262 



COSMOS. 



The parallax of Arcturus, according to Peters, is 0"'127. 

 Rumker's earlier observations with the Hamburgh meridian 

 circle had made it considerably larger. The parallax of another 

 star of the 1st magnitude, Capella, is still less, being, according 

 to Peters, 0"-046. 



The star No. 1830 in Groombridge's Catalogue, which, 

 according to Argelander, showed the largest proper motion 

 of all the stars that hitherto have been observed in the 

 firmament, has a parallax of 0"*226, according to 48 zenith 

 distances which were taken with much accuracy by Peters 

 during the years 1842 and 1843. Faye had believed it to 

 be five times greater, T'-OS, and therefore greater than the 

 parallax of a Centauri. 26 



It does not in general follow from the results hitherto 

 obtained that the brightest stars are likewise the nearest 

 to us. Although the parallax of a Centauri is the greatest 

 of all at present known, on the other hand, Vega Lyra?, 

 Arcturus, and especially Capella, have parallaxes from three to 

 eight times less than a star of the 6th magnitude in Cygnus. 

 Moreover, the two stars which after 2151 Puppis and E Indi 

 show the most rapid proper motion, viz. the star just men- 

 tioned in the Swan (with an annual motion of 5"' 123), and 



Peters, in Struve, Astr. StelL, p. 101. 



