The 1572 Novae

Diagram in Tycho's 1573 book De Nova Stella, showing the position of the 1572 (super) nova with respect to the bright stars in the constellation Cassiopea

Diagram in Tycho's 1573 book De Nova Stella, showing the position of the 1572 (super) nova with respect to the bright stars in the constellation Cassiopea. Lack of detectable parallax forced Brahe to locate the nova beyond the sphere of the Moon, i.e., in the celestial realm, supposedly unalterable according to Aristotelian doctrine.

 

Tycho         Aristotle