401. There are several little whitish spots in the Heavens, which appear magnified, and more luminous when seen through telescopes; yet without any Stars in them. One of these is in Andromeda’s girdle, first observed A. D. 1612, by Simon Marius; and which has some whitish rays near its middle: it is liable to several changes, and is sometimes invisible. Another is near the Ecliptic, between the head and bow of Sagittarius: it is small, but very luminous. A third is on the back of the Centaur, which is too far South to be seen in Britain. A fourth, of a smaller size, is before Antinous’s right foot; having a Star in it, which makes it appear more bright. A fifth is in the Constellation of Hercules, between the Stars ζ and η, which spot, though but small, is visible to the bare eye if the sky be clear and the Moon absent.
Cloudy Stars.
Magellanic Clouds.
402. Cloudy Stars are so called from their misty appearance. They look like dim Stars to the naked eye; but through a telescope they appear broad illuminated parts of the sky; in some of which is one Star, in others more. Five of these are mentioned by Ptolemy. 1. One at the extremity of the right hand of Perseus. 2. One in the middle of the Crab. 3. One unformed, near the Sting of the Scorpion. 4. The eye of Sagittarius. 5. One in the head of Orion. In the first of these appear more Stars through the telescope than in any of the rest, although 21 have been counted in the head of Orion, and above 40 in that of the Crab. Two are visible in the eye of Sagittarius without a telescope, and several more with it. Flamsteed observed a cloudy Star in the bow of Sagittarius, containing many small Stars: and the Star d above Sagittary’s right shoulder is encompassed with several more. Both Cassini and Flamsteed discovered one between the Great and Little Dog, which is very full of Stars visible only by the telescope. The two whitish spots near the South Pole, called the Magellanic Clouds by Sailors, which to the bare eye resemble part of the Milky-Way, appear through telescopes to be a mixture of small Clouds and Stars. But the most remarkable of all the cloudy Stars is that in the middle of Orion’s Sword, where seven Stars (of which three are very close together) seem to shine through a cloud, very lucid near the middle, but faint and ill defined about the edges. It looks like a gap in the sky, through which one may see (as it were) part of a much brighter region. Although most of these spaces are but a few minutes of a degree in breadth, yet, since they are among the fixed Stars, they must be spaces larger than what is occupied by our solar System; and in which there seems to be a perpetual uninterrupted day among numberless Worlds which no human art ever can discover.
Changes in the Heavens.
403. Several Stars are mentioned by antient Astronomers, which are not now to be found; and others are now visible to the bare eye which are not recorded in the antient catalogues. Hipparchus observed a new Star about 120 years before Christ; but he has not mentioned in what part of the Heavens it was seen, although it occasioned his making a catalogue of the Stars; which is the most antient that we have.
New Stars.
The first New Star that we have any good account of, was discovered by Cornelius Gemma on the 8th of November A. D. 1572, in the Chair of Cassiopea. It surpassed Sirius in brightness and magnitude; and was seen for 16 months successively. At first it appeared bigger than Jupiter to some eyes, by which it was seen even at mid-day: afterwards it decayed gradually both in magnitude and lustre, until March 1573, when it became invisible.
On the 13th of August 1596, David Fabricius observed the Stella Mira, or wonderful Star, in the Neck of the Whale; which has been since found to appear and disappear periodically, seven times in six years, continuing in its greatest lustre for 15 days together; and is never quite extinguished.
In the year 1600, William Jansenius discovered a changeable Star in the Neck of the Swan; which, in time became so small as to be thought to disappear entirely, till the years 1657, 1658, and 1659, when it recovered its former lustre and magnitude; but soon decayed, and is now of the smallest size.
In the year 1604 Kepler and several of his friends saw a new Star near the heel of the right foot of Serpentarius, so bright and sparkling that it exceeded any thing they had ever seen before; and took notice that it was every moment changing into some of the colours of the rainbow, except when it was near the horizon, at which time it was generally white. It surpassed Jupiter in magnitude, which was near it all the month of October, but easily distinguished from it by a steady light. It disappeared between October 1605 and the February following, and has not been seen since that time.