August 8 – Cornerstone of Uraniborg Is Laid

nPublishednon August 8, 2013

nAstronomynis mostly an “observational science.”
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nMuchnof astronomy involves observing (seeing) the Sun and moon, stars andnplanets, and all the other astronomical bodies. Astronomers observenthese things at all the different wavelengths—radio waves tonvisible light to X-rays and beyond. They do experiments that confirmnor reject hypotheses—but many of these experiments have to do withnmaking more observations, often at special times such as duringneclipses or transits. Astronomers cannot make experiments by, say,nmoving stars and galaxies around or injecting them with variousnchemicals to see what happens!
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nWaynback in the 1500s, astronomy was all about observing celestial bodiesnwithout telescopesn(let alone spectroscopes and radio telescopes). Telescopes had notnyet been invented, so astronomers were stuck with naked-eyenobservations, just like all the non-astronomers.
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nWhatnastronomers did better than everybody else was to make really carefulnobservations, measuring just where the specks of light in the nightnsky were. They began to create instruments to help them keep recordsnof the changing positions of the stars and other celestial bodies,nnight after night. But Tycho Brahe was frustrated by the instrumentsnothers made; they weren’t capable of making the kind of exactnmeasurements he needed to make. So Tycho invented improvedninstruments. He created sighting tubes, sextants,nquadrants, and armillary spheres, along with a very accurate aimingndevice.
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nFurthermore,nTycho directed the construction of the first recorded buildingndesigned specifically for astronomical observation. On this date inn1576, the cornerstone of Tycho’s new observatory, called Uraniborg,nwas laid. The building was located on the island of Hven and wasncarefully oriented for the best view of the sky. It featured towersnand windows and balconies designed to serve as platforms for Tycho’sninstruments. n
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nHere’snwhat Uraniborg included:
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Here we can see the layout
of the grounds around
Uraniborg.

n Firstnfloor:

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Fournrooms: one for Tycho and his family;

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the other three for visiting astronomers

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Northernntower: kitchens

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Southernntower: library

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n Secondnfloor:

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Onenlarge room, for visiting royalty; two smaller rooms

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Towers:nastronomical instruments

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n Thirdnfloor:

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Loftndivided into 8 small rooms for students

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Roofsnof towers: platforms for observation

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“Widow’snwalk”: for observation

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n Basement:

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Alchemicalnlaboratory and storage for food, salt, and fuel

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nAfternall of the planning, time, and expense that went to buildingnUraniborg, it soon became clear that there was too much wind high upnon the towers to use the instruments. So Tycho planned anothernobservatory, next door; this one he called Stjerneborg. Thisnbuilding had underground chambers where the instruments were placed,nwell out of the reach of the wind. Shutters could be opened to allownstarlight to enter those chambers and reach the instruments.
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