ZONE OF PLANETS BETWEEN MARS AND JUPITER. 61 



motion indicated by the estimates on September 1st and 

 4th, he announced the discovery to Dr. Gibers, at 

 Bremen, on the 7th, who saw it the same evening. Pro 

 fessor Harding named his planet Juno. The elements of 

 its orbit were calculated by Gauss, who found its mean 

 distance from the sun to coincide nearly with the mean 

 distances of Ceres and Pallas. The eccentricity surpass- 

 ed that of any other member of the planetary system. 

 Like Ceres and Pallas, it is remarkable for its extreme 

 smallness. Herschel was unable to pronounce with cer- 

 tainty that its diameter exhibited . any sensible magni- 

 tude. 



Stimulated by the discovery of Juno, Gibers continued 

 with unremitting assiduity to explore the two opposite re- 

 gions of the heavens through which he conceived the 

 fragments of the shattered planet must pass. At length, 

 after he had been engaged nearly three years in this la- 

 borious pursuit, his perseverance was crowned with suc- 

 cess. Gn the evening of the 29th of March, 1807, while 

 occupied in sweeping over the north wing of Virgo, he 

 discovered an object shining like a star of the sixth or 

 seventh magnitude, which he concluded at once to be a 

 planet, inasmuch as the previous examination of the 

 vicinity had indicated no star in the position of the 

 stranger. Gn the same evening he satisfied himself that 

 it was really in motion, and continuing his observations 

 until the 2d of April, he obtained sufficient evidence to 

 justify the public announcement of his discovery of 

 another new planet. Accordingly, on the following day, 



