like the principal stars in Cassiopea. It continued to decrease during September, so that it reached the fourth magnitude in October, and was exactly equal to κ Cassiopeæ in November. At the end of the year and in January 1574 it hardly exceeded the fifth magnitude; in February it came down to the sixth magnitude, and about the end of March it ceased to be visible. At the same time the colour gradually changed; at first it was white, and by degrees became yellow, and, in the spring of 1573, reddish, like Betelgeuze or Aldebaran. About May 1573 it became like lead, or somewhat like Saturn, and seemed to remain so while the star was visible.[1]
About the time when the new star appeared Tycho Brahe had prepared an astrological and meteorological diary for the following year, giving the time of rising and setting of the principal stars, the aspects of the planets, and the phases of the moon, together with their probable influence on the weather. To this diary he added an account of his observations on the new star and its probable astrological signification. Early in 1573 he went to Copenhagen on a visit to his friend Professor Johannes Pratensis, and brought the manuscript with him. Pratensis had not yet heard of the new star, and would scarcely believe Tycho when he told him about it. Equally incredulous was another friend, Charles Dancey, French envoy at the Danish court, who invited Tycho and Pratensis to dinner as soon as he heard of the arrival of the former. During the dinner Tycho happened to mention the star, but Dancey thought he was joking and intending to sneer at the ignorance of Danish savants in astronomy, while Tycho only smiled, and hoped that the evening would be clear, so that they could see the star with their own eyes. The evening was favourable, and
- ↑ Progymnasmata, pp. 300-302, and p. 591, the latter place being a reprint of the preliminary account printed in 1573.
