Article ID: CBB170825984

Copernicus's Heliograph at Olsztyn: The 500th Anniversary of a Scientific Milestone (2018)

unapi

Exactly 500 years ago, Nicolaus Copernicus drew a lattice of lines on a panel above the doorway to his rooms at Olsztyn Castle, then in the Bishopric of Warmia. Although its design has long been regarded as some kind of reflecting vertical sundial, the exact astronomical designation of the lines and related measuring techniques remained unknown. Surprisingly, Copernicus did not refer to his new observational methods in his principal work, De Revolutionibus. A data analysis of a 3D model of the panel has, at last, solved the mystery: Copernicus created a new type of measuring device—a heliograph with a nonlocal reference meridian—to precisely measure ecliptic longitudes of the Sun around the time of the equinoxes. The data, 3D model, and modeling results of our analysis are open access and available in the form of digital (Jupyter) notebooks.

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Authors & Contributors
Guan, Shou-Yi
Aveni, Anthony F.
Bag, A. K.
Botley, Paul
Burnett, Charles
Calvo, Emilia
Journals
Nei Menggu Shifan Daxue Xuebao (Ziran Kexue Ban)
Journal for the History of Astronomy
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
Archive for History of Exact Sciences
Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies
Indian Journal of History of Science
Publishers
Polistampa
Cambridge University Press
Brill
University of Texas Press
Concepts
Astronomy
Calendars
Time measurement
Instruments, astronomical
Science and religion
Sundials
People
Copernicus, Nicolaus
Brahe, Tycho
Bürgi, Jost
Dal Pozzo Toscanelli, Paolo
Danti, Egnazio
Regiomontanus
Time Periods
Ancient
16th century
Renaissance
15th century
Medieval
11th century
Places
China
Greece
Italy
Florence (Italy)
India
Mexico
Institutions
Hermitage Museum (Saint Petersburg)
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