318
ASTRONOMY.
Cohimba Noachi.
Hobur Caroiinum.
Grus.
Phcenix’.
Indus...
Pavo.
Apus, or Avis- Indica.
Noah’s Dove.10
The lloyal Oak.12
The Crane.13
The Phcenix.13
The Indian.12
The Peacock.14
The Bird of Paradise.11
Apis, or Musca,.The Bee or Fly.
Chaimeleon.The Chameleon.
Triangulum Australis .The South Triangle ..
Piscis volans, or Passer.The Flying Fish.
Dorado, or Xiphias .The Sword-Fish.
Toucan .The American Goose
Ilydrus .The Water Snake .....
410
58
6
9
10
Asterion and Chara...
Cerberus .
Vulpecula and Anser
Scutum Sobieski .
Lacerta.
Camelopardalus .
Sextans.
The Little Lion .....
The Greyhounds_
Cerberus .
The Fox and GooseSobieski’s Shield....
The Lizard .
IIevelius.19 —
23
4
27
7
10
32
19
11
Flamsteed.
— 44
- 53
- 25
- 35
— 16
- 53
- 31
- 41
(207.) Though the telescope does not by magnifying the stars renderthem of any determinable magnitude, yet it makes them appearmuch more luminous, and discovers a multitude of other starswhich cannot be seen by the naked eye; and their number con-tinually increase according to the goodness of the telescope, ap-pearing millions beyond millions, till by their immense distance,they evade the sight, though assisted by the best instruments. Dr.Hook, with a telescope of twelve feet, saw 78 stars among thePleiades ; and with a longer telescope, still more ; and, in the singleconstellation of Orion,which in Mr. Flamsteed’s catalogue, has but78 stars, there have been seen 2000. Dr. Herschel, with a tele-scope which magnifies from five to six thousand times, lias countedforty-four thousand in a space of sky of eight degrees in lengthand three in width : and supposing this quantity to be the same inall portions of the sky of the same apparent dimensions, the wholecircumference of the heavens cannot contain fewer than about 74millions, which might be seen with the help of the above-men-- tinned glass. We may, therefore, venture to pronounce the num-ber of fixed stars, including the telescopic ones, as well as thosevisible to the naked eye, to be far beyond what it is possible forthe best astronomers to enumerate, much less to reduce to order.But though the stars are certainly innumerable, yet those visible 'to the naked eye, in one hemisphere, seldom exceed a thou-sand; which, perhaps, may appear strange, since, at first sight,their number seems immensely great ; but this is only a deceptionof sight, arising from a confused and transient view ; for let a per-son single out a small portion of the heavens, and after some atten-tion to the situation of the more remarkable stars therein, begin tocount, he will soon be surprized to find how few there are therein.However, even the number of stars visible to the naked eye, smallas it is in comparison with that of the telescopic ones, is far frombeing constant; for mention is made by the ancients of several re-markable new stars which have made their appearance at onetime, and afterwards have entirely become invisible ; and in thepresent time, there are several which are known to appear and dis-appear peiiodicahy. Fortunio Liceti, a celebrated physician ,who died in 1656, at Padua , published a treatise, intituled, “ Depovis Astris et Cometis.” In it lie gives us an ample account ofihe several new stars spoken of by the ancients, among which hementions that famous one which appeared, in A. D. 389, near theEagle. It was as bright as the planet Venus , for the space ofthree weeks, but afterwards entirely disappeared. In the ninthcentury, the Arabian astronomers, Massahala, llaly, and Albu-mazur, observed a new st.r in the I5tli decree of Scorpio, rvhoselight equalled that of the Moon in her first octant. It was visiblefor the space ot four months. Cyprianus Leo v it ms relates, that inthe reign of the emperor Otho, A. D. 946, a new star was seenbetween the constellations of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, and alsothat another was seen A. D. 1264, very near the same part of the
heavens, which had no proper motion. One of the most cele-brated of all the new stars is that of A. D. 1572. It was observedin the beginning of November to make a perfect rhombus with thestars, a, yS, and y, of the constellation of Cassiopeia. Tycho Brahe *who saw it the 11th of November, determined its longitude to bey 6° 54', and latitude 53° 45'north. He also found its right as-cension 0° 26', and its declination 6l° 47'north. At the com-mencement of this star’s appearing it shone with its full lustre, asif it were newly created ; it surpassed in splendor Sirius, thebrightest of the stars, and even Jupiter when he is in perigee; andwas visible in the day-time. In the month of December 1572, itslustre began to fade, and in March 1574, it was no longer visible.This star had no sensible parallax, nor any proper apparent motion,from whence it is evident, it must have been much further fromus than Herschel, the most distant of the planets. It had no nu-cleus nor tail like the cornels, but was in every respect like thefixed stars. The new star of Scrpentarius, which made its appear-ance on Oct. 10, 1604, was nearly as bright as that of 1572; itceased to be visible on Oct. 8, 1605. Us longitude was $ 17° 40',with 1° 56' south latitude, 256° 47' right ascension, and 21° l'§south declination. For further particulars about this star, seeKepler , “ De Stella nova in Pede Serpentarii,” Pragx, 1606. Thechangeable star in the Whale, marked o by Bayer and Flamsteed,was noticed by David Fabricius , Aug. 13, 1596. BoutUiaud, ina tfact printed at Paris in 1667, informs us, that this star returns toits greatest splendor in 333 days ; but Cassini, (Elem. d’A.tron.p. 68) makes it a day more. For the space of 15 days it appearsof the second magnitude, brighter than either a or 4 of the sameconstellation, and diminishes afterwards so as to be entirely invisi-ble to the naked eye. IIevelius says, that it was four whole yearswithout appearing, i. e. from Oct. i672to Dec. 1676. 'I'liis star,does not always return with equal splendor; for sometimes at itsgreatest lustre it is not brighter than the third magnitude. Cassinifound it at its greatest splendor in the beginning of August 1703,and it then appeared of the third magnitude, as Fabricius had esti-mated it, Aug. 13, 1596. It is thought to have had in this spaceof 390S0 days, 117 revolutions, winch gives the mean period of itsvariations to be about 334 days. Nov. 15, 1779, it was at itsgreatest splendor. M. Bode saw it of the second magnitude fromOct. 15, to Nov. 8, 1779, hut on Feb. 9, 1780, it was of the seventhmagnitude. It was at its utmost splendor on Aug. 9, 1782, buton Feb. 14, 1783, it was no brighter than a star of the tenth mag-nitude. It was also seen ol the third magnitude on Jan. 15, andNov. 7, 1809. Dr. Herschel has found its period to be 33 Id.lOh. and 19in. Three changeable stars have been observed in theSwan, the most remarkable of whit h is that which is marked x byBayer. Kirch, in 1686, remarked its variations of light; the 11thof July, he could not perceive it, but the 19th of October follow-ing, it appeared of the fifth ihagnitude, and in Feb. 1687, he
could