1805. ] 
as foon as C. Burckhardt has finifhed his 
calculation of its” perturbations, he will 
give us the elements {till more accurately. 
Early in January, Dr. Olbers found 
again the planet Piazzi, which had difap- 
peared for a confiderable time, About the 
middle of February, M. Gaufs calculated 
the new elements; and M. Burckhardt 
undertook to afcertain the perturoations, 
which this planet experiences from the 
attraction of Jupiter, and has laid down | 
more accurate elements. Thefe pertur- 
bations were alfo calculated by M. Oria- 
ni, of Milan, which were taken by M. 
Gauls, for the fake of obtaining more ac- 
curate elements with regard to its orbit. 
Thofe given by M. de Zach, in his Journ- 
al for November, are, 
Diftance - 2.7675 
days. hours. 
Tropical revolution 1681 9g 
Excentricity - 0.078835 
( Ole Hed eM 
Equation - 9 2 0 
Inclination - 10 57 37 
Epoch (1803) 288: 370.35 
Aphelion 25) 6292.6) .27 4O 
Node > - BOGS). 3 
The King of Naples has made an ad- 
dition of 1200 francs to M. Piazzi’s fala- 
ry, in confideration of his difcovery of the 
new planet, and of the refpeét which he 
teftified to his Sicilian Majefty, by calling 
it, in his writings, the Ceres Ferdizaadex. 
One comet has been feen this year; 
and, although it was very fmall, yet it 
was difcovered in three different places: 
on the 24th of Auguft, at Marfeilles, by 
Louis Pons, keeper of the obfervatory ; 
on the 28th, by Citizen Mechain, one of 
our moft Galurated obfervers, of whom 
we have already a great number ; and, on 
the 2d of September, at Bremen, by Dr. 
Olbers. This comet was in Serpentarius 
very faint and ill-defined, having a very 
fenfible nucleus, Mechain and Meffier, 
at Paris ; and Vidal, at Mirepoix, obferv- 
ed it with the greateft, attention till the 
3d of O&tober. Mechain calculated the 
elements from his own obfervations, and 
found the 
s Or 
Node > TOTO ng 
Inclination - 187)" .0 
Perihelion - BT i2 8 
Diftance - 1.0942 
It reaches the perihelion, September 9, 
20 43' 1573 direct motion. 
The elements calculated by Olbers are 
* See Monthly Mag.Vol, 15, P..163. 
Hiftory of Aftronomy for the Year 1802. ne 
publifhed in Zach’s Journal, as well as 
his obfervations. 
This comet is one cf thofe which, at 
the neareft diftance to the fun, is farther 
than the earth is from that body ; of thefe 
there are ninety-three, the orbits of which 
are known. 
C. Lalande, jan. has furnifhed the ex- 
aé& pofitions of fome ftars hitherto un- 
known, with which aftronomers had fre- 
quently been obliged to compare this co- 
met ; in this bufinefs he has been engaged 
thefe fifteen years. 
The new Tables of the Moon by M. 
Burg, form a very important epoch in the 
Hiftory of Aftronomy for ,this year. I 
had learnt from M. Zach, that Burg had 
been long employed at Vienna, amidit po- 
verty and obfcurity, in calculating obfer- 
vations of the moon made at Greenwich, 
with a view of improving the tables ; wie 
in March, 1798, the Commiffioners of the 
Inftitute affembled at the Board of Lon- 
gitude to fix on a fubject for a prize, I 
propofed to them to require the eftablith- 
ment of the moon’s epochs, bya great 
number of obfervations. I knew that M. 
Burg had calculated a great many, and £ 
thought this would be a fit opportunity 
for him to publiththem, while, at the fame 
time, it would furnifh us with the means 
of remunerating him for his labours. — 
When the prize came to be decided, it 
was propofed to divide it between M, 
Burg and Citizen Bouvard, who had alfo 
made many interefting refearches on the 
fame fubject. But Bonaparte, the prefi- 
dent of the day, &emed defirous that the 
prize fhould be doubled, in order that 
each candidate might have 3400 francs: 
this was unanimoufly agreed to. Citizen 
Laplace, conceiving that even this fum 
was too {mall fora labour fo immenfe as 
that of M. Burg, and knowing that from 
thefe calculations he could readily deduce 
all the moon’s equations with a precifion 
never before obtained, engaged the Board 
of Longitude to inal a prize of Gooo 
franes on this fubjeét, which was furnifh- 
ed in equal parts by the Minitter of the 
Interior, and the Minifer of the Marine. 
The queftion was made public in June, 
1800, and in November, 1801, we receiv- 
ed the tables fo long wanted. [In about 
two months, Laplace announced to the 
Inftitute, that he had recognized, in the 
theory of the moon, an equation, the pe- 
riod of which is 180 years, which amounts 
to 16’, and which will explain the difa- 
greement noticed between the mean motion 
of the moon roo years ago, and that given 
by the laft obfervations. ‘This equation 
Uu2 1s 
