TtefeBlons on the new Vianet. 73 



of a large celeftial chart *. He had alfo, in part, the good 

 fortune which I hoped to enjoy while preparino my catal()gue 

 of the liars, and with the view of which the LiUenthal Aflro- 

 nomical Society was formed ; and the planet w-ould certainly 

 not have cfcapcd them, even if it had not been difcovcred by 

 Piazzi t. Piazzi is furniflied at his obfervatory with an ex- 

 cellent tranfit inftrument, and a complete meridian circle by 

 Ramiden, by means of which he no doubt fell upon this fmali 

 wandering; liar. This ftar mull have culminated on the id 

 of Januarv, the day when dilcovered, about nine in the even- 

 inc. At that time of the year and hour it is perfeol night 

 at Palermo; and therefore Piazzi could very well obferve this 

 fmall ftar, of the 8th or ninth niagnitude, with a day tele- 

 fcope. It wasj however, full moon ; and as the moon had 

 rifen three hours above the horizon of Palermo, the night 

 ^nuft have been vcrv bright. But the moon was four hours, 

 or about 68^ ditlaiit from the liar; and this circumftance 

 alone converts mv conje£lure into certainty, that Piazzi muft 

 have found this fuppofed comet not with a comet-fearcher, 

 but with his meridian inllrumcnt. The above-mentioned 

 right afcenfions of the wandering ftar, converted into time, 

 were confequenily the time of its culmination in fidereal 

 time: thefe I again converted into mean folar time, and 

 thus brought out the true moments of the obfervations of 

 the ftar. By thefe, and the obliquity of the ecliptic 23° 28' 

 10''', I have' obtained the following data for calculating the 

 orbit : 



Jaii.ift S'>4,;' 15" iszj« 29/40" 2» 37' 5" 

 251! 7 16 41 li 23 43 40 I 38 to 



nu.. o, Q 

 + ?o" 



I-.ii;. Di!t. 



o e 



99 11° I '40" 9-91)26 1 58 



[O 3 22 28 |r)-493iJ5i^ 



As the ftar on the loth of January became ftationary, I 

 found its elongation for that time 7- 26° 41' 41", and, by 

 means of Ktil's propofilion, that the tangent of the elonga- 

 tion is equal to the femidiameter of the orbit divided by the 

 fnuare root of that femidiameter, + 1. I ftiund this femi- 

 diameter = 3"07i> and, by Kepler's principle, the revolution 



* Laft year lie publidied his lart;e catalogue, comprehending ji^ooftars, 

 f It was rc:illy foitunate that Piazzi dircovcrcd liis ftar on this day; 

 for, had he f.illtn upon it cij^ht days Ittur, it is pofli'olc it might have 

 elcapcd him ; for,;is tins wanilcring rtar about tlint timt- litcamc I'tanonaryt 

 he would nut, from liie ohftrvatious of next d;iy, have rtinriikcd its 

 motion. It 16 very lingular that this new iilantt, if its Iv.'ine; fucli b^ really 

 confirmed, w.is diliovtrtd and ften in the ihoiiUkr of Taun:s, as Uranus 

 ■9. a 10 an<l 110 ycuc^ auo. 



^ (3-O70I- 



