The 16th Century Observatory on the island of Hven/Ven

If you ever find yourself near Copenhagen then I would recommend you cancel your plans, hop on a ferry, and take a trip to the tiny, beautiful island of Ven to vist Tycho Brahe's 16th Century observatory.

This island situated between Sweden and Denmark was the home of Tycho Brahe. A 16th century astronomer and jack of all trades (including alchemist and horoscope writer for the King of Denmark).



 He built what is believed to be the very first research institute and brought together over a hundred researchers from across Europe during the lifespan of the observatory. He is credited with recording extremely accurate measurements of the stars and planets as he tried to make sense of the origin of the earth and the universe. This is all before the invention of the telescope.

The museum is situated in the grounds of his castle, Uraniborg (no longer standing) and features a reconstruction of his underground observatory, Stjärneborg. I got very excited. The observatory still has the original plinths for the instruments Tycho and his researchers used to measure the stars. These have been there since the 16th Century, that's almost 500 YEARS. The instruments are reconstructed to scale and feature some 80s style lighting which makes it feel like a underground science discovery disco.

Climbing underground into the observatory you find yourself in an enclosed rocky space. The observatory features a slightly old school, but interesting, visual presentation about Tycho, his research assistants and discoveries. The shows run every 15 minutes and you need to book a time to visit the observatory at the main museum desk as there is only limited space.

The top of the reconstructed underground observatory.

One of the reconstructed measuring instruments on the original 16th Century plinth in the underground observatory of Tycho Brahe.

Another of the reconstructed measuring instruments on the original 16th Century plinth in the underground observatory of Tycho Brahe.

I felt like a real 16th Century scientist but with no castle. The presentation read short entries from Tycho's diaries which, although might sound boring, were really fascinating to hear.

Tycho lived on the island of Ven as he was granted it by the King in 1574, which was nice of him. Clearly those were the days to have been a scientist. Although from this descriptor in the gardens many scientists in the 1500s had the same trust issues as scientists today when it comes to sharing their research findings.

The gardens in the museum are beautiful and contain information about medicinal plants that Tycho grew. 

The reconstructed gardens of the Tycho Brahe Museum. You can just make out the underground observatory to the back of this picture. 

The information in the museum is well worth a read and painted Tycho as a rather formidable character who governed the people of the island (there was quite a bit of falling out as he ruled over the island's inhabitants, farmers and introduced that they had to work for him as well as farming). 

Of most interest to me was the information in the museum about the close relationship between Tycho and his sister, Sophie Brahe. I'd heard of Tycho's achievements but not of the involvement of his sister in his observations. Tycho respected his sister greatly and called her his ""learned sister". He viewed her as someone he could have an intelligent conversation with about his work.  Too often the contributors to great scientific discoveries and observations are not documented with one (usually a man) given the fame, fortune and in this case an island but it was great to see the museum documenting this relationship. 

The former All Saints Church which contains the Tycho Brahe Museum.

Me and Tycho.

The ferry to Ven leaves from Nyhaven in Copenhagen daily (more info here) . I would recommend hiring a bike on the island (make sure you get off the ferry sharpish and head up the hill - otherwise you will end up at the back of a very long queue)!

The museums ordinary opening hours for 2014

3 May – 30 June 10:00 – 16:00

1 July – 31 August 10:00 – 18:00

1 September – 29 September 10:00 – 16:00

Also weekends in April and October 10:00 – 16:00

It costs 60 SEK for an adult, 40 SEK for a student and is free if you are lucky enough to be under 15.  

The island is called Ven in Swedish and Hven in Danish. It is now Swedish, but was Danish.

Astronomy in Aberdeen - Celebrating Sir David Gill

If you escape the bright city lights of Aberdeen on a clear evening and look up you might get treated to an astronomical display of stars and meteor showers. If you are really lucky, then you might get a glimpse of the northern lights.

The relatively dry climate of North East Scotland gives us plenty of clear nights for prime stargazing and it's a great, free alternative to a night round the tellybox. Before the days of the T.V., when there wasn't much else to do once the sun went down, a local mathematician and astronomer, Sir David Gill, took the very first photograph of the moon in 1868.

If, like me, you are an interested (extremely) amateur astronomer without a telescope or space rocket and prefer the temperature to be above 20 degrees then you are in luck. The toasty warm Aberdeen Maritime Museum has just opened a free exhibition all about Aberdeen's most famous astronomer and there are a series of free evening talks about local stargazing, the history of time and the life of Sir David Gill. You can even pick up a stargazing live calendar!


Image taken by Nick Bramhall a Aberdeen based hiker, photographer, stargazer and blogger who also writes about astronomy.

Gill is credited with taking that VERY FIRST photograph of the moon in 1868 but that was by no means his only contribution to our knowledge of space. Gill took accurate measurements of the stars and determined the distance of the sun from earth using the parallax of the planet Mars (see more on how that works here).

Gill was the son of a clockmaker and the free exhibition is well worth a visit to see some impressive telescopes, grandfather clocks and the heliometer he used from the University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen Museums and Royal Astronomical society collections. The exhibition also details information about Gill's life in Aberdeen and the history of timekeeping.

It is also believed that Gill took the very first photograph of the Great Comet of 1882, although that wasn't taken in Aberdeen, it was taken when Gill was Her Majesty's Astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Cape Town, South Africa.

One big realisation for me was that Greenwich mean time was only officially rolled out in 1884. Before that people in Aberdeen could have been eating their breakfast while London was having lunch and no-one knew when you were supposed to catch a train. Although I do quite like the idea of just setting my own time. That could come in very useful.

Gill was taught by James Clerk Maxwell, a Scottish mathematical physicist in Aberdeen who's own contributions to physics ranked alongside Sir Issac Newton and Einstein. He also took the first permanent colour photograph in 1861 (which is of a tartan ribbon, see below).

Aberdeen researchers still contribute to our understanding of space today, just last month provided theories about whether life can exist on other planets in our solar system.

If you are interested in more astronomy in Aberdeen then check out the Aberdeen Astronomical Society events page who are very active in the local area and tweet out information on what is visible in the local night sky.

I'm heading back out into the cold now with my woolly hat, jumper and a flask of tea now to stare at the stars!

• Aberdeen Maritime Museum location
  Tuesday - Saturday 10am-5pm
  Sunday 12pm-3pm
  Closed Monday
  Tel (01224) 337714
  Admission free