The Uraniborg observatory's various towers served as instrument platforms. *
Image: Courtesy of tychobrahe.com * 1576: The cornerstone is laid for Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg observatory on an island east of Copenhagen.
Brahe was one of the preeminent astronomers of the pre-telescopic period and his observatory on the then-Danish (now Swedish) island of Hven is one of the last "primitive," i.e., lacking a telescope, facilities ever built. Nevertheless, some first-rate work was accomplished there, including establishing the moon's annual variation and determining, to within a few seconds, the accurate length of a year.
He was less successful in determining the Earth's relationship to the other planets and the sun. He rejected both the Aristotelian and Copernican models in favor of his own Tychonian planetary model, which places the Earth at the center of the universe, with the sun orbiting the Earth while the other planets orbit the sun.
From Uraniborg, Brahe accurately measured the positions of 777 stars, getting a lot of legwork out of the way for future astronomers. The red-brick observatory, which featured a number of turreted towers and balconies meant to serve as instrument platforms, also contained a library, several laboratories, living quarters for Brahe and his family and facilities for visiting astronomers.
Brahe abandoned Uraniborg in 1597 and the building was destroyed shortly after the astronomer's death in 1601. The gardens that Brahe installed around his observatory are in the process of being restored by the Swedish government.
(Source: Various)
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