OF THE COSMOS. NEW STARS. 141 



rest solely on the testimony of the Bohemian astronomer 

 Cyprianus Leovitius , who declares that he took the in- 

 formation from a manuscript chronicle, and who calls 

 attention to the circumstance that both phenomena (in 

 the years 945 and 1264) took place between the con- 

 stellations of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, quite close to the 

 Milky Way, and at the very place where the Tychonian 

 star appeared in 1572. Tycho Brahe (Progymn. p. 381 

 and 709), defends the trustworthiness of Cyprianus 

 Leovitius against Pontanus and Camerarius, who surmised 

 .a confusion with long-tailed comets. 



k. According to the testimony of the monk of St. Galle, 

 Hepidannus, (who died in the year 1088, and whose 

 annals extend from 709 to 1044), a new star, of unusual 

 magnitude and dazzling brightness (oculos verberans), 

 was seen in the most southern part of the heavens in the 

 sign of Aries : it appeared near the end of the month of 

 May 1012, and contiuued to shine for three months. 

 It varied in a wonderful manner, sometimes appearing 

 larger, sometimes smaller, and sometimes not being seen 

 at all. "Nova stella apparuit insolitse magnitudinis, 

 aspectu fulgurans, et oculos verberans non sine terror e. 

 Qua? mirum in modum aliquando contractior, aliquando 

 diffusior, etiam extinguebatur interdum. Yisa est autem 

 per tres menses in intimis finibus Austri, ultra omnia 

 signa quse videntur in ccelo;" (see Hepidanni, Annales 

 breves, in Duchesne, Historic Francorum Scriptores, T. iii. 

 1641, p. 477 ; compare also Schnurrer, Chronik der 

 Seuchen, Th. I. S. 201. More recent historical criticism 

 has, however, preferred to the manuscript used by Duchesne 

 and Goldast, which places the phenomenon in 1012, 



