Aquilæ. When γ was perfectly distinct and round, the extremely small stars were dusky and ill defined; the excessively small ones were still less defined. As there are stars of all sizes in this neighbourhood, I saw some so very minute, that they only had the appearance of a small dusky spot, approaching to mere nebulosity. By very long attention I perceived many small dusky nebulous spots, which had it not been for this attention might have been in the field of view without the least suspicion.
( 10.) From this we find that stars, when they are extremely small, lose their spurious diameters, and become nebulous.
July 7, 1780. I saw the spurious diameter of Arcturus gradually diminished by a haziness of the atmosphere till it vanished intirely.
A more circumstantial account of this observation has already been given; and some other causes that affect the spurious diameter of the stars, have been pointed out in the same paper, such as tremulous air, wind, and hoar-frost.[1]
January 31, 1783. The star in the back of Columba makes a spectrum, about 5 or 6" long, and about 2" broad, finely coloured by the prismatic power of the atmosphere at this altitude.
July 28, 1783. Fomalhaut gives a beautiful prismatic spectrum, on account of its low situation.
July 17, 1781. With a new lens, power between 5 and 6 hundred, I saw ζ Aquarii, and found the vacancy between the two stars exactly 2 diameters. With my old one, power only 460, it was full 2 diameters. As it should have been larger with the high power than with the low one, it shows that the best eye-lens will give the least spurious diameter.
- ↑ See Phil. Trans. for 1803, page 224.
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