[ 310 ] 

 XL. Proceedings of Learned Societies. 



ROYAL SOCIETY. 



[Continued from p. 230.] 



May 17, 1866. — Lieut. -General Sabine, President, in the Chair. 



rj^HE following communication was read : — 

 .JL "On the Spectrum of a New Star in Corona Borealis"*. By 

 William Huggins, F.R.S., and W. A. Miller, M.D., Treas. U.S. 



Yesterday, May the 16th, one of us received a note from Mr. John 

 Birmingham of Tuam, stating that he had observed on the night of 

 May 12 a new star in the constellation of Corona Borealis. He de- 

 scribes the star as " very brilliant, of about the 2nd magnitude." 

 Also Mr. Baxendell of Manchester wrote to one of us giving the ob- 

 servations which follow of the new star, as seen by him on the night 

 of the 15th instant. 



" A new star has suddenly burst forth in Corona. It is somewhat 

 less than a degree distant from e of that constellation in a south- 

 easterly direction, and last night was fully equal in brilliancy to /3 

 Serpentis or v Herculis, both stars of about the 3rd magnitude." 



Last night, May 16, we observed this remarkable object. The 

 star appeared to us considerably below the 3rd magnitude, but 

 brighter than e Coronse. In the telescope it was surrounded with 

 a faint nebulous haze, extending to a considerable distance, and 

 gradually fading away at the boundary f. A comparative exami- 

 nation of neighbouring stars showed that this nebulosity really ex- 

 isted about the star. When the spectroscope was placed on the tele- 

 scope, the light of this new star formed a spectrum unlike that of 

 any celestial body which we have hitherto examined. The light of 

 the star is compound, and has emanated from two different sources. 

 Each light forms its own spectrum. In the instrument these spectra 

 appear superposed. The principal spectrum is analogous to that of 

 the sun, and is evidently formed by the light of an incandescent solid 

 or liquid photosphere, which has suffered absorption by the vapours 

 of an envelope cooler than itself. The second spectrum consists of 



* The Astronomer Koyal wrote to one of us on the 18th, " Last night we got 

 a meridian observation of it ; on a rough reduction its elements are — 



E.A. 1866, May 17 15 h 53 m 56K)8, 



N.P.D 63° 41' 53", 



agreeing precisely with Argelander, No. 2765 of ' Bonner Sternverzeichniss,' 

 declination -f- 26°, magnitude 9 - 5." Mr. Baxendell writes on the 21st, " It 

 is probable that this star will turn out to be a variable of long or irregular 

 period, and it may be conveniently at once designated r Coronas." Sir John 

 Herschel informs one of us that on June 9, 1842, he saw a star of the 6th mag- 

 nitude in Corona very nearly in the place of this strange star. As Sir John 

 Herschel's position was laid down merely by naked- eye allineations, the star seen 

 by him may have possibly been a former temporary outburst of light in this 

 remarkable object. 



f On the 17th this nebulosity was suspected only ; on the 19th and 21st it 

 was not seen. 



