He thought he must be the subject of some hallucination. He
therefore called to the servants who were accompanying him, and asked
them whether they, too, could see a brilliant object in the direction
in which he pointed. They certainly could, and thus he became
convinced that this marvellous object was no mere creation of the
fancy, but a veritable celestial body--a new star of surpassing
splendour which had suddenly burst forth. In these days of careful
scrutiny of the heavens, we are accustomed to the occasional outbreak
of new stars. It is not, however, believed that any new star which
has ever appeared has displayed the same phenomenal brilliance as was
exhibited by the star of 1572.

This object has a value in astronomy far greater than it might at
first appear. It is true, in one sense, that Tycho discovered the
new star, but it is equally true, in a different sense, that it was
the new star which discovered Tycho. Had it not been for this
opportune apparition, it is quite possible that Tycho might have
found a career in some direction less beneficial to science than that
which he ultimately pursued.

[PLATE: THE OBSERVATORY OF URANIBORG, ISLAND OF HVEN.]

When he reached his home on this memorable evening, Tycho immediately
applied his great quadrant to the measurement of the place of the new
star. His observations were specially directed to the determination
of the distance of the object. He rightly conjectured that if it
were very much nearer to us than the stars in its vicinity, the
distance of the brilliant body might be determined in a short time by
the apparent changes in its distance from the surrounding points. It
was speedily demonstrated that the new star could not be as near as