THE LITERARY 

 OF THE LINNrEAN ASSOCIATION OF PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE. 



Vol. ir. MARCH, 1846. No. 5. 



ASTR.EA REDUX. ( The New Planet.) 



BY S. W. MIFFLIN. 



The last arrival from Europe brings intelligence of the discovery of 

 a new Planet by Prof, llencke of Driessen in Saxony. 



This interesting discovery, says the Liverpool Mercury, was made 

 on the 8th of Decenil)er, 1845, at 8 o'clock in the evening ; the planet's 

 right ascension, at the lime, being 65° 25' 00", and north declination 

 12° 41' 00". 



"With the politeness that belongs to a true votary of science. Prof. 

 Hencke left the name to be determined by his illustrious friend and fel- 

 low student Prof. Enke of Berlin, who has called the planet "•Astr.ea." 

 Each of the select goddesses, Ceres, Pallas, Juno, Vesta, Diana, and Ve- 

 nus, had already their planet, and who so worthy as Astrcea, the god- 

 dess of Justice, the daughter of Jupiter and of Themis, and the goddess 

 of Fore-knowledge and Celestial Augury. 



There is good augury in the words Astraea Redux ; her return well 

 deserves three cheers, as proposed by Prof. Schumacher, in his letter to 

 Sir James South. May she never again leave the world." 



The elements of the orbit have since been calculated by Prof Enke, 

 and are as follows. 



Mean Longitude at Epoch Jan. 0. '846, 

 Perihelion, 

 Ascending Node, 

 Inclination, 



Daily Heliocentric motion. 

 Mean Distance from Sun or Semi-axis, ^ 

 that of the Earth being 1, ^ 



Eccentricity (in parts of Semi-axis,) 

 Revolution, 



These elements sufficiently stamp her as a nieml)er of that interest- 

 ing family circulating between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, of which 

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