Tycho Brahe Measures the Sky

Tycho Brahe was the most meticulous astronomical observer of his time. Brahe , who lived between 1546 and 1601, set out to solve the day's most pressing astronomical problem: to determine whether the Earth or the Sun was at the center of the Solar System . To do this Brahe and his assistants created the first major astronomical observatory where they devised and used the most accurate pre-telescopic astronomical instruments . Tycho Brahe thus compiled tables of precise measurements of the positions and brightnesses of planets and stars. Brahe never solved the Solar System problem himself - but left data so impressively accurate his assistant Johannes Kepler was able to develop definitive laws. Brahe is also remembered for witnessing a supernova in 1572, showing that the Great Comet of 1577 was not an atmospheric phenomena, and for his metal nose .