FLAMSTEED'S STARS OBSERVED, BUT NOT EXISTING." 



BEAD NOTEMBEB 11, 1885. 



By C. H. F. Peters. 



In the "Account of the Rev. John Flamsteed," by Francis Baily, on page 646, is found a list of 

 stars with the above heading, wliich means, as is explained on page 393, stars " of which the ob- 

 servations appear to be accurately recorded, but which still cannot now be found i!i the heavens." 



When, with the splendid and exciting discoveries of Sir W. Herschel, there had come life 

 among the fixed stars, and the construction of the heavens began to be a lield for active research 

 as well as for speculation, it was but natural that, whenever in a place given by the Catalogus 

 Britannicus no star was seen, at first thought the star was believed to have become extinguished 

 since Fiamsteed's time. Under this impression, it seems, various astronomers, and among them 

 especially Lalaude, then engaged upon his zone survey, from time to time published long lists of 

 "missing" stars. Already Bode, however, curtailed tiiese considerably, and the number of such 

 stars gradually has been diminished, thanks to the labors especially of Miss Caroline Herschel, 

 systematically indexing and comparing with the British Catalogue all the observations contained 

 in the second volume of the Historia Cce'estis Britan?iica; — then of Argelander and of Baily, so that 

 the latter finally leaves only 22 stars to be accounted for. It might seem fruitless to attem]>t a 

 revision of positions that have passed through the hands of such able critics and been dismissed by 

 them as inexplicable, especially as Baily made a very thorough inspection of Fiamsteed's original 

 manuscript entries, preserved at the Eoyal Observatory, Greenwich. Nevertheless, as the dis- 

 appearance from the skies of so many stars in comparatively so short an interval of time is rather 

 improbable, it seems desirable that these cases be scrutinized somewhat more thoroughly than 

 perhai)s it was feasible for Baily, who, having taken in hand the revision of the catalogue in its 

 entirety, could not well devote so much time to a few particular stars. The resources, besides, for 

 'the sake of identification, are much more complete now than they were at the time of Baily's pub- 

 lication, dating back fifty years. Flamsteed did not observe stars fainter than the eighth magni- 

 tude.* Hence all of his stars between the pole and 02° north polar distance, if not belonging to the 

 classes of variable and temporary stars, we must expect to tiud iu the "Durchmusteruug." Con- 



* In the British Catalogue the uiagnirnde 8 Is fouml assigned to 24 stars. According to modern catalogues all of 

 them are brighter, with the exception of the following 3, viz: 



B. FI. 1-J23 in the Bonn Dm. 8°> . 3 

 1280 8 .2 



1613 8 .0 



Besides there are 23 stars without having any magnitude assigned to them in the British Catalogue. Of these, 

 according to modern observers, the following 5 are smaller than eighth magnitude : 



B. Fl. 792 in the Dm. 8"° . 2 

 1418 8 .1 



while the remaining 18 are estimated brighter. 



