STARS. 



R. afc. 14° ^3' 30". Decl. S. 13° 26'. Greateft and leall 



magn. 4 — 7 : Ptolemy's and Ulugh Bcigh's N° 6 of the 



unformed liars in Libra, is marked of the fourth magni- 

 tude, and neverthelefs does not appear in any modern cata- 

 logue ; in 1785, Mr. Pigott ofc-'n obferved a ttar of the 

 fevcnth magnitude very near its place, rather lefs than Flam- 

 ilead's 41. R. afc. 15" 29' + . Decl. S. 20" 30'. Greateft 



and leaft magn. 4 — 7 : The ilar k Librae is marked by 



Tycho and Bayer as of the fourth magnitude ; Hevelius 

 fays that it had difappeared : in the years 1783, 1784, and 

 1785, Pigott always found it of the fifth magnitude; but 

 Flamltead marks it of the fourth. R. afc. 15'' 29' 39". 



Decl. S. 19° 58' 27'. Greatelt and leaft magn. 4 — 5 : 



Tycho's II Librx could not be found by Hevelius and 

 Pigott ; the latter thinks that it never exifted, and that it is 

 the X, with an error of 2^ in loni^itude. R. afc. 15'' 37' 30". 



Decl. S. 19° 30'. Greateft and leaft magn. 4 — o : 



The ttar 33 Serpentis was found to be mifling in 1784 and 

 1785, by Pigott. R. afc. ij"" 38'. Decl. N. 17^ 14'. 



Greateft and leaft magn. 6 — o : Bayer's ftar, near ; of 



the Great Bear, could not be feen by Caffini ; nor could 

 Pigott find any ftar near the e brighter than the 7.8th mag- 

 nitude. R.afc. 16" 15'. Decl.'N.82°45'. Greateft and 



leaft magn. 6 — o : The ftar p, or Ptolemy's and Ulugh 



Beigh'8 14th of Ophiuchus, or Flamftead' 36th, is faid to 

 have difappeared before 169J ; could not be found by He- 

 velius ; but Pigott found it in 1784 atid 1785 of the 4.5th 

 magnitude, much brighter than 39, rather brighter than 51 

 and 58, and lefs than 44. R. ale. 17'' 2' 14". Decl. S. 



26^ 15' 37". Greateft and leaft magn. 4 — o : Ptolemy's 



ijth Ophiuchi. R. afc. 17^ 18' +. Decl. S. 20° 35'. 



-Ptolemy's iSthOphiuchi. 

 10'. Greateft and leaft 



Greateft and leaft magn. 4 — o:- 



R. afc. 17" 22'. Decl. S. 24' 

 magn. 5 — o. Thefe two laft-mentioned ftars feem to have 

 difappeared; however, Mr. Pigott tlitnks that the 13th 

 Ophiuchi is Flamiiead's 40th, and that the 1 8th Ophiu- 

 chi (hould be marked with north inftead of fouth lati- 

 tude, which would make it coincide nearly with Flamftead's 



58th : The ftar t Sagiltarii is thought by Dr. Hcrfchel 



and Mr. Pigott to be variable ; in 17S3, 1784, and 1785, 

 he obferved it to be of the 2.8th magnitude, and brighter 

 than TT Sagiltarii. Hevelius makes it of tiie fourth, and 

 La Caille of the 2.3d magnitude. K . afc. 1 8'' 42'. Decl. 



S. 26° 32' 34". Greateft and leaft magn. 2 — 4: The 



ftar 6 Serpentis was obferved by Tycho, Bayer, Hevelius, 

 and Flamftead, to be of the third magnitude ; according to 

 Montanari, it was of the fifth ; it was frequently obferved 

 in 1783, 1784, and 1785, by Pigott, without any percep- 

 tible change of luftre, always of the fourth magnitude, lefs 

 than J Aquils and P Ophiuchi ; La Caille makes it of the 

 4.3d magnitude. R. afc. iS"" 45' 35". Decl. N. 3° 56' 36". 



Greateft and leaft magn. 4 — 5 : Tycho's 27 Capri- 



corni could not be feen by Hevehus nor by Pigott. R. 

 afc. 211^ 41' o". Decl. 8. 14° 28' o". Greateft and leaft 



magn. 6 — o: Tycho's 22 Andromedce, at the end of 



the chain, was, as CafTini obferves, fo fmall, that it could 

 fcarcely be feen : Pigott could find no ftar in its place near 

 the two r Cygni, in 1784 and 1785. R. afc. 21'' 43' 30". 



Decl. N. 49° 15'. Greateft and leaft magn. 4 — o: 



Tycho's 19th Aquarii was marked as mifling by Hevelius, 

 Ror could Flamftead fee it with his naked eye ; Pigott is con- 

 fident that it IS the fame with Flamftead's 56th, marked 

 y by Bayer, from which it is only i^° diftant. R. afc. 

 22''25'. Decl. S. 15° 55' o". Greateftandleaft magn. 6 — o: 



« The ftar And.omedae is, according to Pigott, lefs 



than 0- Cephei, equal to ^ CalTiopeix, or perhaps brighter 

 than it, and brighter than A, r, or > AndromedK. R. afc. 



22'' 52' 6". Decl. N. 41° 10' 45". Greateft and leatt 



magn. 4 — 6 : La Caille's 483 Aquarii was found by 



Pigott mining in 1778, nor could he fee it in 1783 or 1784. 

 R.afc. 22" 55' 40". Decl. S. 8° 50' 45". 



The following 13 itars are ranked by Dr. Herfchel 

 among thofe that are loft, or have undergone fome great 

 change; -uiz. 80 and 81 Hercules; 71 Hercules; 55 Her- 

 cules ; 56 Cancer ; 19 Perfeus ; 108 Pifces ; 73 and 74. 

 Cancer ; 8 Hydrs ; 26 Cancer ; 62 Orion ; 34 Berenice's 

 Hair ; and 19 Berenice's Hair. The following ar-: rec- 

 koned by Dr. Herfchel among thofe that have undergone 

 a change of magnitude fince the time of Flamftead : viz. 

 a Draconis, a, Ceti, ^ Serpentis, n in the Swan, the 2 of 

 the Great Bear, y, Bootes, i Dolphin, /S Triangle, y Eagle, 

 <7 Sagittarius, J of the Great Dog, k Serpent, k Serpenta- 

 rius, /S of the Little Hoife, J Dolphin, s Bootes, i in the 

 Arrow, ^ in the Great B?ar, « Great Bear, ift and 2d 

 Hydrs^, y Lyra;, 31ft and 34th of the Dragon, 44 Cancer, 

 96 Tauri, 62 Aries, 12 and 14 Lynx, 38 Perfeus, 6 Per- 

 feus, i Unicorn, 23 Gemini, 26 Orion, and J Lion. The 

 following are marked by Dr. Herfchel among the ftars that 

 have recently become vifible ; I'iz. a ftar in the end of the 

 Lizard's tail, of the 4-5th magnitude ; the ftar of the 

 eighth magnitude following r Perfeus, probably new ; a ftar 

 near the head of Cephens, not given by Flamftead ; a con- 

 fiderable ftar in a direftion from the 68th to the 61ft Gemini, 

 not in Flamftead's catalogue ; a ftar of confiderable bright- 

 nefs, preceding the firft of the Little Horfe, not given by 

 Flamftead ; a confiderable ftar, following the firft of the 

 Sextant, and another following the 7th, not in Flamftead's 

 catalogue ; a remarkable ftar between (S and ^ Hydra, not 

 given by Flamftead ; a ftar nearly l° 30' N. following 

 o Hercules, in the direction of i and v, and of the 4-5th 

 magnitude, not given by Flamftead ; a ftar of the 6th mag- 

 nitude, about 3° S. preceding 7 Bootes, and another of 

 the fame fir.e, preceding X, not obferved by Flamftead. 

 Phil. Tranf. for 1783, vol. Ixxiii. p. 247, Sec. 



From the old catalogue?, it is certain that many of the 

 ancient ftars are not now vifible : this has been particularly 

 remarked with regard to the Pleiades : and it is equally cer- 

 tain, as we have now (hewn, that fome have become vifible. 



M. Montanari, in his letter to the Royal Society in 1670, 

 obferves, that there are now wanting in the heavens two ftars 

 of the fecond magnitude, in the ftern of the ftiip Argo and 

 its yard, which had been feen till the year 1664. When they 

 firft difappeared is not known ; but he aftures us there was 

 not the lealt ghmpfe of them in 1668. He adds he has ob- 

 ferved many more changes in the fixed ftars, even to the 

 number of a hundred. 



Many other changes in the ftars have been taken notice of 

 by Caffini, Maraldi, and other obfervers. See Gregory's 

 Aftr. lib. ii. prop. 30, and the preceding part of this 

 article. 



As none of thefe ftars could ever be perceived to have 

 tails, it is plain they could not be comets ; cfpecially as they 

 had no parallax, even when largeil and brighteft. It is not 

 improbable tiiat the periodical Itars have vait clufters of dark 

 fpots, and very flow rotations on their axes, by which 

 means they mull difappear when the fide covered with fpots 

 is turned towards us. And as for thofe which break out 

 on a fudden with fuch luftre, thefe may, perhaps, be funs 

 whofe fuel is almoft fpent, and again fupplied by fome of 

 their comets faUing upon them, and occafioning an uncom- 

 mon blaze and fplendour for fome time; which has been 

 conjeftured to be one ufe of the cometary part of any 

 fyftem. 



M. Maupertuis, in his'Differtation on the Figures of the 



Celeftial 



