Page:Philosophical Transactions - Volume 095.djvu/70

58 Mr. stars 19, 25 and 27 Ceti are marked 7m and by comparing the asteroid, which I find is to be called Juno with these stars, it has the appearance of a small one of the 8th magnitude.

With regard to the diameter of Juno, which name it will at present be convenient to use, leaving it still to astronomers to adopt any other they may fix upon, it is evident that, had it been half a second, I must have instantly perceived a visible disk. Such a diameter, when I saw it magnified 879,4 times, would have appeared to me under an angle of 7' 19",7, one half of which, it will be allowed, from the experiments that have been detailed, could not have escaped my notice.

Oct. 1. Between flying clouds, I saw the asteroid, which in its true starry form has left the place where I saw it Sept. 29. It has taken the path in which by calculation I expected it would move. This ascertains that no mistake in the star was made when I observed it last.

Oct. 2, 7h. Mr. asteroid is again removed, but is too low for high powers.

8h 30'. I viewed it now with 220,3 288,4 410,5 496,3 and 879,4. No other disk was visible than that spurious one which such small stars have, and which is not proportionally magnified by power.

With 288,4, the asteroid had a larger spurious disk than a star which was a little less bright, and a smaller spurious disk than another star that was a little more bright.

Oct. 5, with 410,5. The situation of the asteroid is now as in Fig. 4. I compared its disk, which is probably the spurious appearance of stars of that magnitude, with a larger, an equal, and a smaller star. It is less than the spurious disk of the