Computational Science

Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer who lived from 1546 until 1601. Under the patronage of the King of Denmark, he established Renaissance Europe’s first observatory on the Danish island of Even. Even though the telescope would not be invented until eight years after his death, Tycho was able to measure accurately the positions of celestial bodies to between one-thirtieth and one-sixtieth of a degree. To accomplish this feat he invented a succession of instruments, including the sextant in 1569, the mural quadrant in 1582, and the portable ring armillary in 1591. For more than twenty years he devoted himself to systematically measuring and recording the positions of the sun, the moon, and the planets.