PROBLEMS BROUGHT ON BY COPERNICUS’ NEW COSMOLOGY

• WHY WAS THE EARTH SPHERICAL? ARISTOTLE’S IDEA THAT EARTH ATTRACTED EARTH MADE IT LOGICAL THAT THE EARTH WAS A SPHERE.

• WHAT CAUSED BOTH THE ROTATION AND THE REVOLUTION OF THE EARTH?

TYCHO BRAHE

RENAISSANCE ASTRONOMYTYCHO BRAHE (1546-1601)

• ORIGINALLY NAMED “TYGE”• ADOPTED THE LATINIZED “TYCHO” WHEN HE WAS 15• HIS FATHER, OTTO, WAS A DANISH NOBLEMAN• HE HAD A TWIN WHO DIED EARLY AFTER HE WAS BORN – HIS FIRST

PUBLICATION , AT AGE 25, WAS AN ODE TO HIS DEAD TWIN• WHEN HE WAS TWO HE WAS TAKEN, APPARENTLY BY A PREVIOUSLY MADE

AGREEMENT, FROM HIS FAMILY BY HIS UNCLE, JORGEN BRAHE, ALSO A NOBLEMAN

• ... without the knowledge of my parents took me away with him while I was in my earliest youth.

• JORGEN AND HIS WIFE, INGER, HAD NO CHILDREN OF THEIR OWN• IN HIS EARLY YEARS HE STUDIED LATIN AT THE URGING OF HIS UNCLE• HE BEGAN HIS STUDIES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN WHEN HE WAS

12, STUDYING LAW.

TYCHO BRAHE• HE BECAME INTERESTED IN ASTRONOMY WHEN HE SAW A SOLAR ECLIPSE

IN 1560. HE WAS AMAZED THAT IT HAD BEEN PREDICTED.• HIS FIRST STUDIES INVOLVED BOOKS LIKE SACROBOSCO’S DE SPHAERA

MUNDI (SPHERE), APIANUS’, COSMOGRAPHIA SEU DECRIPTIO TOTIUS ORBIS AND REGIOMONTANUS’, DE TRIANGULIS OMNIMODIS.

• HE ATTENDED MANY UNIVERSITIES AT THE URGING OF HIS UNCLE IN ORDER TO BECOME A BETTER CIVIL SERVANT.

• IN 1563 HE BEGAN MAKING REGULAR OBSERVATIONS.• HE OBSERVED THE CONJUNCTION OF JUPITER AND SATURN IN 1563 AND

NOTED THAT THE ALPHONSINE TABLES WERE OFF BY A MONTH AND THAT THOSE DEVELOPED USING COPERNICUS’ THEORY (THE PRUTENIC TABLES) WERE OFF BY A COUPLE OF DAYS.

• AT AGE 17 HE BECAME CONVINCED THAT BETTER OBSERVATIONS NEEDED TO BE CONDUCTED AND THAT HE COULD DO IT.

TYCHO BRAHE• WHEN HE WAS 17 HIS UNCLE JORGEN DIED FROM PNEUMONIA HE CONTRACTED

AFTER RESCUING THE KING WHOSE HORSE HAD FALLEN INTO THE WATER.• HIS FATHER AND MOTHER ASSUMED RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIM AS HE WAS STILL

UNDER 18.• WHEN HE WAS 20 HE, ON TWO OCCASIONS, HAD SEVERE ARGUMENTS WITH

ANOTHER DANISH NOBLEMAN, PROBABLY OVER A WOMAN, WHICH LED TO A DUEL

• DUALING WAS OUTLAWED SO THE DUEL WAS HELD IN THE DARK. MOST OF HIS NOSE WAS CUT OFF.

• HE IS SAID TO HAVE WORN SEVERAL PROSTHETIC NOSES, ONE OF GOLD, ONE OF SILVER (AND PERHAPS COPPER)

• AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE LOSS OF HIS NOSE HE BECAME INTERESTED IN BOTH MEDICINE AND ALCHEMY. HE ACTUALLY CARRIED ON EXPERIMENTS IN ALCHEMY IN A LAB AT URANIBORG.

TYCHO BRAHE• WHEN HE WAS 25 HIS FATHER DIED• ANOTHER UNCLE HELPED HIM BUILD AN OBSERVATORY AND AN

ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY• HE MARRIED A COMMONER WHOM HE COULD NOT MARRY

OFFICIALLY SO SHE BECAME HIS COMMON-LAW WIFE. AFTER THREE YEARS THEIR MARRIAGE WAS RECOGNIZED UNDER THE LAW BUT SHE WOULD ALWAYS BE A COMMONER.

• THEY HAD EIGHT CHILDREN• HE HAD A PET MOOSE WHICH HE SAID COULD RUN FASTER THAN A

HORSE. A RACE WAS ARRANGED. HOWEVER, THE MOOSE COULDN’T SHOW UP FOR THE RACE AS JUST BEFORE THE RACE THE MOOSE DRANK TOO MUCH BEER AT THE DINNER HONORING A VISITING NOBLEMAN, FELL DOWN THE STAIRCASE AND DIED.

TYCHO BRAHETHE NOVA (SUPERNOVA) OF 1572

• DISCOVERED IN THE CONSTELLATION CASSIOPEIA

• HE COINED THE TERM “NOVA”• IT WAS VISIBLE DURING THE DAY• SN 1572, 7500 LY DISTANCE – SEE PANEL

TO THE RIGHT• HE DETERMINED, USING PARALLAX

MEASUREMENTS, THAT IT WAS FAR ABOVE THE MOON

• THEREFORE, THE CHANGE HAD OCCURRED IN THE HEAVENS

• THIS WAS A NEW STAR• ARISTOTLE’S COSMOLOGY SAID THAT

TRANSIENT LIGHT PHENOMENA LIKE COMETS, METEORS AND NOVA OCCURRED WHEN THE FIRE (THE HIGHEST OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS) WASSTIRRED BY THE ROTATING QUINTESSENCE, FLAMES APPEARED.

TYCHO’S SUPERNOVA

• SN 1572 IN UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER

• OPEN CLUSTER OF STARS TO LOWER LEFT

• BRIGHT NEBULA IN CENTER (STAR FORMING REGION)

TYCHO BRAHEPORTRAITS

TYCHO BRAHE• IN 1574 HE LECTURED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN BUT, WHEN

INCOME FROM HIS FATHER’S ESTATED ALLOWED HIM TO QUIT AND TRAVEL, HE VISITED KASSEL, GERMANY.

• IN KASSEL THERE WAS AN OBSERVATORY WHICH HE PLANNED TO EMULATE IN BUILDING HIS OWN.

• IN 1575 HE VOWED TO LEAVE DENMARK AND SETTLE IN BASEL, GERMANY.• KING FREDERICK OF DENMARK WANTED HIM TO STAY AND, AFTER SOME

NEGOTIATION, THE KING AGREED TO GIVE HIM THE ISLAND OF HVEN (IN THE DANISH SOUND) AND UNDERWRITE THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN OBSERVATORY.

• THE KING BELIEVED IN ASTROLOGY AND HOPED THAT, WITH SUPERIOR OBSERVATIONS, TYCHO WOULD BE ABLE TO CAST MORE RELIABLE HOROSCOPES.

HVEN SWEDENABOUT 4,500 ACRES

ISLAND OF HVEN – IN THE DANISH SOUND OF THE NORTH SEA

• URANIBORG (HEAVENLY CASTLE) – BUILT BETWEEN 1576 AND 1580

• THE GREAT MURAL QUADRANT – BRASS RING GREATER THAN 6 FEET IN RADIUS

• SIGHTED STARS (PLANETS) BY ALIGNING TWO PINS, MUCH AS IN A GUN SIGHT

• OBSERVATIONS ACCURATE TO WITHIN AN ARC MINUTE

• HE KNEW OF AND CORRECTED FOR ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTION (UP TO ONE DEGREE FOR OBJECTS NEAR THE HORIZON) – OBJECTS NEAR THE ZENITH HAD NO ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTION

TYCHO BRAHEISLAND OF HVEN

• IN 1584 HE BUILT ANOTHER OBSERVATORY, “STJERNEBORG” (CASTLE OF THE STARS) AT HVEN

• MOST OF THE OBSERVATORY WAS BELOW GROUND – THE OBSERVERS LOOKED THROUGH WINDOWS OR THROUGH A MOVABLE ROOF

• IT WAS CLIMATE CONTROLLED – A MISTAKE AS TEMPERATURE CHANGES AFFECT THE DIMENSIONS, HENCE THE ACCURACY OF THE INSTRUMENTS

• HE HAD ANOTHER SET OF OBSERVERS OBSERVE THE SAME OBJECTS THAT THOSE AT URANIBORG OBSERVED TO CANCEL OUT ANY BIASES OF THE OBSERVING TEAMS.

TYCHO BRAHEISLAND OF HVEN

• AFTER STUDYING THE ROMAN AQUADUCTS HE INTRODUCED RUNNING WATER TO HIS OBSERVATORIES

• HE INTRODUCED FLUSH TOILETS• HE COLLECTED GREAT PAINTINGS FROM THE PERIOD

AND DISPLAYED THEM FOR ALL OF HIS SERFS TO ENJOY

• HE USED SOUND TUBES IMPLACED IN THE WALLS OF THE GALLERY TO PRODUCE THE EFFECT THAT SOUND WAS ORIGINATING OUT OF THE PAINTINGS.

TYCHO BRAHECOMET OF 1577

• CONCLUDED, AGAIN USING PARALLAX MEASUREMENTS, THAT THE COMET WAS “AMONG THE PLANETS”

• PROBLEM – HOW DID THE PLANET MOVE AMONG THE SPHERES WHICH PURPORTEDLY CARRIED THE PLANETS?

• MAYBE COPERNICUS WAS RIGHT – THESE SPHERES DIDN’T EXIST

• HE WROTE AN EXHAUSTIVE ANALYSIS OF HIS OBSERVATIONS (OVER 200 PAGES LONG) – IT WAS PRINTED IN 1588. NOTE: IT TOOK 11 YEARS TO GET TO PRESS.

• HE DETERMINED THAT THE TALE OF A COMET ALWAYS FACED AWAY FROM THE SUN

TYCHO BRAHEINSTRUMENT MAKER

• TYCHO WAS BOTH AN “EXPERIMENTALIST” AND A “THEORIST”• HE MUST HAVE BEEN A VERY GOOD MACHINIST – V.E. THOREN

WRITES, “Because of the number and variety of instruments made and described by Tycho, previous commentators have assumed that he made instruments for the sheer sake of keeping his instrument-makers busy. In fact, however, their construction can be traced in his logs and rationalized as several series of experiments which only produced his major instruments in the mid-1580's. The ten-year process had considerable consequences for progress of Tycho's theoretical work during his life. It has also obscured historical understanding of the accuracy of his instruments.”

TYCHO BRAHE

• TYCHO TRIED TO MEASURE THE DISTANCE TO MARS USING PARALLAX TECHNIQUES

• HE OBSERVED MARS, FIRST ON THE HORIZON, THEN AT TRANSIT

• SINCE THE DISTANCE TO THE SUN WAS GREATLY UNDER ESTIMATED HE THOUGHT HE COULD MEASURE IT.

• IN FACT, THE PARALLAX OF MARS IS ABOUT .004 DEGREES, MUCH SMALLER THAN THE LIMIT OF HIS MEASUREMENTS WHICH WERE MORE LIKE .01 DEGREES (~ONE ARCMIN).

TYCHO’S COSMOLOGY• SINCE HE COULD OBSERVE NO PARALLAX OF THE

STARS HE CONCLUDED THAT THE EARTH WAS INDEED FIXED

• TO KEEP COPERNICUS’ SOLUTION TO RETROGRADE MOTION HE HAD THE SUN ORBIT THE EARTH AND ALL THE OTHER PLANETS ORBIT THE SUN.

• HE RETAINED THE EARTH AS BEING AT THE CENTER OF THE CELESTIAL SPHERE.

• BESSEL MADE THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL MEASUREMENT OF STELLAR PARALLAX IN 1838 WHEN HE MEASURED THE STELLAR PARALLAX OF 61 CYGNI. IT WAS 0.3 ARCSEC, 100 TIME SMALLER THAN THE LIMIT OF TYCHO’S INSTRUMENTS. (ONE ARC SEC IS THE ANGULAR DIAMETER OF A DIME AT THE DISTANCE OF ABOUT 1 ½ MILES)

• TYCHO’S THEORY AND COPERNICUS’ THEORY ARE INVARIANT UNDER A LORENTZ TRANSFORMATION, I.E. BOTH SYSTEMS ARE EQUALLY VALID IN RELATIVITY THEORY.

TYCHO – THE PERSON• HIS ENTERPRISE AT HVEN WAS CONDUCTED BY WHAT WE

WOULD CALL A “FIEFDOM”.• HE WAS GIVEN A “PATENT” WHICH ELEVATED URANIBORG

TO THE STATUS OF A UNIVERSITY. IT ALSO ALLOWED HIS CHILDREN TO INHERIT IT EVEN THOUGH HE HAD MARRIED A COMMONER.

• AS HE BECAME MORE FAMOUS HE BECAME LESS TOLERANT OF THOSE WHO WORKED FOR HIM.

• HE THOUGHT OF HIMSELF AS THE NATURAL SUCCESSOR OF HIPPARCHUS AND PTOLEMY – FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN A KING.

TYCHO’S LAST DAYS• KING FREDERICK II DIED IN 1588• AFTER SOME TIME HE HAD A FALLING OUT WITH THE NEW KING, CHRISTIAN

IV, A MINOR.• HIS FAMILY’S CONNECTIONS IN THE CASTLE MAINTAINED HIS SUPPORT FROM

THE KING FOR SOME TIME.• WHEN HE REFUSED TO REPAIR THE CHAPEL WHERE THE KING’S FATHER WAS

BURIED, HIS PATENT TO HVEN WAS RESCINDED.• THE KING’S ACCOUNTANTS CALCULATED THAT ABOUT 1% OF THE ENTIRE

STATE’S BUGET WAS USED TO BUILD URANIBORG AND THAT ITS ENTIRE OPERATION COST AT ABOUT “ONE TON” OF GOLD.

• AFTER ALMOST 20 YEARS OF OPERATION HE CLOSED THE OBSERVATORY IN 1597 AND MOVED TO COPENHAGEN.

• IN 1599, AFTER SOME NEGOTIATION, HE WAS APPOINTED IMPERIAL MATHEMATICIAN TO THE HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR, RUDOLPH II IN PRAGUE.

TYCHO’S LAST DAYS CONTINUED• IN PRAGUE HE TOOK ON JOHANNES KEPLER, A MATHEMATICIAN, TO ASSIST HIM EVEN

THOUGH KEPLER BELIEVED IN A COPERNICAN COSMOLOGY AND TYCHO DID NOT.• IN 1601 WHEN HE INTRODUCED KEPLER TO KING RUDOPH II, THE KING

COMMISSIONED KEPLER TO WORK WITH TYCHO ON A NEW AND BETTER SET OF PLANETARY TABLES, TO BE CALLED “THE RUDOLPHINE TABLES”.

• AFTER A STATE DINNER, BOWING TO ETIQUETTE, HE IS SAID TO HAVE REFUSED TO RISE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE KING IN ORDER TO RELIEVE HIMSELF. HE DIED 11 DAYS LATER, SOME SAY OF A BURST BLADDER.

• HOWEVER RECENT FORENSIC ANALYSIS OF SOME OF THE HAIR FROM HIS EXHUMED BODY INDICATE THAT HE HAD A GREAT AMOUNT OF MERCURY IN HIS BODY AND THAT HE MAY HAVE DIED OF MERCURY POISONING.

• IN FACT SOME “WAY OUT” THEORIES SUGGEST THAT KEPLER MAY HAVE MURDERED HIM CLAIMING THAT KEPLER HAD ACCESS TO TYCHO’S ALCHEMY LAB AND DESPERATELY WANTED TO GET HIS HANDS ON TYCHO’S DATA WHICH TYCHO HAD REFUSED TO GIVE HIM.