Two years after Tycho Brahe was removed from his grave in Prague, chemical analyses of his corpse show that mercury poisoning did not kill the prolific 16th-century astronomer. The results should put to bed rumors that Brahe was murdered when he most likely died of a burst bladder. He is known for making the accurate measurements of stars and planets without the aid of a telescope, proving that comets are objects in space and not in Earth's atmosphere. Analyses of Brahe's teeth are not yet complete, tests on his bones and beard hairs show that mercury concentrations in his body were not high enough to have killed him, the team of Danish and Czech researchers said. Brahe's mercury levels even dropped to the low end of normal in the weeks leading up to his death, tests on Brahe's beard revealed.
"In fact, chemical analyses of the bones indicate that Tycho Brahe was not exposed to an abnormally high mercury load in the last five to 10 years of his life," said researcher Kaare Lund Rasmussen, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Southern Denmark.
