This story is a collaboration with Popular mechanics.
As early as 1508, when he had only limited resources, Nicholas Copernicus developed a celestial model of a heliocentric planetary system, which he described in his groundbreaking work The revolutionary orbium coelestiumIt was a complete overhaul of our concept of the universe—one that unfortunately earned him the wrath of the Catholic Church decades after his death—and changed the way we look at the stars forever.
And now, an intrepid amateur archaeologists may have accidentally stumbled upon one of the very modest tools that once aided Copernicus in his groundbreaking work.
According to La Brujula Verde, an amateur archaeological exploration group called the Warminska Group Expansionjna was exploring the gardens of the Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Andrew in northern Poland. Exploring the grounds of the religious site, also known as Frombork Cathedral, archaeologists used ground-penetrating radar to uncover an underground chamber with three tunnels. Here they discovered a 500-year-old compass, just like the one Copernicus is often depicted holding.
“This astonishing discovery takes us back to the era when Copernicus made his revolutionary discoveries“, said Misja Skarb, a member of the archaeological organization that made the discovery, “and opens up new possibilities for understanding his working methods.”
While there is no direct evidence linking this particular compass to Copernicus, there is certainly reason to believe that a connection could exist. As Biography.com previously reported, after Copernicus’s studies at the University of Kraków in the 1490s—where his fascination with mathematics and the cosmos began – he was appointed canon in the Frombork Cathedral.
“The position of canon gave him the opportunity to finance his studies for as long as he wished,” Biography.com previously reported. “Yet the function demanded a lot from his schedule; he could only pursue his academic interests occasionally, during his free time.”
Copernicus later spent time at the University of Bologna and the University of Padua (and other academic institutions), but in 1510 he returned to Frombork, where he would develop his heliocentric theory.
Heliocentrismas the word itself suggests, places the sun at the center of the universe, as opposed to the geocentric model favored by the church, which placed the earth at the center. (It’s not quite right on the scale of the universe, but it is right with respect to our solar system.) Frombork is also where Copernicus lived out the rest of his life. He died there on May 24, 1543.
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Part of what lends credence to the idea that the compass was once in the hands of Copernicus is the fact that it was found not far from the site where the famed astronomer’s remains had recently been discovered. “For years,” La Brujula Verde explained, “it was believed that Copernicus was buried in the cathedralbut it was not until 2005 that archaeologists found a partial skull matching his description.”
This compass, the second instrument of this type found on the site, has been sent to the Monuments Conservator of Poland for preservation and analysisOnce the process is complete, it is expected to be put on display at the nearby Nicolaus Copernicus Museum.
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