Tycho Brahe
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TYCHO BRAHE Roberto Bartali
Figure 1 Portrait of Tycho Brahe. From: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link =/people/ren_epoch/brahe.html
The history of astronomy is a very interesting topic and it is addictive, (for me). I am impressed not only by the discoveries, the theories (many of them ridiculous for us now) but by the people behind, in other words the astronomers. Their life is amazing. Copernicus, Galileo, Brahe, Kepler, Newton and Halley lived around the two centuries (1500 to 1700) that represent the renaissance of Astronomy, after thousand years of cultural and scientific lethargus in Western Europe. Tycho Brahe was a danish astronomer, alchemist and mathematician, was born in 1546 and died in 1601. His real name was Tyge, but it was Latinized as Tycho. He was the best naked eye observer of the heavens; unfortunately he died several years before the invention of the telescope (1609). His family belongs to the nobility, so he had sufficient money to live without problems. This is a brief description of Tycho education and how astronomy interacts with his life:
1553-1559 he learned Latin at home. 1559 he was enrolled at University of Copenhagen for studying Rhetoric and Philosophy. 1561 he obtained his first astronomy book. 1562 he goes to Leipzig for study Laws. 1563 he starts to observe Mars and find errors in planetary tables. 1564 he built his first instrument ( a pair of wood calipers). 1566 he was enrolled at the Rostock University. 1569 he started to construct the Big Quadrant and the Big Celestial Globe in Augsburg also begin to study alchemy. 1572 he observed the Cassiopea supernova. 1573 he published the "Nova Stella" and after the analysis of the data taken during a lunar eclipse, he find the Sun perigee. 1574 he begin lectures at the Copenhagen University. 1575 he meet Wilhelm of Hessen (a famous astronomer). 1576 Foundation of Uraniborg in the Ven Isle, the same year he started observations here. 1577 He observed the great comet. 1578 he developed his model of the Universe. 1579-1581 he begins a systematic observation of the Moon. 1582-1597 he started meteorological systematic observations. 1584 he built his own printing press. 1587 he finished the book about comets.
1
1597 The end of observations on Ven island and start the observation from Wandsbaek. 1598 he published Mecanica where there are many instrument designs. 1599 he improved his theory of the Moon movements and moved to Prague. 1601 all of his instruments installed in the palace of Curtius in Prague but he die on oct 24. As many of the famous, he never gets a University grade.
http://www.vialattea.net/pagine/astro1/Urani2.jpg http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/teaching/heavenly.html
The decision to study astronomy, instead laws, as his uncle and tutor wanted, was taked after the total solar eclypse in 1560, he was impressed not only by the phenomenon, but because somebody predicted it. Some years later, in 1563, he observed the rare conjuntion of Jupiter and Saturn. The astronomical tables available at that time, predicted the conjunction, but with an error of a month. Soon, Tycho take the decision of improve the data, but to precisely predict planetary positions he need two things: 1 a rigorous methodology for observing and record the data 2 measurement instrumentation as precise as possible. No one of that things was available to him, so he start to made for himself the instruments and invented the correct methodology for obtaining the best from the instruments. 2
He recorded in written form, every observation.Tycho do not known the pendulum (invented later) so for the record of the time he used the position of the stars. He built a big observatory, the Uraniborg, there he built also many impressive instruments, the term impressive is for the dimensions and the precision of them. Thank to his extraordinary ability in mathematics and patience, aided with the instruments he built and invented, he made very precise observation of the moon, mars and comets. The observation of mars, was the key data that used Kepler to derive the laws of planetary motion, he was an assistant of Tycho, but he could analyze those observations only after the death of Tycho. The little difference in the distance of the Earth from the Sun (the orbit of the Earth is nearly circular, with an eccentricity of 0.017) change the speed of the Moon, and he was able to measure that little libration. He used parallax measurement to demonstrate that stars are very far away, and applying that to the comet of 1577, he showed that it was not a meteorological event as Aristotle said, but an astronomical event. The 1572 nova in the constellation of Cassiopea, was the first astronomical observation he did, and he wrote a paper about that event. Again, using parallax he demonstrated that really it was a star. The interpretation of the event was as a new star, but in reality was the explosion of an old star. He never accepted the Aristotle and Ptolomeo vision of the Universe, nor the Copernican heliocentric model. So, he take the best of the two (Ptolemaic and Copernican) and proposed his model. His model survived only for a century, but every body was happy with it, because he left the Earth at the center with the moon and the sun orbiting our planet, but all other planets are orbiting the Sun, also comets was objects moving inside planet orbits. This way the Catholic Church and almost all the philosophers and scientist in opposition of the Copernican model agree with Tycho. Tycho showed that the heavens was not static, perfect and unchanging, between 1550 and 1650 many people start to think that the Aristotle model was wrong, but only a few "intrepid" opposites was as courageous to proof and contradict the "universal accepted truth". His model of the Solar System was wrong and survived until Kepler laws clearly and easily put everything in it correct place, because he was not able to measure parallaxes for the stars, so there was only two possible explanation for that: 1 the Earth do not move around the Sun and it is at the center of the Universe and 2 the stars are so far that it is impossible to measure any parallax because it is too small. Only one answer is the correct and having 50% of probability to make the correct choice, he selects the wrong one: The Earth is static at the center of the Universe. But data collected by his meticulous observations, made using equatorial armillary spheres, can not fit with a so simple model, so he needed the Sun at the center of the planetary system. The equatorial and zodiacal armillary spheres let him to measure and record the position of the planet in a direct way, without any calculation.
3
Tycho Brahe astonomical instruments
Brass azimuthal quadrant, 65 centimeters in radius. Built in 1576 or 1577, this was one of the first instrument built at Hveen, and was used for observations of the 1577 comet. Estimated accuracy of 48.8 seconds of arc.
Tycho's great globe, about 1.6 meter in radius. Over 10 years in the making, this instrument came in service in late 1580. Most of the work involved making the hollow wooden globe as perfectly spherical as possible, after which it was covered in brass plates. The globe had two primary scientific uses; it came to be used to record the position of stars observed by Tycho. By 1595 he had 1000 accurately observed stars inscribed on the globe. However, it was originally intended as a computational device. By means of auxiliary circles, the local azimuth/altitude coordinates, as measured with Tycho's instruments, were converted into the conventional celestial coordinates used to record stellar and planetary positions.
4
Armillary sphere, 1.6 meter in radius, built in 1581. Tycho rapidly gave up on using large versions of classical armillary sphere, as he found their accuracy compromised by flexing and bending due to the great weight of the various components. This lead to the design of equatorial armillaries.
Triangular Sextant, about 1.6 meter in radius, built in 1582. As Tycho's sextants grew in size, they became fixed instruments, although Tycho's ingenious globe mount retained a lot of the versatility of use of smaller, conventional portable sextants.
5
Great equatorial armillary, 3 meters in diameter. Built in 1585, this is an armillary sphere reduced to its bare essentials, and one of Tycho's workhorse instrument. Estimated accuracy of 38.6 seconds of arc.
Revolving wooden quadrant, 1.6 meter in radius, built in 1586. Estimated accuracy of 32.3 seconds of arc, based on eight reference stars.
6
Revolving steel quadrant, 2 meters in radius. Built in 1588. Estimated accuracy of 36.3 seconds of arc.
References http://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/education/sp/images/tycho.html http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/brahe.html http://www.arrakis.es/~nautylus/brahe.htm http://www.rundetaarn.dk/engelsk/observatorium/life.htm http://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/education/sp/images/tycho.3.html
7
Figure 1 Portrait of Tycho Brahe. From: http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link =/people/ren_epoch/brahe.html
The history of astronomy is a very interesting topic and it is addictive, (for me). I am impressed not only by the discoveries, the theories (many of them ridiculous for us now) but by the people behind, in other words the astronomers. Their life is amazing. Copernicus, Galileo, Brahe, Kepler, Newton and Halley lived around the two centuries (1500 to 1700) that represent the renaissance of Astronomy, after thousand years of cultural and scientific lethargus in Western Europe. Tycho Brahe was a danish astronomer, alchemist and mathematician, was born in 1546 and died in 1601. His real name was Tyge, but it was Latinized as Tycho. He was the best naked eye observer of the heavens; unfortunately he died several years before the invention of the telescope (1609). His family belongs to the nobility, so he had sufficient money to live without problems. This is a brief description of Tycho education and how astronomy interacts with his life:
1553-1559 he learned Latin at home. 1559 he was enrolled at University of Copenhagen for studying Rhetoric and Philosophy. 1561 he obtained his first astronomy book. 1562 he goes to Leipzig for study Laws. 1563 he starts to observe Mars and find errors in planetary tables. 1564 he built his first instrument ( a pair of wood calipers). 1566 he was enrolled at the Rostock University. 1569 he started to construct the Big Quadrant and the Big Celestial Globe in Augsburg also begin to study alchemy. 1572 he observed the Cassiopea supernova. 1573 he published the "Nova Stella" and after the analysis of the data taken during a lunar eclipse, he find the Sun perigee. 1574 he begin lectures at the Copenhagen University. 1575 he meet Wilhelm of Hessen (a famous astronomer). 1576 Foundation of Uraniborg in the Ven Isle, the same year he started observations here. 1577 He observed the great comet. 1578 he developed his model of the Universe. 1579-1581 he begins a systematic observation of the Moon. 1582-1597 he started meteorological systematic observations. 1584 he built his own printing press. 1587 he finished the book about comets.
1
1597 The end of observations on Ven island and start the observation from Wandsbaek. 1598 he published Mecanica where there are many instrument designs. 1599 he improved his theory of the Moon movements and moved to Prague. 1601 all of his instruments installed in the palace of Curtius in Prague but he die on oct 24. As many of the famous, he never gets a University grade.
http://www.vialattea.net/pagine/astro1/Urani2.jpg http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/teaching/heavenly.html
The decision to study astronomy, instead laws, as his uncle and tutor wanted, was taked after the total solar eclypse in 1560, he was impressed not only by the phenomenon, but because somebody predicted it. Some years later, in 1563, he observed the rare conjuntion of Jupiter and Saturn. The astronomical tables available at that time, predicted the conjunction, but with an error of a month. Soon, Tycho take the decision of improve the data, but to precisely predict planetary positions he need two things: 1 a rigorous methodology for observing and record the data 2 measurement instrumentation as precise as possible. No one of that things was available to him, so he start to made for himself the instruments and invented the correct methodology for obtaining the best from the instruments. 2
He recorded in written form, every observation.Tycho do not known the pendulum (invented later) so for the record of the time he used the position of the stars. He built a big observatory, the Uraniborg, there he built also many impressive instruments, the term impressive is for the dimensions and the precision of them. Thank to his extraordinary ability in mathematics and patience, aided with the instruments he built and invented, he made very precise observation of the moon, mars and comets. The observation of mars, was the key data that used Kepler to derive the laws of planetary motion, he was an assistant of Tycho, but he could analyze those observations only after the death of Tycho. The little difference in the distance of the Earth from the Sun (the orbit of the Earth is nearly circular, with an eccentricity of 0.017) change the speed of the Moon, and he was able to measure that little libration. He used parallax measurement to demonstrate that stars are very far away, and applying that to the comet of 1577, he showed that it was not a meteorological event as Aristotle said, but an astronomical event. The 1572 nova in the constellation of Cassiopea, was the first astronomical observation he did, and he wrote a paper about that event. Again, using parallax he demonstrated that really it was a star. The interpretation of the event was as a new star, but in reality was the explosion of an old star. He never accepted the Aristotle and Ptolomeo vision of the Universe, nor the Copernican heliocentric model. So, he take the best of the two (Ptolemaic and Copernican) and proposed his model. His model survived only for a century, but every body was happy with it, because he left the Earth at the center with the moon and the sun orbiting our planet, but all other planets are orbiting the Sun, also comets was objects moving inside planet orbits. This way the Catholic Church and almost all the philosophers and scientist in opposition of the Copernican model agree with Tycho. Tycho showed that the heavens was not static, perfect and unchanging, between 1550 and 1650 many people start to think that the Aristotle model was wrong, but only a few "intrepid" opposites was as courageous to proof and contradict the "universal accepted truth". His model of the Solar System was wrong and survived until Kepler laws clearly and easily put everything in it correct place, because he was not able to measure parallaxes for the stars, so there was only two possible explanation for that: 1 the Earth do not move around the Sun and it is at the center of the Universe and 2 the stars are so far that it is impossible to measure any parallax because it is too small. Only one answer is the correct and having 50% of probability to make the correct choice, he selects the wrong one: The Earth is static at the center of the Universe. But data collected by his meticulous observations, made using equatorial armillary spheres, can not fit with a so simple model, so he needed the Sun at the center of the planetary system. The equatorial and zodiacal armillary spheres let him to measure and record the position of the planet in a direct way, without any calculation.
3
Tycho Brahe astonomical instruments
Brass azimuthal quadrant, 65 centimeters in radius. Built in 1576 or 1577, this was one of the first instrument built at Hveen, and was used for observations of the 1577 comet. Estimated accuracy of 48.8 seconds of arc.
Tycho's great globe, about 1.6 meter in radius. Over 10 years in the making, this instrument came in service in late 1580. Most of the work involved making the hollow wooden globe as perfectly spherical as possible, after which it was covered in brass plates. The globe had two primary scientific uses; it came to be used to record the position of stars observed by Tycho. By 1595 he had 1000 accurately observed stars inscribed on the globe. However, it was originally intended as a computational device. By means of auxiliary circles, the local azimuth/altitude coordinates, as measured with Tycho's instruments, were converted into the conventional celestial coordinates used to record stellar and planetary positions.
4
Armillary sphere, 1.6 meter in radius, built in 1581. Tycho rapidly gave up on using large versions of classical armillary sphere, as he found their accuracy compromised by flexing and bending due to the great weight of the various components. This lead to the design of equatorial armillaries.
Triangular Sextant, about 1.6 meter in radius, built in 1582. As Tycho's sextants grew in size, they became fixed instruments, although Tycho's ingenious globe mount retained a lot of the versatility of use of smaller, conventional portable sextants.
5
Great equatorial armillary, 3 meters in diameter. Built in 1585, this is an armillary sphere reduced to its bare essentials, and one of Tycho's workhorse instrument. Estimated accuracy of 38.6 seconds of arc.
Revolving wooden quadrant, 1.6 meter in radius, built in 1586. Estimated accuracy of 32.3 seconds of arc, based on eight reference stars.
6
Revolving steel quadrant, 2 meters in radius. Built in 1588. Estimated accuracy of 36.3 seconds of arc.
References http://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/education/sp/images/tycho.html http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/history/brahe.html http://www.arrakis.es/~nautylus/brahe.htm http://www.rundetaarn.dk/engelsk/observatorium/life.htm http://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/education/sp/images/tycho.3.html
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