Tycho Brahe
1546-1601, Early Danish astronomer and instrument maker
The Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe, was one of the leading luminaries in early cartography and astronomy. He set out to make accurate observations in order to be able to determine which system the Ptolemaic or Copernican one, was the more correct.
He was sponsored by King Frederick II of Denmark who built him a castle on the island of Hveen, between Denmark and Sweden called Uraniborg which was to become first real astronomical observatory in the modern sense.
From Hveen, Brahe produced large, accurate instruments which yielded measurements which were accurate to within four minutes of arc. He compiled an extensive table of planetary positions and a star catalogue and made the most accurate naked eye astronomical measurements of his day.
Willem Janszoon Blaeu was said to be one of his students.
Image(s): Portrait of Tycho Brahe
