How did Tycho Brahe use parallax to study the 1572 nova?

To study the 1572 nova, Tycho Brahe used parallax to determine the object's distance from Earth. At the time, many believed that new celestial phenomena were merely atmospheric disturbances occurring near Earth, consistent with the Aristotelian view that the heavens were perfect and unchanging.1

Tycho performed extensive observations to see if the "new star" shifted its position relative to neighboring stars over time. If the object were close to Earth, it would display a measurable parallax—a shift in direction when viewed from different positions. However, Tycho’s precise measurements showed that the nova had no detectable parallax.1

By demonstrating that the object did not shift, he proved it was not a nearby phenomenon like a comet or an atmospheric event, but was instead located in the distant celestial sphere among the fixed stars. This discovery was significant because it challenged the prevailing belief in an immutable universe and helped dismantle the established physics of the era.213