History of astronomy Tycho Brahe

Observed Supernova

Nov 11, 1572

Mistakenly identified as a 'new star'- 'new' in latin was 'nova', forming the word supernova, Brahe observes a star explosion. His observations showed that celestial objects could change and were not static, as was the aristotlean view.

Conclusions on supernova

Nov 11, 1572

Using his data on planetary and celestial motion, future astronomers such as Kepler, his assistant, could construct current models of the solar system. However, Brahe made incorrect conclusions on the apparrent lack of parrallax of the stars- concluding that it was due to the earth being motionless in the universe and everything rotating around it and not that they are too far away for any perceivable parrallax.