172 HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY. 



27th of April, 1848, Mr. Hind, of London, observed a 

 star of the sixth magnitude in the constellation Ophiu- 

 chus, where he was certain that, up to the 5th of that 

 month, no star as bright as the ninth magnitude pre- 

 viously existed. Neither has any record been discovered 

 of a star being there observed at any previous time. Its 

 place was in right ascension, 16h. 51m. Is., south declina- 

 tion, 12 39' 14". On the 2d of May he estimated it to 

 be of the fifth magnitude, or a little brighter, and there- 

 fore distinctly visible to the naked eye. Its light was 

 reddish in the telescope ; and Dr. Petersen observed that 

 the reddish color at times increased suddenly in intensity, 

 and again as suddenly disappeared. Other observers no- 

 ticed these peculiar red flashes. On the 19th of May, Mr. 

 Hind pronounced it fainter than'when he first noticed it ; 

 and on the 24th, it was ranked as a star of the sixth mag- 

 nitude. The Messrs. Bond, at Cambridge, made a series 

 of comparisons between this star and one of the fifteenth 

 magnitude in its vicinity, and found that during three 

 months of observation its position remained unchanged. 

 They remarked, "This star resembles An tares, but its 

 red is deeper. It is one of the most strikingly colored 

 stars we remember to have seen. "With a power of 1500 

 it showed no sign of a planetary disc." On the 15th of 

 August they state, " This star appears to have decreased 

 in brilliancy, and is now of the seventh magnitude ; its 

 ruby red color still remains. It is at once recognized 

 from its neighbors by its color alone." On the 23d of 

 March, 1849, Professor Kendall, of Philadelphia, pro- 



