A&TRONOMY. PtCuy 



The new star in the great nehula of Andromeda. — The astronomical 

 eveut that attracted the most widespread attention in the year 1885, or 

 l)erhaps in several years, was the telegraphic annonnceinent, on August 

 .'U, by Dr. Hartwig, of the Dorpat Observatory, of his discovery, on the 

 previous evening, of a new star in the great nebula of Andromeda. 



The following- account of this '■^Nova Andromedte" is taken from a 

 paper *read by Prof. Asaph Hall, at the meeting of the Philosophical 

 Society of Washington, on February 13, 1886. Further details of the 

 observations must be deferred to another report. 



Dr. Hartwig " had suspected some change in the nebula as early as the 

 20th of August, but bad weather and a lack of instrumental means for 

 making the matter certain deferred the announcement until the 31st. 

 From the various estimates at that time the star was probably a little 

 brighter than the 7th magnitude, or just below the limit of visibility 

 to the naked eye. The announcement, of course, turned a host of ob- 

 servers to the new star, and many erroneous estimates and statements 

 were made. Some observers estimated the brightness far too great, 

 and several, on account of errors in the observations, announced that 

 the new star was moving with an enormous velocity. It required the 

 lapse of a few weeks to clear away and correct all this error. 



"After Dr. Hartwig's announcement it appeared that several others 

 had seen the new star, but for some reason, perhaps want of familiarity 

 with this nebula and lack of con fidence that anew star had really appeared , 

 they did not make a public announcement. Thus the Baroness Pod 

 maniczky, of Eastern Hungary, saw the new star on August 22 or 23 

 with a 3^-inch comet-seeker, and called the attention of a visitor to it, 

 but they do not seem to have been certain that the object was new. This 

 lady looked at the nebula on August 13, and did not see the new star. 

 Mr. H, S. Moore, of McKinney, Tex., saw the new star on August 30. 

 The circumstances indicate that this is a hona fide observation. A really 

 independent discovery was made by Freiherr von Sjnessen, of Wiukel, 

 in Eheingau, who found the new star on August 30. - - - ,Mr. Isaac 

 W. Ward, of Belfast, Ireland, claims that he saw the new star on August 

 19, when it was of the 9^ magnitude. Finally, Prof. Ludoric Grelly, of 

 Rouen, says that he saw the new star on the 17th of August, and showed 

 it to several friends and visitors. On the other hand, Mr. Tempel, of 

 Florence, Italy, who has done much work on nebulse, and wlio is well 

 acquainted with the great nebula of Andromeda, says that he is con- 

 tident that there was no star in the place of the new one which was 

 easily visible in his telescope on the 15th and IGth of August. This 

 testimony is important and serves to fix the time of the a)>])earance of the 

 nova^ or at least the time it became an easy object in telescopes, within 

 very narrow limits. This time must have been between the 16th and 

 20th of August, 1885. It is probable that the star increased rapidly in 

 brightness, since on August 31 it was of the 7th magnitude. It never, 



* See, also, Amer. J. Sci., 3 ser., vol. 31, p. 299-303. 



