Amateur archaeologists discover Copernicus' compass lost 500 years ago

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.

Photo: ru.wikipedia.org

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 a compass hanging above the painting on social media, Treasure Mission, the group that made the discovery, said: “In the garden where Nicolaus Copernicus made his astronomical observations, we found a compass dating from 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 possibilities for understanding his working methods. Through collaboration with archaeologists, we learned that this compass could be used for precise measurements that were crucial in astronomical research.»

According to legend, Copernicus used a secret tunnel from his personal residence to enter the city's cathedral . Zoryana Polenik 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 Order in the 1520s, Copernicus later returned to write his seminal work “On the Rotation of the Celestial Bodies.”

Published at the end of his life, in March 1543, this epoch-making 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 analysis of skeletal bones found under the foundations of the castle confirmed that they belonged to the famous astronomer. Copernicus is buried in the castle cathedral. The compass will now be sent for analysis to the Polish Monument Protection Service.