58 fixed Star, s. 



The stars, on account of their apparent- 

 ly various magnitudes,have been distribu- 

 ted into several classes or orders. Those 

 which appear largest, are called stars of 

 the first magnitude ; the next to them in 

 lustre, stars of the second magnitude; and 

 soon to the sixth, which are the smallest 

 that are visible to the bare eye. This 

 distribution having been made long be- 

 fore the invention of telescopes, the stars 

 which cannot be seen without the assist- 

 ance of these instruments, are distinguish- 

 ed by the name of telescopic stars. 



They are likewise distinguished, with 

 regard to their situation, into asterisms, 

 or constellations ; which are nothing but 

 assemblages of several neighbouring stars 

 considered as constituting some deter- 

 minate figure, as of an animal, &c. from 

 which it is therefore denominated. 



The number of constellations in the 

 northern hemisphere is 35 ; in the south- 

 ern 32 ; and in the ecliptic 12. Those 

 stars which are not : in the con- 



stellations, are called unformed stars ; 

 those clusters of stars which are so dis- 

 tant as not to be distinctly seen, are, from 

 their cloudy appearance, comprised ua- 



