“One evening, when I was contemplating, as usual, the celestial vault, whose aspect was so familiar to me, I saw, with inexpressible astonishment, near the zenith, in Cassiopeia, a radiant star of extraordinary magnitude. Struck with surprise, I could hardly believe my eyes. To convince myself that it was not an illusion, and to obtain the testimony of other persons, I called out the workmen employed in my laboratory, and asked them, as well as all passers-by, if they could see, as I did, the star, which had appeared all at once. I learned later on that in Germany carriers and other people had anticipated the astronomers in regard to a great apparition in the sky, which gave occasion to renew the usual railleries against men of science (as with comets whose coming had not been predicted). “The new star was destitute of a tail; no nebulosity surrounded it; it resembled in every way other stars of the first magnitude. Its brightness exceeded that of Sirius, of Lyra, and of Jupiter. It could only be compared with that of Venus when it is at its nearest possible to the earth. Persons gifted with good sight could distinguish this star in daylight, even at noonday, when the sky was clear. At night, with a cloudy sky, when other stars were veiled, the new star often remained visible through tolerably thick clouds. The distance of this star from the other stars of Cassiopeia, which I measured the following year with the greatest care, has convinced me of its complete immobility. From the month of December, 1572, its brightness began to diminish; it was then equal to Jupiter. In January, 1573, it became less brilliant than Jupiter; in February and March, equal to stars of the first order; in April and May, of the brightness of stars of the second order. The passage from the fifth to the sixth magnitude took place between December, 1573, and February, 1574. The following month the new star disappeared without leaving a trace visible to the naked eye, having shone for seventeen months.” These circumstantial details permit us to imagine the influence which such a phenomenon must have exercised on the minds of men. Few historical events have caused so much excitement as this mysterious envoy of the sky. It first appeared on November 11, 1572. General uneasiness, popular superstition, the fear of comets, the dread of the end of the world, long since announced by the astrologers, were an excellent setting for such an apparition. It was soon announced that the new star was the same which had led the wise men to Bethlehem, and that its arrival foretold the return of the Messiah and the last judgment. For the hundredth time, perhaps, this sort of prognostication was recognized as absurd. It did not, however, prevent the astrologers from being believed, twelve years later, when they announced anew the end of the world for the year 1588; these predictions exercised the same influence on the public mind.