Page 241

               MlC ROGRAPHIA.                                        241
Obferv. L I X. Of multitudes of frnall Stars difcoverable by the
      Telefcope.
H     Aving, in the lailt Obkrvation, premis'd fome particulars obfervable
      in the medium,through which we mutt look upon C&lejIialObjeets
I hall here add one Obfervation of the Bodies themselves ; and for a
fpecivien I have made choice of the Pleiades, or feven Stars, commonly fo
called ( though in our time and Climate there appear no more then fix
to the naked eye )and this I did the rather, becauic the dcfervedly fa-
mous Galileo, having publifht a Pidture of this Aflerifmne, was able, it
feems, with his Glafs to difcover no more then thirty fix, whereas with a
pretty good twel ve foot 'Ielefope,by which I drew this 38 Iconif,l could
very plainly difcover feventy cight, placed in the order they are ranged
in the Figure, and of as many differing Magnitudes as the AEteriek,
wherewith they are Marked, do fpecifie; there being no lefs then four-
teen feveral Magnitudes of thole Stars, which are compris'd within the
draught. the biggefi whereof is not accounted greater then one of the
third Magnitude ; and indeed that account is much too bigif it be com-
pared with other Stars of the third Magnitude, efpecially by the help of
a Teleftope ; for then by it may be perceiv'd, that its fplendor, to the
na-
ked eye, may be fomcwhat augmented by the three little Stars immedi
ately above it, which are near adjoyning to it. The 7clefope alfo difco,
vers a great variety, even in the bignefsof thofe, commonly reckon'd, of
the firff, fecond, third, fourth, fifth, and fixth Magnitude ; fo that fhould
they be diftinguifh'd thereby, thofefix Magnitudes would, at leaft, af-
ford no lefs then thrice that number of Magnitudes, plainly enough di-
ftinguifhable by theirMagnitude, and brightne6 s fo that a good twelve
foot Glafs would afford us no lefs then twenty five feveral Magnitudes.
Nor are thefe all, but a longer Glats does yet further, both more nicely
difiinguifh the Magnitudes of thofe already noted, and alfo difcover fe-
veral other of fmaller Magnitudes, not difcernable by the twelve foot
Glafs: Thus have I been able, with a good thirty fix foot Glafs, to difco-
ver many more Stars in the Pkiades then are here delineated, and thofe
of three or four diftintl Magnitudes lefs then any of thofe fpots of the
fourteenth Magnitude. And by the twinkling of divers other places of
this Aflerifme, when the Sky was very clear, I am apt to think, that with
longer Glafles, or fuch as would bear a bigger aperture, there might be
discovered multitudes of other fmall Stars, yet inconspicuous. And in-
deed, for the discovery of fmall Stars, the bigger the aperture be, the
better adapted is the Glafs s for though perhaps it does make the feveral
fpecksmore radiant. and glaring, yet by that means, uniting more Rays
very near to one point, it does make many of thofe radiant points conipi*
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