^^2 Mr. Herschel on ihe 



dire^liori, refembllng the Ihoals that are feea near the coafls of 



Ibme iilaiids. 



The nhith is that hi the girdle of Andromeda, which is un- 

 doubtedly the neareil: of ail the great nebulae ; its extent is 

 above a degree and a half in length, and, in even one of the 

 narrowed places, not lefs than 16^ in breadth. The brighteft 

 par!" of it approaches to the refolvable nebulofity, and begins 

 to fhew a fahit red colour ; which, from many obfervations on 

 the colour and magnitude of nebulae, I believe to be an indica- 

 tion that its diflance in this coloured part does not exceed 2000 

 times the diftance of Sirius. There is a very confiderable, 

 broad, pretty faint, fmall nebula near it ; my Sifter difcovered 

 it Augufl: 27, 1783, with a Newtonian 2-feet fweeper. It fliew5f 

 the fame faint colour with the great one, and is, no doubt, in 

 the neighbourhood of it. It is not the 3 2d of the Connoiffance 

 des 'Temps ; which is a pretty large round nebula, much con- 

 den fed in the middle, and fouth following the great one ; but 

 this is about two-thirds of a degree north preceding it, in a 

 line parallel to jG and y Andromedae. 



To thefe may be added the nebula in Vulpecula : for, thougk 

 its appearance is not large, it is probably a double ifratum of 

 flars of a very great extent, one end whereof is turned towards 

 us. That it is thus lituated may be furmifed from its contain- 

 ing, in different parts, nearly all the three nebuloiities ; viz, 

 the refolvable, the coloured but irrefolvable, and a tincture of 

 the milky kind. Now, what great length muft be required to 

 produce thefe effects may eafily be conceived when, in all pro-r 

 hability, our whole {y^kQin, of about 8co ilars in diameter, if 

 it were {qqu. at fuch a diftance that one end of it might aflbme 

 the refolvable nebulofity, would not, at the other end, prefent 



us 



