3* Hi/Idty "qf .'Ifironomj! for the Year lygg. 



C. Mechain and C. Burckhardt each calculated the orbit 

 tvith that ardour and readinefs which are natural to thefc able 

 aftronomers: C. Mefficr followed its progrefs, according to 

 his ufual cuftom, with indefatigable affiduity, for more than 

 two months, till the 25th of OtSlobcr, when it difappcarcd 

 on the eaftern knee of Ophiuchus. During this long appear- 

 ance our collection of 50,000 ftars has often furnifhed im- 

 portant points for the reduftion of thefe oblervations. On 

 the laft day it was near a ilar of the fixth magtiitude, the 

 pofition of which I have given in the Connrj'iJJluice des Terns 

 for the year 10. All the obfervations of C. Mechain and 

 Mt'flier will be publiflied in detail : fome of them have a 

 wonderful degree of perfeAion, becaufc they were made by 

 means of an excellent meridian telefcopc, at the Maifon dii 

 Champ de Mars (Military School) by C. Lcfran9ais and 

 Burckhardt. 



This day alfo, December 16, 1799, at half after five in the 

 morning, C. Mechain difcovered anew comet in Ophiuchus, 

 which \vill be the 91ft. It had about 269^^ of right afcenfion 

 and 5° of northern declination. It appeared to the naked eye 

 .is a rtar of 5th and 6th magnitude in the telefcopc. Its nu- 

 cleus was exceedingly luminous, and alnioft bounded : it 

 had a very narrow tail, of a pretty intcnfe light, and about 

 7° in length. It advanced towards the fouth fo rapidly ihat^ 

 it was apprehended it could not long be obfcrved, unlefs it 

 fhould appear in the well after having traverfed a part of the 

 fouthern hemifphere. 



As the moll defeciivc part of aftronomy at prefent is what 

 relates to comets, I nuiil recommend them to all our corre- 

 fpondents. The Bureau des Longitudes has fent a night te- 

 lefcopc to C. Flangergues at Viviers, who has promifed to 

 ^ake ufe of it. 



C. Mougin, in the department of Doubs, has promifed the 

 fame thing ; but, being a pried, he was obliged to quit La 

 Grand 'Combe-des-Bois, where he was cure, and where, fince 

 1766, he had made many obfervations and calculations, and 

 had been baniflied to a hollow valley where he could no 

 longer have a proper view of the heavens. The go\'ernment 

 has thought proper to fuflor him to refume hi^ labours, and 

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