62 HISTOEY OF ASTRONOMY. 



he wrote to Professor Bode of Berlin, and to Baron de 

 Zach of G otha, and particularly mentioned that his sec- 

 ond discovery was not the result of accident, but of a 

 systematic search for a body of this nature. The ele- 

 ments of the orbit were determined by Gauss, who ex- 

 ecuted the calculations required for this purpose within 

 ten hours after he obtained possession of the observations. 

 The planet was found to revolve in the same region with 

 Ceres, Pallas, and Juno, its mean distance from the sun 

 being somewhat less than that of either of those bodies. 

 At the request of Dr. Olbers, Gauss consented to name 

 the planet, and decided upon Yesta, the symbol of desig- 

 nation being the altar on which burned the sacred fire in 

 honor of the goddess. This planet is even smaller than 

 either of the three others previously discovered, but it is 

 remarkable for the brilliancy of its light. Near her op- 

 position to the sun, a person with good sight may often 

 distinguish her without a telescope. 



Dr. Olbers continued his systematic examinations of the 

 small stars in Yirgo and Cetus, between the years 1808 

 and 1816, and was so closely on the watch for any mov- 

 ing body, that he considered it very improbable a planet 

 could have passed through either of these regions in the 

 interval, without being detected. No further discovery 

 being made, the plan was relinquished in 1816. 



In 1825, a fresh impulse was given to researches of 

 this nature, by the resolution of the Berlin Academy of 

 Sciences to procure the construction of a series of charts 

 representing the positions of all the stars, down to the 



