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Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
The first great observational optical astronomer.
His primary contributions to
astrophysics were the design and development of observing
instruments
and the precise data he collected on the motions of the
celestial bodies in the pre-telescope era.
At left is shown Tycho's Great Mural Quadrant
. Tycho's mural ("wall")
quadrant was a 90o arc of radius 2 meters
attached to a north-south wall with a sighting
tool to allow an observer to measure the altitudes of celestial
objects as they passed through the meridian. The observer stands near the
arc and sights the celestial object through a slot on the far wall, noting
the altitude of the object when it is due south.
Tycho's data were reputed to be accurate to better than one-thirtieth
of a degree. Before his time,
the accuracy was on the order of one-fourth of a degree.
In contrast to earlier observers, Tycho observed objects
throughout their cycles rather only at particular times, such as
opposition and quadrature.To the right is a more modern transit
instrument built in 1885 (Fauth),
the Chabot Space & Science Center's meridian transit telescope in Oakland,
California.
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