In Prague, the Danish astronomer and alchemist Tycho Brahe arrived in the last years of the 16th century, after the death of his patron Danish-Norwegian King Frederick II, in a rather distressed situation. The new king Christian IV was indifferent to astronomy and decided completely on the astronomer financial support. Brahe goes to the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II, who receives a scientist with open arms - gives him a castle for arranging an observatory, appoints a decent salary. In Prague, Braga lived until his death in 1601. And until now, the causes of death of the astronomer are shrouded in mystery. According to the historian of astronomy, Martin Scholz.

“A lot of documents have been preserved about the death of Tycho Brahe. In the astronomer’s observation books, his colleague Johannes Kepler wrote that Brahe was at dinner with Peter Wok in the Rozemberk Palace, and then went home to Pogorzhelets. According to Kepler, Braga was not able to satisfy his bodily needs because of etiquette - he did not get up from the table on time. After returning home, his problems with urination worsened, fever added to them. Braga came out of oblivion on the day of death and his last words were: "Life was not lived in vain."

That is how the great astronomer went down in history, the first in Europe who began to conduct high-precision astronomical observations - a man who was let down by his own modesty. It was assumed that Braga had a bladder rupture or that his kidney failed. Suspicion of violent death first arose in 1901, when in preparation for the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the death of the astronomer, someone came up with the idea to open his tomb.

“It was opened, and it turned out that the coffins partially failed, which was caused by a fire in the Tyn Church in 1679, when the dome of the main nave of the cathedral collapsed. As a result, several tombs were damaged, including Tycho Brahe. The tomb was put in order, and it turned out that it contains the remains of not only an astronomer, but also his wife, who died three years after the death of Brahe, "

Says the archaeologist Jaroslav Podliska from the Prague National Institute for the Protection of Monuments, which takes part in a new exhumation of the remains of Braga.

The exhumation of 1901 brought interesting results - it turned out that the mercury content in the mustache of Braga is much higher than the norm. Which, however, does not in itself indicate violent death. According to one version, the Danes could breathe mercury vapor during their alchemical experiments. Or, according to some, the scientist took too much medicine with the addition of mercury. The version of the poisoning of Brahe arose after deciphering the diary of his distant relative, Eric Brahe, who visited Tycho the day before his death. Danish historian Peter Christensen believes that Eric, in a veiled form, confesses to the murder of a relative in a diary. The customer of the poisoning, as the Danes suggest, could be King Christian IV himself. The historian Martin Scholz does not believe this hypothesis.

  “Based on the facts that I know, it is impossible to understand why Tycho had to be killed in Prague. Relatives of the astronomer lost their power after the accession to the throne of Christian IV. "

Nevertheless, Danish researchers still decided to check the version of poisoning in Prague.

“Interested in exhumation, first of all, Jan Vellév from the University of Aarhus, who is engaged in archaeological research in the places where Tycho Brahe worked. He conducted excavations on the island of Ven, where the astronomer’s observatory was located. For the first time we met with archaeologist Vellev in 2001 at a conference dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the death of Braga, and even then he really wanted to look into the tomb of an astronomer ”,

Says Martin Scholz. Zdenek Dragoun of the National Institute for the Protection of Monuments clarifies:

  “Opening the tombs is not the favorite pastime of archaeologists, although it may seem so. But this case is exceptional. Tycho Brahe is very popular in Denmark, and the question of his death among the Danes is of great interest. Therefore, we went to meet our colleagues in resolving all the formal issues preceding exhumation. ”

The coffin, in which the remains of Brahe are stored, was opened, its contents are described in detail. After that, scientists took samples of tissues and hair of the astronomer, and Czechs and Danes will conduct their research in parallel. Czech scientists, for example, will subject matter to neutron analysis, which is able to determine the presence and concentration in the tissues of about 40 elements.

The Danes said that they would be interested not only in the remains, but also in the clothes of those buried - Brahe and his wife Cristina. What help can it serve to archaeologists - we asked this question to Yaroslav Podliska.

“With regard to clothes, I am a little skeptical, and my skepticism follows from the report drawn up by the commissioners after opening the tomb in 1901. Some things, for example, Brahe takes, were removed from the grave and transferred to the museum. Some things just handed out. Some manipulations were also carried out with the remains of the astronomer’s wife. We have to find out what is in the tomb now. One way or another, we enter the tomb, the authenticity of which has been violated. "

Nevertheless, at least some new facts about the Danish astronomer should be discovered by exhumation, hopes Jaroslav Podliska.

“We can find out what was the physical condition of Braga, what he suffered from diseases, how he ate - such details that complement his image, recorded in historical documents. This is our main task. In addition, we can learn something new about burial in the era when such high-ranking people were buried in the early 17th century. As for the search for mercury in the body of Braga, I would be careful not to invent a detective story from scratch - remember the version of Napoleon's poisoning, which was not confirmed. "

Czech scientists, for the most part, do not believe the hypothesis of the murder of Braga. The historian Martin Scholz is no exception.

“One hundred years ago, we had at our disposal the most unattractive part of the Braga mustache, with remains of skin, and the Danes got the end of the astronomer’s mustache 8 cm long. Our studies have shown that the mercury content in different parts of the mustache is so dramatically different that this cannot be explained by the fact that mercury was deposited on the mustache during metabolism. ”

The discovery of mercury in the remains of Brahe can have a very simple explanation, says Martin Scholz.

  “He died quietly on October 24, and was buried 14 days later. All this time his body had to be somehow stored. In other similar cases, the body was partially embalmed with ointments containing mercury. We know that the same method was used after the death of the Czech king Ladislav Postum, whose black spots on his face were hidden with the help of such ointments. If Braga’s body was embalmed in this way, the ointment must have also got on his mustache. ”

Is it possible now, hundreds of years later, to determine what was processed the body of the Dane after death? Archaeologist Podliska believes that in the case of Braga, scientists will not have such an opportunity.

“The remains of Brahe were removed from the tomb, they were moved. It is known that the Czech anthropologist Mateika took part of the brain and soft tissues to his laboratory. In such cases, it all depends on the degree of preservation of the body and on where it is buried - in the ground or in the tomb. "

A duelist with a silver nose, an aristocrat who married a commoner, the owner of "Heavenly Castle", the discoverer of a supernova, who revived astronomy from the ashes of the "Dark Ages" in all the radiance of the Renaissance - here is a short list of descriptions of Tycho Brahe. the site tells about a man born December 14, 1546 and his observations paved the way for the creation of Kepler’s laws.

Born in the family of Otto Brahe, who held high military and political positions, and was transferred to the childless uncle Admiral Jergen as usual, the little Dane was surrounded by care and attention from childhood. After receiving a brilliant primary home education, Tycho (latinized form named after Tyuge) at age 12 entered the University of Copenhagen, then to Leipzig. The family hoped that the boy would devote himself to the study of law, but the future astronomer spent night hours observing the starry sky, for which he bought and mastered the instruments.

Under the happy star

The death of his uncle (who rushed into the sea to save the fallen king) and the inheritance received allowed the young astronomer to control his future fate. At the age of 19, he moved to Wittenberg University, where he studied astronomy, alchemy and astrology, but here the plague epidemic began. Forced to leave the city, Tycho Brahe quarreled with a distant relative and lost part of his nose in a duel (because of which he was forced to wear a silver prosthesis for the rest of his life).

Knudstrup Estate

Håkan Dahlström / Flickr

Two years later, when the epidemic subsided, Brahe settled in Augsburg, where he ordered from artisans an 11-meter quadrant, a celestial globe and other instruments according to his drawings. The death of his father forced him to return to his family estate - Knudstrup Castle. There he organized a laboratory and, together with relatives, opened two factories producing paper and glass.

Quadrant Tycho Brahe

Pimvantend / wikimedia commons

Troubles temporarily distracted him from his beloved hobby, to which he was encouraged to return to, not by the usual, but by a real “heavenly sign” - a supernova flash visible to the naked eye (this phenomenon can be observed once every several centuries). The bright light in the constellation of Cassiopeia, where there should not have been a star, attracted the attention of Braga returning home. The astronomer immediately rushed to measure its coordinates. The star shone for another 17 months, visible even during the day. Among the predictions of astrologers and simply the fears of superstitious people who considered such an outbreak to be a bad “heavenly sign” foreshadowing catastrophes and the end of the world, Tycho Brahe was one of the few who denied the atmospheric nature of the phenomenon. He convincingly proved that the new luminary is a star located at a great distance from our planet, since it did not detect noticeable parallax (a change in the object relative to the distance and proximity to the observer).

Later, a colleague of the scientist Johannes Kepler writes: "Although this star did not predict anything, but, in any case, she announced and created the great astronomer."

Castles in the sky

In the same 1572, when the astronomer met his supernova guiding star, he decided to choose the guiding star of his life. To the considerable indignation of noble relatives, she became a simple girl Kirstina - without a pedigree, titles and regalia. In the summer of 1574, the astronomer had already begun to bask in the rays of glory: the king himself invited him for a year to give lectures in Copenhagen, where he moved with his wife. After the end of the contract, he went on a trip, during which Landgrave William IV hinted to Philip II that he should not let such a prominent scientist abroad for a long time. So that the astronomer would not leave forever, the king granted the island of Vienna, 20 kilometers from the capital under the observatory, to the possession of Tycho Brahe.

Portrait of Tycho's sister, Sophia Brahe, by Johan Jorgensen Kulbars, 1636

Wikimedia commons

Quietly built a castle there and placed observation devices. His beloved sister Sophia helped him, jokingly called Urania (muse of astronomy). The castle itself received the same name.

Uraniborg, view from above

L.G.foto / Wikimedia Commons

It had everything that a scientist’s soul could wish for: an alchemical laboratory, a wall quadrant, his beloved globe, 4 observatories with sliding roofs that extend to all directions of the world ... The result was the publication of an extensive astronomical treatise. However, a few years later, the supportive king died, and his place was taken by Christian IV, who was much more indifferent to the scientific merits of Brahe. With the manifestation of the scientist’s well-known temper, it became clear that no concessions would have to be expected - the king completely cut funding for the work of the astronomer. Tycho Brahe had to leave Denmark, move to Prague and become a court mathematician and astrologer Rudolph II. Monument Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler in Prague

Mohylek / Wikimedia Commons

In October 1601, Brahe fell ill and died quite quickly. The causes of his death are still causing heated debate: according to legend, he died from a rupture of the bladder, fearing to break etiquette, rising from the royal table. But in reality, a person does not die from a rupture of the bladder, so more likely the cause could be acute uremia and kidney failure.

Another version is the envy of a colleague. Like Salieri, who, according to legend, poisoned Mozart, Kepler is considered by some scientists to be the murderer of his colleague and teacher. This option is confirmed by the presence of a large amount of mercury in Braga’s hair, however, the measurement methods are disputed, so that the most plausible version is still uremia.

Tycho Brahe led a hectic life, fought duels and seduced women

The body of the great Danish astronomer of the 16th century, Tycho Brahe, was exhumed in Prague in order to determine the cause of his death.

Tycho Brahe served as royal mathematician and astrologer at the court of the Emperor of Bohemia, Rudolph II.

It was previously believed that he died from inflammation of the bladder. However, analyzes carried out at the beginning of the last century showed that his hair contains traces of mercury.

And now, a group of Danish and Czech researchers intends to give a definitive answer to the question of whether the death of the great astronomer was violent.

Great scientist and rake

Quietly born in 1546 in the province of Scania, in an aristocratic family, studied mathematics and astronomy

university of Copenhagen and several institutes in Germany.

He entered the history of astronomy as the compiler of the first stellar atlas, as well as numerous observations of the stars and planets that laid the foundation for practical astronomy.

But this scientist and courtier was also famous for his rather unbridled disposition.

He fought a lot in duels and even lost a part of his nose during a student duel in Rostock in 1566, after which for the rest of his life he wore a metal prosthesis covering his wound.

It was said about him that he died from a rupture of the bladder, because he could not leave politeness from the royal banquet. Tycho Brahe was buried in 1601 in the Church of Our Lady before Tyn in Prague near the Old Square.

Understand the reason

The exhumation was led by Professor Vellev

In 1901, his body was exhumed for the first time. Then hair samples were taken,

but they were analyzed using modern accurate methods only after 90 years. It was then that traces of mercury were discovered in them.

However, Brahe was also engaged in alchemy, in which mercury played a very significant role. In addition, he could take medicines containing this substance, which in his time were many.

Assumptions that Tycho Brahe was the victim of premeditated murder have been made repeatedly.

In the past, suspicion fell on his assistant Johannes Kepler, who himself later became a famous astronomer.

A theory recently emerged that Braga was killed on the orders of the King of Denmark, Christian IV, after the scientist was suspected of having romantic relations with the mother of the monarch.

Professor Jens Velléw of Aarhus University in Denmark leads a team of researchers and archaeologists who

opened the grave of Braga in the Tyn Church on Monday.

Scientists hope to re-analyze samples of the deceased’s clothes, as well as preserved hair and mummified fabrics.

They also intend to determine what metal the nasal prosthesis that Brahe wore all his life was made of - it is generally accepted that it was made of gold and silver, but there is evidence that it was just copper.

Scientists are given a deadline until Thursday for sampling from the remains of Braga and his wife, who was buried in the same grave three years after his death.

On Friday, their remains will be buried again after a special Mass is served in the cathedral.

The results of the analysis will be known no earlier than in a year.

Astronomer Tycho Brahe, despite being a native of Denmark, is a special figure for the Czechs. A brilliant scientist whom historians put on a par with Copernicus and Galileo, who discovered the supernova, has the status of a national hero. Therefore, any new details of his life or death cause unprecedented excitement.

For eight hours in a row under the sights of television cameras, archaeologists dismantled the crypt of the Cathedral of Virgin Mary in Prague, where the ashes of an astronomer rest. And all in order to answer the question of what caused his death. But riddles enmeshed not only death, but the whole life of Brahe.

A descendant of a noble Danish clan became a court scholar under King Frederick II. Contemporaries claimed that in addition to astronomy, Brahe was fond of all kinds of magic. So, it is known that a clairvoyant dwarf lived in his house, who, sitting under the dining table, gave predictions, and walked around the house with a moose, which he tamed, and then quietly died of Brahe. To crown it all, the very appearance of Brahe spoke of his wayward character. The scientist’s nose was crowned with a golden tip with diamonds, because in his youth in a duel his face was cut open.

It is not surprising that such a fabulous, even mystical lifestyle led to an even more mysterious death. According to the canonical version, Brahe died during the royal dinner. According to etiquette, he could not leave the feast before the king and died of a rupture of the bladder right at the table.

However, researchers from the United States two years ago stated that Brahe was poisoned. Because of professional envy, his beloved student, the equally famous astronomer Johannes Kepler, sent him to the next world. Suspicions arose when traces of mercury were recently found in the hairs from Tycho Brahe's beard, taken more than 100 years ago.

Jens Velev, professor of archeology: “Strictly speaking, we cannot say for sure whether he was killed. But we hope to find out whether the gradual intake of small doses of mercury or a large single dose caused the death. And this is a kind of evidence. ”

Skeptics say that mercury in Brahe times was a common medicine. They drank it like aspirin in our time. However, researchers who have exhumed the ashes of an astronomer, hope that the results of their tests will give rise to a much more exciting version of death. And then humanity will enjoy the new story in the spirit of Mozart and Salieri, more precisely, Johannes Kepler and his teacher Tycho Brahe.

Source: Stargazer and the Bully, Alphabet Weekly No.2, 2000.

SILVER NOSE HE "EARNED" STILL IN YOUTH. The real one was chopped off during a duel that Tycho Brahe had without a number. When he had already become a celebrated astrologer and, surrounded by a retinue of students, rode through Danish villages in a fluttering raincoat, peasants fled in superstitious horror from his silver nose and stern gaze.

XVI century. Late Renaissance in art. Bonfires auto on the squares. Reformed wars. The plague, the persecution of heretics, the first breakthroughs of new science and the widespread enthusiasm for astrology and alchemy among the high society of Europe ... This is the stage on which the drama of this person's life unfolded.

Narrow, not everywhere cobbled streets of northern Copenhagen, squishy dirt, dull oil cups on pillars near the gloomy university building. A noisy crowd of students falls out of the door, heading for the nearest tavern. Among them, a young man named Tycho stands out as a special riot. He was born February 26, 1546 in the family of a hereditary nobleman. 13 years old he entered the University of Copenhagen, where he studied rhetoric and philosophy. According to his class, Braga was destined for a political career. However, somewhere in the sky regarding the young schoolboy, apparently, his plans had long been written.

ON ONE OF THE SPECIAL FLAT ROOFS OF A UNIVERSITY, a group of students froze in anticipation. They are unusually quiet and attentive. Swords dimly shine in the sunset light, berets with feathers are pulled from their heads. And "it began, it began" is passed from mouth to mouth. The setting sun suddenly begins to decrease, as if someone invisible bites off a piece of it. A few seconds - and everything darkens, instead of a star from heaven, the black disk in an ominous crown sternly looks. Exclamations are heard, some of the students are hurriedly baptized. Tycho Brahe is not afraid of a celestial phenomenon, but he is struck by the very possibility of accurately predicting the date of the eclipse. The choice is made - he is immersed in the study of astronomy and mathematics. In 1562, he went to the University of Leipzig, where Providence offers him another astronomical puzzle. The 17-year-old studiosus observes the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn and notes that this event did not coincide in time with the predictions of then available planetary motion tables. Astronomy needs to be updated!

ASTRON, STARSTAR ... THIS TITLE in those years evoked mixed feelings among contemporaries. Respect for the scientist among enlightened people, superstitious fears among commoners, contempt of ignorant nobles, suspicions of the Church ... Brahe despised class prejudices, put on a cap of an astrologer and began to prepare a revolution in astronomy. Like many colleagues, he was simultaneously engaged in astrology and even tried to find the “philosopher's stone”.

He travels around Europe: Wittenberg, Rostock, Basel, Ingolstadt, Augsburg ... These are the largest centers of astronomy and astrology. In Augsburg, he began the construction of a huge celestial globe with a diameter of one and a half meters, on which he subsequently noted the position of the stars. Under the influence of his uncle, the stargazer Brahe became interested in alchemy and abandoned astronomy for a while ...

However, the play clearly went the wrong way. Her director was clearly not satisfied with another alchemist named Brahe. And here’s the 2nd act: by a beckon of the director’s hand, “work scenes” hang that very new bright star in the constellation of Cassiopeia in the sky of Denmark. The star appeared to the 26-year-old apostate as a kind of heavenly sign, turning him into an enthusiastic admirer of heaven for the rest of his life. Quietly literally kept his eyes on her, day or night, he anxiously noted all the gradual changes in her brilliance from the moment she appeared when she competed in brightness with Venus until her final disappearance after 16 months.

THE RESULT OF OBSERVATIONS QUIETLY BROGHE over "his" star was a book in which he stated the idea that the star was much farther from the Earth than the Moon. And since she did not take part in the movements of the planets, he assigned her to the category of motionless stars. In our time, this conclusion seems to be the most commonplace, but in the 16th century, most astronomers held fast to Aristotle's conviction that the whole sky, and the area of \u200b\u200bmotionless planets in particular, was imperishable and unchanging; new stars, like comets, almost all belonged to the objects of the upper layers of our atmosphere. It was a challenge akin to Copernicus, supported by the iron logic of facts.

A star flashed in the sky almost a month after the bloody Bartholomew night. Many felt that it portends numerous troubles and the near end of the world ... Tycho Brahe, like many, talks about world events following the appearance of a star ... Kepler, who made fun of astrological forecasts, put it later: "If this star doesn’t predicted, then at least she announced the birth of a great astronomer. "

In 1576, the DANISH KING Frederick II - an ardent patron of science and the arts - appointed Tycho content for astronomical research with astronomical generosity. The crowned "sponsor" assigned the stargazer the whole island of Vienna in the Sound Sound to build a house and an observatory (which cost the king a barrel of gold). In addition to the annual salary in favor of Tycho, income from the lease of the island by local peasants was allocated. It was a real medieval castle with spiers, loopholes and even a prison located in the basement ... Quietly called it Uraniborg (Heavenly Castle), and in another way - the “Palace of Urania” (muse - the patroness of astronomy). Inside the castle, Tycho placed several observatories with sliding pivoting roofs of a conical shape, a library with the famous large celestial globe, a chemical laboratory with 16 outbreaks, that is, "workplaces." A fountain was built in the center of the first floor, which pumped water to all three floors of this truly unique astronomical school.

Subsequently, with an increase in the number of students and assistants flocking to him from all over Europe, Tycho erected a second building - Stjerenborg (Star Castle), remarkable for its underground observatories. Here he started workshops where all the instruments brought to his perfection of that time were made ... With the onset of darkness, the astrologer appeared at the observatory dressed in a star-cloaked mantle and a pointed cap of the Chaldean magician. If he made observations of the moon, then it was a mantle embroidered with silver crescents. Red clothes were intended for Mars ...

At that time, astronomy and astrology were almost equivalent concepts. The nobles considered it their duty to personally compose horoscopes, relying on very meager ideas about the laws of motion of celestial bodies. Tycho Brahe was no exception. All his life he was engaged in horoscopes. However, unlike many, he well understood the inefficiency of stellar forecasts compiled from inaccurate astronomical tables. Therefore, he devoted many years to a rigorous calculation of the positions of celestial bodies. Kepler then used these tables of his when deriving his famous laws of motion.

IN THE LIVING ROOM OF URANIBORG In 1586, a mysterious portrait of the owner of the Heavenly Castle appeared. It depicts Tycho Brahe in the opening of a triumphal arch dotted with the arms of the ancient noble families of Denmark, whose representatives have ever studied astrology or astronomy. Among the surnames under these emblems are two curious ones: Hilderstern and Rosencrantz. Do you remember anything? Yes, young people with exactly these names were friends of Shakespeare's Hamlet, who played a very ambiguous role in his fate. It is also known that at the same time at the University of Padova, two students of the "same stream" with the same names were also found in the lists of students. What kind of students were these who “were awarded eternity” simultaneously in a brilliant tragedy and in a portrait in the company of the great astronomer? We will probably never get an answer to this question.

CHARACTER OF THE GREAT ASTRONOM was arrogant and quick-tempered. Frederick II forgave much to the silver-eyed genius, but his successor on the Danish throne immediately disliked Tycho Brahe. He found fault with the fact that he had placed a prison in Uraniborg for tenants who evaded paying rent, and in 1597 actually expelled Tycho - Brahe from Denmark. The exile found shelter with a fan of astronomy, astrology and alchemy of the Czech emperor Rudolph II, who placed Tycho Benatek castle at the disposal of Tycho, not far from Prague. Here the disgraced stargazer (sometimes together with Rudolph, who secretly came to him) proceeded to observations. By a happy coincidence, among the assistants to Braga, in addition to the enthusiastic emperor, was the great Johannes Kepler, who later glorified his name.

The blow exiled did not pass without a trace. Tycho's forces were broken, and three years later he died, repeatedly shouting even in his dying delirium the hope that his life had not gone fruitless. In a narrow Gothic window, the stars of Bohemia looked impassively at the dying man ... The drama of the life of the great scientist is over. The curtain is down, but the applause is still heard!

THE MAIN FEATURE OF THE QUIET BROGHE AS A SCIENTIST can be called his rigorous desire for maximum accuracy of the observations made. He was one of those who realized that accurate instruments and rigorous methods are important not only for practical applications of astronomy, but also for theory, for obtaining data that could solve the question of the true structure of our planetary system. One of the first Tycho Brahe appreciated in its entirety the importance of multiple repetitions of the same observation under different conditions in order to random sources of errors of individual observations mutually neutralize each other. His "large wall quadrant" for measuring angular distances in the sky was not only a revolutionary instrument for that time, but also a real work of art. It is curious and strange that after death most of the instruments created under the guidance of the great astronomer were destroyed.

Brahe Quiet

(Tycho Brahe, not Tycho de B.) - famous astronomer, genus. Knudstrup December 14, 1546; from the age of 13 he began to study science at the University of Copenhagen. Here, the predictions of astronomers regarding a solar eclipse on August 21, 1560 aroused such interest in him that he decided to devote himself entirely to astronomy. But this did not agree with the views of his parents, and when, two years later, he went on a trip abroad, along with his teacher, the latter was strictly ordered to watch that young B. was exclusively engaged in legal and state sciences; thus, only at night, secretly from everyone, could he indulge in his favorite pastimes. Having bought a small celestial globe, he began to look for the stars in the sky and use the wooden compass to calculate the distance between them. The only guidance was his books, which he bought with his pocket money and which he could only read furtively. Despite such adverse conditions, in 1563 he observed the passage of Saturn through Jupiter and discovered errors in the calculations of Copernicus. Upon his return to Denmark in 1565, B. received a significant inheritance and could since then freely surrender to his beloved science. In 1572, he discovered a new star in the constellation Cassiopeia,

Tycho Brahe was born December 14, 1546 in the small Danish town of Knudstrup. His real name was Tyuga, and the Latinized version - Tycho was taken later, in adulthood. The boy’s parents belonged to an old noble family and, according to established tradition, passed him up for raising into the family of his uncle, who was the admiral of the Danish fleet. He approached the matter of training his adoptive son very responsibly, so Tycho received the best education that was possible at that time. This allowed him to enter the University of Copenhagen at the age of 12, where astronomy became the main subject of his studies. After studying for three years, Tycho is transferred to the University of Leipzig, which, however, he was not able to finish due to the outbreak of war. Soon after returning to Denmark, his adoptive father died, leaving a fairly large fortune. This gave Tycho Braga the opportunity to independently engage in astronomy, without the need for outside help.

After a series of adventures, with the assistance of his friend, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, the astronomer receives the Ven Island located near Copenhagen from the king for life. Here, on the funds allocated by the king, supplemented by his own money, Tycho is building an observatory, which he called Uraniborg.

He worked in it for over 20 years, until when, due to lack of funding, he had to move to Prague, accepting the invitation of Emperor Rudolph II. In this city, he died on October 24, 1601.
  Tycho Brahe was unanimously recognized as the best observer astronomer of the period before the invention of the telescope. The accuracy of his star catalogs was very high, and therefore they remained relevant for a long time, even after the advent of optical instruments. The scientist personally made tools for his observations, having developed a number of methods to increase their accuracy. This allowed him to compile new solar tables, as well as determine the duration of the year with an error of less than one second. As for the observation of planets and stars, the error in their observation decreased by more than 15 times in comparison with the previous ones. Tycho Brahe also published the first tables in which visible distortions of the position of a number of celestial bodies due to the influence of the earth's atmosphere were determined.

One of the most famous studies performed by the scientist was the observation of a supernova that broke out in the sky on September 11, 1572 in the constellation Cassiopeia. According to its results, a book was written entitled "On a new star." In addition, Brahe first concluded that the extraterrestrial origin of comets, which was a revolutionary discovery of the time. The material for him was the observation of the Great Comet of 1577, which that year was clearly visible throughout the world.

According to the results obtained by Tycho Brahe during his scientific career, Johannes Kepler derived his famous laws describing the motion of the planets of the solar system. It is worth noting that, in contrast, the Danish scientist did not accept the heliocentric system of the world of Copernicus. He proposed his own hypothesis (the so-called geo-heliocentric system), which was found to be erroneous shortly after his death.

Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) was born in Denmark in a wealthy and noble family. The boy began to show an early interest in science. Having successfully completed the course at the university, the young man went on a trip to European countries, collecting all the knowledge that had been accumulated by that time in astrology and alchemy. Soon he himself began to make astrological predictions, and his name became widely known.

Apparently, Tycho Brahe was able to guess important political events. For example, to the Turkish sultan Suleiman, whose troops rubbed into Hungary in 1566, he predicted that he would die on the day of the lunar eclipse in October 1566, which happened.

Braga is known not only as a scientist and astrologer, but also as an eccentric. In 1566, an unpleasant event happened to him: in a duel, his nose was shot. After this, Braga did not leave home for some time, and when the wound on his face was healed, he began to wear an artificial nose made of gold and silver, which he attached to his face with a special compound designed for this case.

In 1571, the enemy returned to his homeland, to Denmark. Since that time, he began to conduct systematic astronomical observations, trying to prove the influence of planetary movements on natural disasters, and to develop a theory of aspects (which will later be studied in more detail by Kepler).

Often observing the night sky, on November 11, 1572, a veil noticed that a new star had flashed in the constellation Cassiopeia. He recorded all the observations, making a lot of astrological conclusions from the appearance of a new star. Soon Brahe published his notes, calling them "On the new star ...".

After the appearance of this book, his career went uphill. The King of Denmark, noting that Brahe was not only a successful astrologer, but also a talented scientist, invited him to give lectures on astrology, mathematics, etc. Four years later, the king allocated Braven the island of Hwen near Copenhagen, as well as the necessary amount so that the scientist could conduct systematic observations of the celestial bodies.

Brahe built an observatory house, which he called Uraniberg, which is translated from Danish as “the castle of Urania”. All the necessary tools and equipment were manufactured under the guidance of Braga.

The scientist has been observing for more than ten years. During this time, he compiled refraction tables, noticed two inequalities in the motion of the moon (annual inequality and variation), and provided evidence that new stars and comets are celestial bodies.

These studies aroused the interest of many progressive Europeans and high-ranking people of that time. Scientists came to his island. At the same time, his fame as an astrologer grew. Many noble and wealthy nobles not only from Denmark, but also from other countries turned to him with a request to draw them a horoscope. It is known that most of the horoscopes of Brahe turned out to be true.

In 1588, the king died, the patron saint of Braga. The new ruler of the country not only did not encourage, but also tried to ban the research of the scientist and astrologer, so he had to leave Denmark. For two years, the scientist lived in Germany, and then received an invitation to come to Prague, where he spent the rest of his life.

And yet in the sixteenth century, Braga was known more as an astrologer than as an astronomer. Many of his notes after his death were lost, and some went to his student Kepler, who continued his scientific studies of Brahe. Having studied the work of a Danish scientist that has come down to us, we can conclude that he did not share the theory of Copernicus, but believed that the sun and moon revolve around a stationary earth, but at the same time, it was the sun that should be considered the center of the orbits of the other planets of the solar system (this theory was proposed by scientists in 1583).

In 1677, 76 years after the death of Brahe, an asteroid (Tycho Brahe) was named in his honor, and later - a lunar crater (Tycho).