Tycho's Supernova, catalogued as SN 1572, was a supernova in the constellation Cassiopeia that appeared in the sky in November 1572 and was observed by many people, most famously the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. It became as bright as Venus and was visible in daylight, and it faded over about a year and a half. In his book De nova stella Tycho showed that it had no measurable parallax and so lay far beyond the Moon, among the fixed stars, which challenged the Aristotelian belief that the heavens were unchanging. Modern astronomers have identified it as a Type Ia supernova, the explosion of a white dwarf, and its remnant has been studied in X-rays and radio waves. The observation helped establish Tycho's reputation and led to his observatory at Uraniborg.
Before and after
- 27 December 1571Birth of Johannes Kepler
- 1572Wilhelmus
- 1572Birth of John Donne
- 24 August 1572St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
- 11 November 1572Tycho's Supernova
- 1574Construction of Selimiye Mosque
- from 12 July 1574 to 13 September 1574Conquest of Tunis
- from 1575 to 1675Dutch Golden Age
- 8 February 1575Founding of Leiden University
More in Universe & space
- 7 January 1610Discovery of Callisto
- 7 January 1610Galileo discovers the moons of Jupiter
- 25 October 1671Discovery of Iapetus
- 23 December 1672Discovery of Rhea
- 21 March 1684Discovery of Dione
- 21 March 1684Discovery of Tethys
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.