Artifact could really belong to the great astronomer
A 500-year-old compass, believed to have belonged to the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, has been found in a castle in Poland. The location where the instrument was found coincides with the location where Copernicus made most of his discoveries.
The copper-alloy compass was found by amateur archaeologists using ground-penetrating radar to comb the grounds of the 14th-century Frombork Castle in the north of the country.
It was there that the astronomer made many of his important celestial discoveries and refined his heliocentric theory.
The compass, depicted in the famous painting by Polish artist Jan Matejko, «Copernicus: Conversation with God,» was found in a room beneath the castle gardens.
Posting a photo of the compass hanging above the painting on social media, the team behind the find, Treasure Mission, said: “In the garden where Nicolaus Copernicus carried out his astronomical observations, we have found a compass dating back to the early 16th century. This incredible find not only takes us back to the period when Copernicus made his groundbreaking discoveries, but also opens up new insights into his working methods. Through collaboration with archaeologists, we have learned that this compass could have been used to make precise measurements that were crucial to astronomical research.”
According to legend, Copernicus used a secret tunnel from his private residence to gain access to the city’s cathedral. Zoryana Polenyk from the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum in Frombork confirmed: “The find could have belonged to Nicolaus Copernicus himself.”
Forced to flee during Poland’s war with the Teutonic Knights in the 1520s, Copernicus later returned to write his seminal work, On the Revolutions of the Celestial Bodies.
Published late in his life, in March 1543, the landmark work elevated him to the status of one of the fathers of modern science. Many years later, in 1616, the Catholic Church banned the book for contradicting church doctrine.
In 2008, DNA testing of skeletal bones found beneath the castle’s foundations confirmed that they belonged to the famous astronomer. Copernicus is buried in the castle’s cathedral. The compass will now be sent to the Polish Monument Protection Service for analysis.