386 



THE STELLAR UNIVERSE. 



pieds. Elle est double, ayant chacune un centre brillant eloigne Tun de 

 l'autre de 4' 35". Les deux atmospheres se touchent.' By this description 

 it is evident that the peculiar phenomena of the nebulous ring which encircles 

 the central nucleus had escaped his observation, as might have been expected 

 from the interior light of his telescopes. My father describes it in his obser- 

 vations of Messier's nebulae (which are not included in his catalogues), as a 

 bright round nebula, surrounded with a halo of glory at a distance from it, and 

 accompanied by a companion ; but I do not find that the partial subdivision of 

 the ring into two branches throughout its south following limb was noticed by 

 him. This is, however, one of its most remarkable and interesting features. 

 Supposing it to consist of stars, the appearance it would present to a spectator 

 placed on a planet attendant on one of them, eccentrically situated toward the 

 north preceding quarter of the central mass, would be exactly similar to that 

 of our Milky Way, traversing in a manner precisely analogous the firmament 



Figs. 11—12. 



