J94< ACCOUNTS OF THE NEW PLANET CERES. 



determined in his journal. Mr. Olbers faw it at Bremen on 

 the 2nd of January. With a power of above 120 it prefented 

 no obfervable difc. 



On the Uth a Second letter From the Aftronomer Royal in- 

 formed the Society that he had repeated his obfervation of th© 

 new planet, fo as fully to afcertain its motion. It appeared 

 to have a vifible difc when on the meridian, and viewed with 

 a power of 50. When the air was very clear the difc was 

 found and well defined, but fomewhat fmaller than that of the 

 34th of Virgo, a liar of the 6th magnitude near it. E}r. 

 JMafkelyne obferves, that the fmallnefs and roundnefs of the 

 appearance of the difc of the fixed liars is a good criterion of 

 the clearnefs of the air. 



Another letter from Alexander Aubert, Efq. F. R. S. was 

 alfo read. Mr. Aubert difcovered the planet Ceres on Sunday 

 morning, having about 188° 41 right afceniion, and 13° de- 

 clination,, its motion at prefent being retrograde. 

 Hiftory of the Citizen Burckhardt in the Moniteur, 4 Pluv. An. 10. No. 124. 



vere?byPii«i-g" lves the following account. The planet which Mr. Piazzi 

 obferved by Ol- difcovered at Palermo the firft of January 1801, was again 



5 ers » f nd ^ nfi ." feen the firft of January 1802, by Mr. Olbers, at Bremen, 

 dered by Omni, ... , , • ] « , ,. , , , 



jZach, Bode, nearly in the place where it was expected from the calcula- 



B^ckt' r d tions of Mr * von Zach * The 2nd J anuar y 1802 ' at 18h - 58 ' 



36", mean time, at Bremen, its right afceniion was 185 9 9'j 

 and its declination 1 1° 9' north, in the wing of Virgo, near a 

 ftar of which Lalande had given the pofition, in the Connaif- 

 fance des Terns, Year 9, p. 2.54. The 5th January, at 17 h . 

 36' , its right afceniion was 185° 43', and its declination 

 ] 1° .8', nearly. It appears as a liar of the ninth magnitude, but 

 it will become more confpicuous. With a telefcope magni- 

 fying 106 times, it cannot be diftinguifhed from a fmall ftar. 



The 1ft January it fortunately made a right angled triangle 

 with two fmall ftars mentioned in Lalande's Hiftoire Celefte ; 

 the following day the form of the triangle was changed, and 

 by means of this change the planet was recognifed. It will 

 be on the parallel of the 20th. of Virgo. 



The elements of this planet have occupied feveral aflrono- 

 mers. MeflVs. Oriani, Zach, and Bode, had fufpe&ed at 

 once that it was a planet, becaufe it had been obferved fta- 

 tionary, and without nebulofity. But having received only 

 two complete obfcrvations, they had not been able to confirm 



their 



