Copernicus Had Blue Eyes

July 9, 2009 -- Nicolaus Copernicus, the father of modern astronomy, gazed at the sky through bright blue eyes, according to genetic research that has identified the scientist's remains.

Published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the research -- announced last November -- details the identification of the remains, while also suggesting that Copernicus most likely had blue eyes, fair skin and light hair color.

"This is the end of a search that has lasted for at least two centuries," Swedish and Polish researchers who carried the genetic tests wrote.

Unsuccessful searches for the final resting place of the priest and astronomer, whose theories identified the sun, not the Earth, as the center of the solar system, were carried out in 1807 by Napoleon and again just before the outbreak of World War II.

Four years ago, a team led by Polish archaeologist Jerzy Gassowski found an incomplete skeleton under the St. Cross altar of the Roman Catholic cathedral in Frombork, on Poland's Baltic coast. Indeed, Copernicus was responsible for the very same altar during his tenure as priest at the Cathedral.

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Despite missing the lower jaw, the skull provided additional clues that led to the identification of the remains. It belonged to a man who died at the age between the age of 60 and 70, and had suffered a broken nose. The skull also featured a cut mark above the left eye.

Indeed, Copernicus, who died in Frombork on May 24, 1543 at the age of 70, had a crooked nose -- the consequence of an accident as a child. Furthermore, his self portrait shows a scar above the left eye.

Although forensic facial reconstruction of the skull matched contemporary portraits, a DNA test was performed in order to identify the remains.

Because of a lack of genetic material from maternal or paternal relatives, "the hope to find a reference DNA that could be linked to Copernicus was focused on an astronomical reference book, Calendarium Romanum Magnum by Johannes Stoeffler," said the researchers.