User:Ktf5vd/sandbox

Evaluate an Article: Uraniborg

 * Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic? Is there anything that distracted you?

Pretty much everything in the article is relevant, but there’s a single line that mentions that it was one of the most expensive projects at the time, but it didn’t go into depth.


 * Is the article neutral? Are there any claims, or frames, that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

The article is neutral, but a majority of it talks about the building itself, and there’s little information on what work went on there.


 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

The only section of the article is the history section, which talks about the observatory, the grounds, a little bit about the instruments used, and some financial information.


 * Check a few citations. Do the links work? Does the source support the claims in the article?

The citations look legitimate, but one pulls up a 403 access denied error when there is an attempt to open it.


 * Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference? Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources? If biased, is that bias noted?

The sources that worked appeared to be reliable and neutral. There should be more sources used, to include more information about the place itself (like its architecture and the tools used) as well as information on the work carried out there.


 * Is any information out of date? Is anything missing that could be added?

There is information missing about the construction of the observatory that could be added, as well as background information on the king’s funding of it.


 * Check out the Talk page of the article. What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?

The talk page hasn’t been updated since last year, but there have been a few small edits on the article this year. There are a few noteworthy conversations, including one where a new outline for the article is proposed and one discussing the financial status of the project when it was being constructed.


 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?

It is a start class of mid importance in both the Astronomy and Denmark projects. Based on some other articles I have found, Uraniborg seems to be a lot more important in astronomy than it is made out to be by the current Wikipedia article.


 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

This article encompasses alchemy and astronomy, which we have talked about in class. We’ve heard about work in alchemy and astronomy, but this article doesn’t have many details about what went on behind its walls.

Sources/Questions to Consider
The Lord of Uraniborg: A biography of Tycho Brahe. With contributions by John R. Christianson (1991)

https://www3.astronomicalheritage.net/index.php/show-entity?identity=100&idsubentity=1

Perfect in Every Sense (2015) Gaulke, Karsten

Shackelford, Jole (1993) Tycho Brahe, laboratory design, and the aim of science: Reading plans in context.

Why did you choose it? What’s missing? What do you want to add?

I chose it because I have always liked studying old buildings and structures. There’s quite a bit of info missing, including info on the cost of the project and the destruction of the observatory. I would like to add this information, as well as some other info on what studies went on there.

Is it written neutrally?

Yes, there aren’t any claims made in the article that seem biased.

Does each claim have a citation? Are the citations reliable?

Yes, but one link does not work, and shows an error message in Swedish.

History
The sandstone and limestone-framed brick building was constructed from 1576 to 1580. Built in the Flemish Renaissance style, the erection of the site was overseen by Danish architect Hans van Emden and sculptor Johan Gregor van der Schardt. The main building of Uraniborg was square, about 15 meters on a side, and built mostly of red brick. Two semi-circular towers, one each on the north and south sides of the main building, gave the building a somewhat rectangular footprint overall. The plan and façade of the building, and also the plan of the surrounding gardens, are designed on grids, with proportions that Tycho carefully specified. These proportions may have been intended to make Uraniborg function as an astrological talisman, benefiting the health of its occupants by increasing the influences of the sun and Jupiter.

Begin to Draft Your Article (Original)
Brahe was an innovative astronomer of his time. He utilized innovative observing methods and built new instruments to improve the accuracy of his readings. He upsized his instruments; one of the surviving instruments being the mural quadrant. Instead of using wood like with previous models, he built the new one out of metal and masonry to enhance its stability and therefore enhance the accuracy of his measurements. He also used highly refined lenses and optical equipment in conjunction with other instruments, such as sextants and armillary spheres. To increase the accuracy of his readings further, he utilized the equatorial coordinate system instead of the zodiacal coordinate system with his specially designed instruments. By using this measuring system with his newly built quadrant, he was able to accurately measure right ascension within a hundredth of a degree.

Additionally, the structure itself and installation of the instruments was innovative for its time and was pivotal in the accuracy of the instruments. For instance, the upgraded mural quadrant, made from metal and stone, was fixed in place. This allowed for further accuracy in the measurements recorded by Brahe. The other smaller instruments that were more sensitive to repositioning were also fixed in place; they were installed in recesses in the floor to provide greater protection from wind. The observatory was also designed so that any exposed instruments on the upper levels of the towers were well protected.

Reference: Chapman, Allan: Astronomical Instruments and Their Users. Tycho Brahe to William Lassell. England (Collected Studies 530). Aldershot 1996 Ktf5vd (talk) 15:44, 11 October 2019 (UTC)Ktf5vd

Original Uraniborg Edits
Instrumentation: Within in the Uraniborg there were many instruments of high precision. Tycho Brahe's goal to gather accurate data on the cosmos influenced a wide range of contraptions to prove his theories on the celestial positions and a geo-heliocentric model of the solar system, a theory that the earth is the center of the sun and moon while the sun is also the center of the other planets. His first instrument was the Brass Azimuthal Quadrant created in 1576. The azimuthal quadrant was meant to observe the 1577 comet with an accuracy of 48.8 seconds of arc. Four years later he created the Great Globe, a hollow, wooden sphere layered with brass plates to document the stars Brahe observed. Over a 1000 stars had been etched onto the globe by the year 1595. In 1582 Brahe created the Triangular Sextant. This device was around 3.2 meters in diameter and was fixed in one place instead of being mobile like the smaller versions. Three years later Brahe created a larger instrument called the Great Equatorial Armillary which allowed him to gauge planetary and stellar positions. This device was able to compensate for the atmospheric refraction and it remained consistent with it's measurements over time. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Uraniborg https://www2.hao.ucar.edu/Education/FamousSolarPhysicists/tycho-brahes-observations-instruments Cocz6d (talk) 07:06, 18 October 2019 (UTC)

Peer Review by GPHistofSci (talk) 15:41, 18 October 2019 (UTC)
What the draft does well: This does fill an important content gap in the article and better explains what went on inside of the structure. It gives interesting and detailed information.

Things to consider: I’m not sure if these two sections are meant to be separate or are just separated for now, but they seem to have a lot of overlapping content and could be possibly be merged. The instruments in the Begin to Draft Your Article are listed again in more detail in the Original Uraniborg Edits section. Some minor grammar and punctuation things.

Overall: This addition seems very relevant to the existing article but could be condensed.

Response to Peer Review
Our peer review appeared to prove that the information we provided is relevant to the article and could positively benefit it. According to the peer review, we fill an important content gap in the article with valuable and interesting information. One important thing they mentioned that we considered is that the two sections written by us in my sandbox could be combined and condensed. When we were drafting initially, we both planned on finding information on the instruments used at Uraniborg. After we obtained and organized sufficient info, we were then going to work on combining our sections and eliminating restated information.

Combined Paragraphs
Tycho Brahe was an innovative astronomer of his time. Within the Uraniborg observatory, he utilized innovative observing methods and built new instruments to improve the accuracy of his readings. Brahe's goal to gather accurate data on the cosmos influenced a wide range of contraptions to prove his theories on the celestial positions and a geo-heliocentric model of the solar system, a theory that the earth is the center of the sun and moon while the sun is also the center of the other planets. He upsized his instruments; one of the surviving instruments being the Brass Azimuthal Quadrant created in 1576. Instead of using wood like with previous models, he built the new one out of metal and masonry to enhance its stability and therefore improve the accuracy of his measurements. The azimuthal quadrant was meant to observe the 1577 comet with an accuracy of 48.8 seconds of an arc. He also used highly refined lenses and optical equipment in conjunction with other instruments, such as sextants and armillary spheres. To increase the accuracy of his readings further, he utilized the equatorial coordinate system instead of the zodiacal coordinate system with his specially designed instruments. Additionally, the structure itself and installation of the instruments was innovative for its time and was pivotal in the accuracy of the instruments. For instance, the upgraded mural quadrant, made from metal and stone, was fixed in place. This allowed for further accuracy in the measurements recorded by Brahe. The other smaller instruments that were more sensitive to interference from the weather repositioning were also fixed in place; they were installed in recesses in the ground to provide greater protection from the wind. The observatory was also designed so that any exposed instruments on the upper levels of the towers were well protected from exposure. In 1580, he created the Great Globe, a hollow, wooden sphere layered with brass plates to document the stars Brahe observed. Over 1,000 stars had been etched onto the globe by the year 1595. Brahe then created the Triangular Sextant in 1582. This device was around 3.2 meters in diameter and was fixed in one place instead of being mobile like the smaller versions. Three years later Brahe created a larger instrument called the Great Equatorial Armillary which allowed him to gauge planetary and stellar positions. This device was able to compensate for atmospheric refraction and it remained consistent with it's measurements over time.

Cocz6d (talk) 15:40, 25 October 2019 (UTC)

Ktf5vd (talk) 15:45, 25 October 2019 (UTC)