6o RefuU of the Obfervaiions 



I lliould afterwards have confidered it rather to be a comet. 

 But had I communicated to him alfo the circumftance re- 

 fpetSliug the diminution of its light, he would, perhaps, have 

 entertained fonie doubts of the iame kind. 



XII. As this ftar has not been lately feen, fome doubt will 

 remain in regard to its nature; and it may be difficult to 

 difcover it again on account of the uncertainty of the ele- 

 ments of tiie orbit which it defcribes, and more particularly 

 its very fmall fize. At prefent it remains above our horizon 

 the greater part of the night, being in the ficn of Cancer; 

 but it is at too conlidcrable a di fiance for me to hope that I 

 fhall be able to difiinguifli it: and, on the other hand, I am 

 deftitute of the inftruments neceflfary to fearch for it, with any 

 certainty, out of the meridian. About the beginning of No- 

 vember it will be much eafier to difcover it; and as the firft 

 days of March, the time of its oppofition, will be the moft 

 convenient period for obferving it with advantage, I entertain 

 great hope that it will not efcape the refearch of aftronomers. 



XIII. However, whether this new planet be found again 

 by myfelf or bv any other aftronomer, I fhall be the more 

 gratilied, as, after the example of a Hallev, a Ilevelius, a 

 Bode, and a Herfchel, who have infcribed in the heavens 

 the glorious names of a Charles II. a Poniatowflci, a Fre- 

 deric, and a George III. all illufirious patrons of aftronomy, 

 I think I have an equal, and perhaps fironger reafon, for iii- 

 fcribing in indelible characters that of the auguft and mag- 

 nanimous founder of this obfervatory, our fovereign Ferdi- 

 nand, conioined with that of the indigenous deity of this part 

 of his kingdom, which he renders more livelv and happy by 

 his prefcnce. I have therefore infornied ihofe ailronomers 

 who are mv correfpondents that I have given to this new Itai 

 the name of Ceres Fcrdiuandea. 



Telluris patriae duttura a Principe nomen 

 Aftra inter, Siculis fulfic ab axe Certs. 



Micbarl Aiigeliis Mo)iii, Scol. Piar. 



SUPPLEMENT. 



This fliort memoir not being yet publiflicd, I fliall here 

 fubjoin the fuhllance of a letter wliich I received from my 

 efteemed friend Oriani, dated Milan, .Tuly 25, 1801, in which 

 he communicates to me the relultof his calculations, accom- 

 panied with thole of fome other afironomers wlio have done 

 me the honour to emplov their talents on my obfervations. 



Oriani, who calculated in a parabola, found 



c - - - - a^ 21° 48'' 



Inclination - - ' ' 9 33- 



Pcriheliun 



