⭐ In the context of Tycho Brahe’s astronomical work, Uraniborg is considered…
Uraniborg was built on the island of Hven with the financial support of King Frederick II of Denmark to facilitate Tycho Brahe’s detailed astronomical observations, making it the first substantial observatory of its kind in Christian Europe.
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⭐ Core Definition: Uraniborg
Uraniborg was an astronomical observatory and alchemy laboratory established and operated by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. It was the first custom-built observatory in modern Europe, and the last to be built without a telescope as its primary instrument.
Uraniborg was built c. 1576 – c. 1580 on Ven, an island in the Øresund between Zealand and Scania, Sweden, which was part of Denmark at the time. It was expanded with the underground facility Stjerneborg (Swedish: Stjärneborg) on an adjacent site.
Tycho Brahe (/ˈtaɪkoʊˈbrɑː(h)i,-ˈbrɑː(hə)/TY-koh BRAH-(h)ee, - BRAH(-hə); Danish:[ˈtsʰykʰoˈpʁɑːə]; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, Danish:[ˈtsʰyːjəˈʌtəsn̩ˈpʁɑːə]; 14 December 1546 – 24 October 1601), generally called Tycho for short, was a Danish astronomer of the Renaissance, known for his comprehensive and unprecedentedly accurate astronomical observations. He was known during his lifetime as an astronomer, astrologer, and alchemist. He was the last major astronomer before the invention of the telescope and has been described as the greatest pre-telescopic astronomer.
In 1572, Tycho noticed a completely new star that was brighter than any star or planet. Astonished by the existence of a star that ought not to have been there, he devoted himself to the creation of ever more accurate instruments of measurement over the next fifteen years (1576–1591). King Frederick II granted Tycho an estate on the island of Hven and the money to build Uraniborg, the first large observatory in Christian Europe. He later worked underground at Stjerneborg, where he realised that his instruments in Uraniborg were not sufficiently steady. His unprecedented research program both turned astronomy into the first modern science and also helped launch the Scientific Revolution.
Ven (Swedish:[veːn], older Swedish spelling Hven), is a Swedish island in the Öresund strait laying between Scania, Sweden and Zealand, Denmark. A part of Landskrona Municipality, Skåne County, the island has an area of 7.5 km (2.9 sq mi) and 371 inhabitants as of 2020. During the 1930s, the population was at its peak, with approximately 1,300 inhabitants. There are four villages on the island: Bäckviken, Tuna By, Norreborg and Kyrkbacken. The island is best known as the location of the observatories Uraniborg and Stjerneborg, both of which were established and operated by the Danish Renaissance astronomer Tycho Brahe.
Stjerneborg ("Star Castle" in English) was Tycho Brahe's underground observatory next to his palace-observatory Uraniborg, located on the island of Ven in the Öresund between Denmark and Sweden.
Tycho Brahe built it circa 1581. He wrote: "My purpose was partly to have placed some of the most important instruments securely and firmly in order that they should not be exposed to the disturbing influence of the wind, and should be easier to use, partly to separate my collaborators when there were several with me at the same time, and have some of them make observations in the castle itself, others in these cellars, in order that they should not get in the way of each other or compare their observations before I wanted this." He named it Stiernburg in vernacular or Stellæburgus in Latin. Both the Danish and Latin names mean "castle of the stars".
