398 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



clius on April 28, 1848. When first noticed it was about the fifth 

 magnitude. It afterward rose to nearly the fourth magnitude, 

 but gradually faded away. Hind was certain that up to April 

 3d or 5th no object of even the ninth magnitude was visible in 

 the position of the new star. This curious object is still visible, 

 but has become very faint in recent years. In 186G it was of the 

 twelfth magnitude, and in 1875 not above the thirteenth magni- 

 tude. 



On May 28, 1860, a new star was discovered by the late Mr. 

 Pogson in the globular cluster known as 80 Messier in Scorpio. 

 When first seen it was about the seventh magnitude, and nearly 

 blotted out the nebula by its superior light. On June 10th the 

 star had nearly vanished, and the cluster again shone out with its 

 usaal brilliancy, and with a condensed center. Pogson observed 

 the cluster on May 9th, and noticed nothing remarkable ; and, 

 according to Schonfeld, it presented its usual appearance on May 

 15th in the heliometer of the Konigsberg Observatory. 



The star of 1866, known as the " Blaze Star," suddenly appeared 

 in Corona Borealis in May of that year. Although it was subse- 

 quently found that the object had been previously observed and 

 registered as a small star by the famous German astronomer, Arge- 

 lander, it presented at the time of its discovery all the charac- 

 teristics of a true nova. It seems to have blazed out very suddenly, 

 for at about 9.30 P. M. on the evening of the 12th of May in that 

 year Prof. Schmidt, observing the constellation Corona Borealis 

 at Athens, saw nothing peculiar. Indeed, he afterward expressed 

 his conviction that at that hour a star of even the fifth magnitude 

 could not possibly have existed near the position without immedi- 

 ately attracting his attention. Within three hours afterward 

 about midnight it was discovered by the late Mr. Birmingham, 

 at Tuam, Ireland, shining as a star of the second magnitude, and 

 rivaling in brilliancy Alphecca, " the gem of the coronet." Its 

 light, however, rapidly faded. On May 14th it was of the third 

 magnitude ; on May 19th, only of the sixth. On May 24th it had 

 become invisible to the naked eye, and by June 9th had faded 

 to the ninth magnitude. When near its greatest brightness its 

 light was examined by Dr. Huggins with the spectroscope, which 

 showed the bright lines of hydrogen gas in addition to the ordi- 

 nary stellar spectrum. During the ten years following this ex- 

 traordinary outburst of light, Schmidt observed fluctuations in its 

 brightness, which appeared to take place with a certain regular- 

 ity. It would therefore seem that this object should be considered 

 as an irregular variable rather than a "temporary star." Its 

 rejection from the list of " new stars " would remove the only ex- 

 ception to the rule that all these wonderful objects have appeared 

 in or near the Milky Way. Even the new star which was ob- 



