Mars in conjunction with 718 Mayer on the 2nd, difference of latitude 7'; with 740 Mayer on the 10th, difference of latitude 9'. The Asteroids. Hrs. Min. Vesta, 2nd day. Right Ascension, 8 35. N. Declin. 23° 52′ Juno in opposition on the 22nd, and in its most favorable position for observation. It may be traced in its course through Sextans Uraniæ, a small constellation south of Leo,-on the 4th it may be seen between the stars numbered 30 and 31; on the 15th it will pass close to a small star, situated between 23 and 31; on the 22nd in conjunction with 23, the asteroid a degree north of the star; on the 28th, north of, and very near to, two small nebulæ. This small planet may be known by its reddish color: it varies considerably in its brilliancy, but in general it shines as a star of the first magnitude. The elements and other phenomena of Juno are as follow: Sidereal revolution, 4 years, 132 days, 15 hrs. 51′ 33′′.12. Inclination of the orbit, 13° 4′ 9′′.7. Ascending node, 171° 7′ 40′′.4. Mean longitude, 200° 16′ 19′′.1. Mean motion in a mean solar day, 13′ 32′′.9304. Mean distance from the sun, that of the earth being considered as unity, 2.669009. Mean distance from the sun in miles, 253,365,480. Eccentricity of the orbit, half the major axis, being considered as unity, 0.257848. The eccentricity of Juno is rather more than 65 millions of miles, being one-fourth of her mean distance from the sun; she consequently takes twice the time in describing that part of her orbit, which is farthest from the sun, than she does in passing through the remainder. The greatest equation of the centre is 29° 46′ 19′′. Apparent mean diameter 3", and true diameter 1425 miles. Jupiter in conjunction with the sun at 30 min. after 2 of the afternoon of the 24th. Eclipses of the Satellites. Jupiter is too near the sun to admit of any of these eclipses being visible. FORM OF SATURN'S RING. February 10th.-Semi-transverse axis Semi-conjugate axis 43".45. 2.94. Uranus in conjunction with the sun at 45 min. after 5 of the morning of the 4th. Sphere of the Fixed Stars. Taurus. When this zodiacal constellation is on the meridian, the most brilliant stars in the northern hemisphere are above the horizon,-Arietis, Castor, Pollux, the splendid stars in Orion, Algol, Capella, Procyon, Sirius, Regulus, and Denebola. The Pleïades, an as terism in the neck of Taurus, is composed of several minute stars, the brightest of which are Asterope, Taigeta, Maia, Celino, Electra, Pleione, Merope, and Atlas. The Hyades are a cluster of stars in the face of Taurus; Aldebaran represents the southern eye, and Ε the northern. Aldebaran, the Pleiades, and B and C, the stars at the extremities of the horns, form a trapezoid. The Pleïades, Aldebaran, and ß, form an obtuse angled triangle. Aldebaran, 4, and ẞ, form an acute angled triangle. ß, the extremity of the northern horn, represents also the southern foot of Auriga, on the skirts of the Via Lactea. The principal star in this constellation (Aldebaran) rises on the 1st of this month, at 2 minutes after noon, and passes the meridian at 25 minutes after 7 in the evening. TELESCOPIC OBJECTS IN TAURUS. Double Stars. Aldebaran, 9, k, v, t, p, X, 4, 30, 62, 66, 88, 103, 105, 111, 114, 117, and 118. Triple Stars. 8 and ; above 1.2 8 is a triple star. 140 near to Propus is a quintuple star. North of is a nebula, with a whitish light, elongated like the flame of a taper. 41 is supposed to be a variable star. COMETARY ASTRONOMY. Within the last few years greater light has been thrown on the nature of comets, as to their physical structure, and laws of motion, than could be possibly anticipated by the astronomers of antiquity. These bodies were, in general, considered to be meteors, generated in, and passing through, the atmosphere; in later years, when a higher place had been assigned them in the heavens, they were regarded as wandering stars, entering by chance unvisited regions, and after attracting for a longer or shorter space of time the curious eye, or terrifying the timid heart, they disappeared never more to return. Comets seem in all ages to have made peculiar impression on every class of society,-the learned as well as the unlearned; they were a terror to princes, a mystery to philosophers, gloomy presages of calamity to those countries from whence they were visible, and powerful agents for the crafty to excite the fears of the superstitious and credulous. As far back as the days of Homer they were considered harbingers of divine vengeance: A fatal sign to armies on the plain, Or trembling sailors on the wat'ry main. Pliny says: "A comet is a body which is particularly frightful, and not easy to be propitiated; its cruel and powerful agency, shewed itself in the poisoning of Claudius, and the tyranny of Nero his successor." Of similar sentiments were Cicero and most of the poets of antiquity. At the dawn of science, after the long and dreary night of the middle ages, they were still regarded as messengers of direful portent, charged with "the corruption of the air, the cause of earthquakes, war, dearth of corn, yea, a common death of man and beast." Some, however, considered them in a more cheering and animating point of view, as "spirits, which having lived on the earth innumerable ages, and having at last completed their term of existence, celebrate their last triumph, and are recalled to heaven in the form of shining stars." Kepler, the celebrated astronomer, en tertained the most absurd ideas of comets; he conceived them to be "a species of huge animals, generated in the ethereal spaces, and that the earth, also a huge animal, is so terrified at the approach of a comet, that it sweats out a great quantity of vapour through terror, and that hence arise great rains and floods." 66 The following is a description of comets, from the Divine Weeks and Works" of Du Bartas, a French poet, who lived in the sixteenth century: Here in the night appears a flaming spire, There with long bloody hair, a blazing star To all estates inevitable losses; To herdsmen rot, to ploughmen hapless seasons, Lubienitz, a Polish writer, speaks of a comet, which “came out from an opening in the heavens, like to a dragon with blue feet, and a head covered with snakes." As a suitable companion to these terrific pictures, we subjoin the following from the " Exempla Cometarum" of Rossenburgh, cotemporary with Newton: "In the year 1527, about four in the morning, not only in the Palatine of the Rhine, but nearly over all Europe, appeared for an hour and a quarter, a most horrible comet, in this sort. In its length it was of a bloody color inclining to saffron. From the top of its train appeared a bended arm, in the hand whereof was |