ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 



NEW PLANETS DISCOVERED IN 1852. 



THE number of planets belonging to the solar system has been 

 increased during the year 1852 by the discovery of seven new ones, 

 all belonging to the family of the asteroids. 



On the night of the 17th of March, the sixteenth asteroidal planet 

 was discovered by Prof. De Gasparis, of Naples. This planet which 

 has the appearance of a star of the 10-11 magnitude, has received the 

 name of Psyche. On the 17th of April, the seventeenth asteroidal 

 planet was discovered by Mr. Luther, at the observatory of Bilk, near 

 Duseldorf, Germany. Its light was very faint. This planet has 

 received the name of Thetis. 



On the night of the 24th of June, the eighteenth asteroidal planet 

 was discovered by Mr. J. H. Hind, of London. It appears like a star of 

 the ninth magnitude, with a steady yellowish light. Its period of 

 revolution is 1,269 days, which places it between the asteroids Flora 

 and Clio. This planet has received the name of Melpomene. 



On the 20th and 21st of September, the nineteenth asteroid was dis- 

 covered at Marseilles, France, by M. Chacornac, a pupil in the obser- 

 vatory of that place. It has the appearance of a star of the ninth 

 magnitude, and has received the name Massilia. This planet, was 

 also independantly discovered about the same time by M. Gasparis, of 

 Naples. 



On the 22d of August, the twentieth asteroid was discovered by Mr. 

 Hind in the constellation Aquarius. The planet is described as equal 

 in brightness to a fixed star of the ninth magnitude, and as having that 

 yellowish tint which distinguishes Pallas, Melpomene, and other 

 asteroids. Its orbit is remarkable for its inclination to the earth's path. 

 The period of revolution is 1,393 days, the mean distance from the sun 

 2.44093. This planet has received the name Fortuna. 



On the 15th of November, the twenty-first asteroid was discovered 

 through a simple spy-glass by M. Goldschmit, a painter of Paris. This 

 most singular discovery happened somewhat as follows : M. Goldschmit, 

 who had attentively studied the various constellations through the 

 agency of a work called the " Hours of Berlin," and had retained in 



