NEBULOUS
, or Cloudy, a term applied to certain fixed stars, which shew a dim, hazy light; being less than those of the 6th magnitude, and therefore scarcely visible to the naked eye, to which at best they only appear like little dusky specks or clouds.
Through a moderate telescope, these Nebulous stars plainly appear to be congeries or clusters of several little stars. In the Nebulous star called Præsepe, in the breast of Cancer, there are reckoned 36 little stars, 3 of which Mr. Flamsteed sets down in his catalogue. In the Nebulous star of Orion, are reckoned 21. F. le Compte adds, that there are 40 in the Pleiades; 12 in the star in the middle of Orion's sword; 500 in the extent of two degrees of the same constellation; and 2500 in the whole constellation. It may farther be observed, that the galaxy, or milky-way, is a continued assemblage of Nebulæ, or vast clusters of small stars.