Brahe, Tycho (1546–1601) Danish astronomer
The first important observational astronomer of modern
times, Brahe was born at Knudstrup, the son of a noble-
man, and educated at Leipzig university. After a tour of
Europe, in the course of which he lost the tip of his nose
in a duel, Brahe returned to Denmark and established his
international reputation with his observation in 1572 of
the first ever NEW STARto be recorded in the West. His re-
port, De nova...stella (1573), was taken by many as proof
of the inadequacy of the traditional Aristotelian COSMOL-
OGY. With the financial support of the Danish king, Fred-
erick II (1534–88), Brahe began to build at Uraniborg on
the island of Hven the finest observatory of his day. Using
a nine-foot ARMILLARY SPHEREand a 14-foot mural QUAD-
RANT, Brahe undertook a major survey of the heavens,
often working in collaboration with his sister, Sophie (see
BRAHE, SOPHIE). Within a decade he had calculated the po-
sition of nearly 800 stars with an unparalleled accuracy.
Whereas earlier astronomers had worked within a margin
of error of 10′, Brahe reduced this to the 4′recognized to
be fairly close to the limits of naked-eye observation.
Although anxious to replace the unsatisfactory
Prutenic Tables (see ASTRONOMY) with his own observa-
tions, Brahe proved to be the victim of his own imperious
temperament. A quarrel with Frederick’s successor, Chris-
tian IV (1577–1648), led to a withdrawal of patronage and
forced Brahe to abandon Hven (1596). After several years’
travel he settled finally in 1599 at the court of Emperor
RUDOLF IIin Prague. Appointed imperial mathematician,
he set up his new observatory at Benatek outside Prague
where, with the assistance of the young KEPLER, he began
to prepare his observations for publication. Although6688 BBrraahhee,, TTyycchhooTycho BraheA portrait of the author in the
posthumously published Astronomiae
instauratae progymnasmata(1610), which
was seen through the press by Johannes
Kepler. The book contains a detailed
description of the nova of 1572.