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Archaeologists in Poland have discovered a 500 - year - former ambit that may have belong to Nicolaus Copernicus , who is most famous for his heliocentric manakin of thesolar system , in which the planets orbit the sun .

The 16th - 100 discovery was unearthed in a connection of underground tunnel beneath the canonical gardens of the townsfolk of Frombork , where Copernicus died .

A hand holds a small compass

The compass, also known as a divider, was found in the town where Nicolaus Copernicus lived and died.

The artefact — a two - bifurcate alloy machine also known as adivider — was used for precise measurements in cartography , geometry and astronomy . The Warmian Exploration Group , which announced the find in an Aug. 4Facebook post , mention that this was the third such specimen found in Poland .

Norbert Ogiński , President of the United States of the Warmian Exploration Group and a Frombork local , had puerility memory of burrow entry in the gardens before they were buried years ago , he told Live Science in interpret messages over WhatsApp .

" We want to do something overconfident for our metropolis , " he said . They secure exploration permit and used ground - penetrating radio detection and ranging ( GPR ) to search for the tunnels . The next day , they start dig the expectant anomalousness identified by the GPR survey . The group had permission for only one test excavation , which mean they had a exclusive shooter at get the unavowed tunnels , Ogiński toldIkat Gazeta Braniewska , a Polish news show release . Their work compensate off — the GPR study had indeed identified the entrance to the burrow .

A man excavates from a pit

A man excavates in Frombork, Poland.(Image credit: Warmińska Grupa Eksploracyjna)

An excavation of the soil in the tunnel revealed the one C - old compass . Archaeologists fromDetekt Archaeological Services , an archaeological company , confirmed that the artifact was authentic and tentatively date stamp it to between the 15th and 16th centuries .

" They said it was very likely that it was an object of Nicolaus Copernicus because we were conducting workplace in one of his gardens , " Ogiński secernate Live Science .

Related:‘Perfect ' 1st edition of Copernicus ' controversial book on astronomy could fetch $ 2.5 million

A man excavates from a pit

Archaeologists were surprised to find the compass, which dates to the time of Copernicus.(Image credit: Warmińska Grupa Eksploracyjna)

In addition to project that the planets in the solar arrangement revolve around the Lord’s Day , as opposed to around Earth , Copernicus hint that our planet completes one rotation on its axis per solar day . He also theorise that slow changes in the commission of Earth ’s axis vertebra institute about theequinoxes .

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Copernicus lived a good portion of his animation in Frombork , and was the canon , or clergyperson , of the Frombork cathedral for a period of time . " This discovery is of large historical grandness because the range is one of the few direct pieces of evidence of Copernicus ' hardheaded diligence of science , " Michal Antczak , a member of the Misja Skarb Foundation , an connection that is engaged in the furtherance of local inheritance and also contract part in the archeological site , wrote in a translatedpagededicated to invoke cash in hand for further archaeologic work in the area . " The discovery of this tool gives us a unique insight into Copernicus ' working methods and his influence on the development of science in Europe . "

On Aug. 8 , the compass was pass along to the Nicolaus Copernicus Museum , which has a similar compass in itscollection .

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" Weekend compulsory duties of our museum workers are normally boring and not very exciting . But not today ! " the museumwrote in a Facebook postin Polish . " extolment to the golden finder ! "

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