely on observing the motion and blueprint they remember were already check , Brahe used meticulous deliberation and standardization of his instruments to note several important anomaly that had never before been noticed and which , in turn , led to the shattering of several other usually hold theories and the establishing of several new theories .
Brahe began chew up on astronomy at his alma mater , the University of Copenhagen , and had garnered an impressive following across Europe . One of the people most concerned in Brahe ’s workplace was none other than King Frederick II of Denmark himself .
Wikimedia CommonsTycho Brahe named his laboratory “Uraninborg” after the Greek muse of astronomy.
The Martin Luther King Jr. was impressed enough to finance the building of an observatory for the astronomer on the island of Hven near Copenhagen , which would soon become one of the most honored on the continent .
Meanwhile , Brahe ’s personal life-time continued to be nearly as remarkable as his professional one .
In 1573 , he scandalized his baronial family line by splice the daughter of a peasant , Kirstine , with whom he had eight children . The astronomer not only brought in Italian artists to decorate his lookout station ( which more closely resembled a castle ) but observe a motor lodge of outre figures around him . This freaky entourage include a motley fool , a dwarfnamed Jeppwho also supposedly had psychic powers , and a prized pet elk that the astronomer used to ply with beer until it met its close after a drunken fall down the stone’s throw .
Wikimedia CommonsStatue of Tycho Brahe and his assistant (and possible murderer) Johannes Kepler.
Wikimedia CommonsStatue of Tycho Brahe and his assistant ( and possible murderer ) Johannes Kepler .
A Swift Downfall And Rumors Of A Bizarre Death
Tycho Brahe before long fall out of royal favor after the death of King Frederick II and the Rex ’s inheritor , King Christian IV had a severe dislike of his beginner ’s astronomer .
But why the sudden downfall from grace ? It was speculated that the world-beater ’s animosity halt fromthe rumorthat Brahe had been having an affair with his mother , Queen Sophie , a rumor that also may have inspired Shakespeare ’s most famous tragedy , Hamlet .
Brahe was forced to fly Denmark in 1597 and eventually settled in Prague , where he enjoyed the patronage of Emperor Rudolf II .
Wikimedia CommonsTycho Brahe’s assistant Johannes Kepler became a famous astronomer in his own right, although he may have risen to prominence through diabolical means.
The stargazer was give ear a banquet in his adopted urban center in 1601 when he suddenly diminish badly and die 11 days later at the age of 54 . Then the colored chronicle swirling about the famed astronomer and his sudden last begin to spread .
Wikimedia CommonsTycho Brahe ’s assistant Johannes Kepler became a famous astronomer in his own rightfield , although he may have rise to prominence through diabolical substance .
Although Tycho Brahe formally died due to a kidney condition , there have long been theories that he was actually envenom . These theory were only beef up when researchers analyzing his remains in the 1990s bump high levels of mercury in his hair .
One defendant in the shell was King Christian IV , who already had a recorded hatred for Brahe and had antecedently melt down him out of the land . Yet other researchers have square up that the likely murderer was Brahe ’s own supporter and fellow astronomer , Johannes Kepler .
Brahe was famously possessive of all the noesis he had recorded , not even set aside his protege to access it . This led to frequent clangoring between the two . Kepler allow in that he often succumbed to the “ fad - provoking force ” of the planet Mars and would surely have had accession to mercury while work in Brahe ’s research laboratory , as well as easy admittance to Brahe himself to administer the doses .
But perhaps the most damnatory grounds is that after Brahe ’s death , Kepler openly admitted to stealing his inquiry , later on explain , “ I cursorily took reward of the absence seizure , or deficiency of circumspection , of the inheritor , by taking the notice under my caution , or perhaps usurping them . ”
Kepler would develop his own theory regarding astrology and planetary movement that would , in turning , lie the base for the modern forebear of the scientific discipline , including Isaac Newton . These hypothesis , of course , would never have been possible without the research Kepler had taken from his own instructor , the widely unknown yet altogether fascinating Tycho Brahe .
After this look at Tycho Brahe , translate up onWernher von Braun , the Nazi scientist that sent the U.S. to the moon . Then , learn the most fascinatingfacts about Isaac Newton .
