g here he had
an altercation with a Danish gentleman over some question in
mathematics. The quarrel led to a duel with swords, which terminated
rather unfortunately for Tycho, who had a portion of his nose cut off.
This loss he repaired by ingeniously contriving one of gold, silver, and
wax, which was said to bear a good resemblance to the original. From
Wittenberg Tycho proceeded to Augsburg, where he resided for two years.
Here he made the acquaintance of several men distinguished for their
learning and their love of astronomy. During his stay at Augsburg he
constructed a quadrant of fourteen cubits radius, on which were
indicated the single minutes of a degree; he made many valuable
observations with this instrument, which he used in combination with a
large sextant.

In 1571 Tycho returned to Denmark, where his fame as an astronomer had
preceded him, and was the means of procuring for him a hearty welcome
from his relatives and friends. In 1572, when returning one night from
his laboratory--for Tycho studied alchemy as well as astronomy--he
beheld what appeared to be a new and brilliant star in the
constellation Cassiopeia, which was situated overhead. He directed the
attention of his companions to this wonderful object, and all declared
that they had never observed such a star before. On the following night
he measured its distance from the nearest stars in the constellation,
and arrived at the conclusion that it was a fixed star, and beyond our
system.

This remarkable object remained visible for sixteen months, and when at
its brightest rivalled Sirius. At first it was of a brilliant white
colour, but as it diminished in size it became yellow; it next changed
to a red colour, resembling Aldebaran; afterwards it appeared like
Saturn, and as it grew smaller it decreased in brightness, until it
finally became invisible. In 1573 Tycho Brahe married a peasant-girl
from the village of Knudstorp. This imprudent act roused the resentment
of his relatives, who, being of noble birth, were indignant that he
should have contracted such an alliance. The bitterness and mutual
ill-feeling created by this affair became so intense that the King of
Denmark deemed it advisable to endeavour to bring about a
reconciliation.

After this Tycho returned to Germany, and visited several cities before
deciding where he should take up his permanent residence.

His fame as an astronomer was now so great that he was received with
distin