ON TWO CELESTIAL BODIES. 127 



Memorandum, This may be owing to a particular difpofi 

 tion of the atmofphere, which (hews all the ftars ^without 

 twinkling, but not quite Co bright as they appear at otfrer 

 times. Jupiter likevvife has an extremely faint fcattered light 

 about it, which extends to nearly 4 or 5 degrees in diameter. 



April 22. Pallas, with a power of 88 If , appears to be very Pallas is ill-de- 

 ill defined. The glafs is not in fault; for, in the day time, I fined > nebulous 

 can read with it the fmalleft letters on a mefTage card, fixed 

 up at a great diftance. 



13 h 17'. The appearance of Pallas is cometary ; the difk, if 

 it has any, being ill defined. When I fee it to the beft advan- 

 tage, it appears like a much comprefTed, extremely fmall, but 

 ill defined, planetary nebula. 



April 28. Pallas is very ill defined : no determined difkean 

 be feen. The coma about it, or rather the coma itfelf, for no 

 ftar appears within it, would certainly meafure, at firft fight, 

 4 or 5 times as much as it will do after it has been properly 

 kept in view, in order to diftinguifh between the hazinefs 

 which furrounds it, and that part which may be called the 

 body. 



May 1 . Pallas has a very ill defined appearance ; but the 

 whole coma is comprefTed into a very fmall compafs. 



13 h 5'. 20-feet reflector ; power 477. I fee Pallas well, 

 and perceive a very fmall difk, with a coma of fome extent very fmall dlik. 

 about it, the whole diameter of which may amount to 6 or 7 

 times that of the difk alone. 



May 2. 13 h O'. 10-feet refleclor. A flar of exa&Iy the 

 fame lize, in the finder, with Pallas, viewed with 516f, has a 

 different appearance. In the centre of it is a round lucid 

 point, which is not vifible in Pallas. The evening is uncom- 

 monly calm and beautiful. I fee Pallas better defined than I 

 have feen it before. The coma is contracted into a very nar- 

 row compafs ; fo that perhaps it is little more than the com- 

 mon aberration of light of every fmall ftar. See the memo- 

 randum to the obfervations of Ceres, May 2. 



On the Nature of the new Stars. 



From the account which we have now before us, a very Nature of th* 

 important queftion will arife, which is, What are thefe new ncw ftars * 

 ftars, are they planets, or are they comets ? And, before we 



can 



