Tabulae Rudolphinae

„Tabulae Rudolphinae” or the Rudolphine Tables, were named in honor of Emperor Rudolf II Habsburg (1552–1612), under whose commission both of their authors, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, worked. They consist of a catalog of 1005 stars and planetary tables. Johannes Kepler published this work, utilizing data from Tycho Brahe's observations (1546–1601). Thanks to Brahe's precise observations, the „Tabulae Rudolphinae” are much more accurate than the previously used „Tabulae Alfonsinae” or „Tabulae Prutenicae” by Erasmus Reinhold. The tables were accurate enough to predict the transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun, observed by Pierre Gassendi in 1631. They were also used in the research of Isaac Newton.

University Library in Toruń, sign. Pol.7.III.1104, frontispiece with depictions of Hipparchus, Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Ptolemy