TEMPORARY STARS. 215 



astronomer, John Bronowski. It was larger than all stars of 

 the first order, greater than Jupiter and Saturn, but smaller 

 than Venus. Herlicius asserts that he had previously seen 

 it on the 27th of September. Its brilliancy was less than 

 that of the new star, discovered by Tycho Brahe in 1572. 

 Moreover, unlike the latter, it was not discernible in the day- 

 time. But its scintillation was considerably greater, and 

 especially excited the astonishment of all who saw it. As 

 scintillation is always accompanied with dispersion of colour, 

 much has been said of its coloured, and continually changing 

 light. Arago (Annuaire pour 1834, pp. 299-301, and Ann. 

 pour 1842, pp. 345-347) has already called attention to the 

 fact that the star of Kepler did not by any means, like that 

 of Tycho Brahe, assume, at certain long intervals, different 

 colours, such as yellow, red, and then again white. Kepler 

 says expressly that his star, as soon as it rose above the 

 exhalations of the earth, was white. When he speaks of 

 the colours of the rainbow, it is to convey a clear idea of its 

 coloured scintillation. His words are: " Exemplo adamantis 

 multanguli, qui solis radios inter convertendum ad spectan- 

 tium oculos variabili fulgore revibraret, colores Iridis (stella 

 nova in Ophiucho) successive vibratu continuo reciprocabat." 

 (De nova Stella Serpent., pp. 5 and 125.) In the beginning 

 of January, 1605, this star was even brighter than Antares, 

 but less luminous than Arcturus. By the end of March in 

 the same year, it was described as being of the 3rd magni- 

 tude. Its proximity to the sun prevented all observation for 

 four months. Between February and March, 1606, it totally 

 disappeared. The inaccurate statements as to the great 

 variations in the position of the new star, advanced by 

 Scipio Claramontius and the geographer Blaew, are scarcely 

 (as Jacques Cassini, Elemens cVAstr., p. 65, long since 

 observed) deserving of notice, since they have been refuted 

 by Kepler's more trustworthy treatise. The Chinese Record 

 of Ma-tuan-lin mentions a phenomenon w r hich exhibits some 

 points of resemblance, as to time and position, with this 

 sudden appearance of a new star in Ophiuchus. On the 30th 

 of September. 1604, there was seen in China a reddish- 

 yellow ("ball-like?") star, not far from it of Scorpio. It 

 shone in the south-west till November of the same year, 

 when it became invisible. It re-appeared on the 14th of 

 January, 1605, in the south-east; but its light became 



