ASTRONOMY. 347 



istic of M. Stephan's catalogues is the precision of the "laces given in 

 them. He mentions that on October 1 and 2, 1882, neither the nebula 

 Dreyer-Schultz 5085 nor h 12 was visible in the position assigned by 

 the discoverers. 



Professor Swift gives in the Astronomische Nachrichten two catalogues 

 of nebulsB discovered in 1883-'85 with the IG-inch refractor of the War- 

 ner Observatory. Each catalogue contains 100 nebulae and gives approx- 

 imate positions for 1885*0, with descriptive notes. All of these nebulae 

 belong to the fainter classes, and the increased difficulties in dealing 

 with such objects since the appearance of our " red sunsets" have been 

 remarked by Professor Swift, as well as by other observers. Professor 

 Swift has a list of some 150 more nebulae, which will require further 

 study before publication. 



Several shorter lists of nebulae, found by Tempel, Barnard, and others, 

 generally in the search for comets, will be found in the various astro- 

 nomical journals. 



General catalogue of nebulce. — Apropos of Dr. Holetschek's letter 

 {Astron. ISfachr., No. 2664) concerning the regular j)ublication of sup- 

 plementary catalogues of new nebulae, double stars, red stars, i&c, Dr. 

 Dreyer announces that he is preparing a second supplement to Sir John 

 Herschel's Catalogue of Nebulae. 



Discovery of a new nebula in the Pleiades by photography. — Probably 

 the most notable achievement in celestial photography during the year 

 has been the uivscovery by MM. Paul and Prosper Henry, at the Paris 

 Observatory, of a new nebula in the group of the Pleiades. It was first 

 photographed on November IG, 1885, and, tliough it was again photo- 

 graphed on December 8 and 9, MM. Henry have as yet been unable to 

 detect it by direct telescopic observation. The nebula is about 3' in ex- 

 tent, and '■'■ tres intense.''^ It presents a well-marked spiral form, and 

 seems partially to surround the star Maia. 



Professor Pickering writes, under date of January 21, 1886, to the 

 editor of the Nachrichten in regard to this interesting discovery, as fol- 

 lows: 



'' The announcement of this nebula in the A. iV., vol. 113, p. 239, re- 

 called the circumstance that certain irregularities had been noticed in a 

 photograph of the Pleiades, taken on November 3, 1885, at the observa- 

 tory of Harvard College, with an exposure of fiixty-five minutes. This 

 photograph was exhibited at the Albany meeting of the National Acad 

 emy of Sciences, November 10, where the irregularities above mentioned 

 received some attention. They were supposed to be due merely to defects 

 in the photographic process ; but upon re-examination it appears that one 

 of them corresponds so closely to what is described by MM. Paul and 

 Prosper Henry that there can be no doubt in regard to its origin. It 

 must represent light photographically perceptible in the vicinity of 

 the star Maia, as stated by its discoverers. - - - The explanation 



