APPEARANCE OF COMET.

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21858, 11 August 1936, Page 8

APPEARANCE OF COMET.

“ TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS. V Sir,—The comet was easily visible on IjSuxlday evening, in spite of the fact jthat the sky tvas rather lazy. Its is in the constellation Micro'scopium, but as this is only a group stars, it a better guide to nay that it is a few degrees north and -lyesl of the brighter stars in the constellation Grus. r The discovery was made on May sby an observer named Peltier, residing -at Delphos, Ohio, and at that time the comet was only a telescopic object between ninth and tenth magnitude. The elements of its orbit were calculated iand published by Harvard University *a week later, and these made it quite 'clear that the comet would move 'southward into the southern hemisphere, so that its appearance is our sky is not unexpected. The prediction its place from these elements is --merely a matter of calculation, and is i’not difficult, although the work takes :rather a long time. But no one can ■foretell what a comet will look like, ?and this one illustrates this by its £«uit-» unexplained increase in brightness. Its position on Sunday is not in Seood agreement with the calculated 'position, and this is evidently due to < the fact that the orbit was calculated -from observations made on only throe consecutive days. It is increasing its distance from the earth by two and a half million miles a day, and it is also travelling away from the sun, so that it seems improbable that its present brightness will continue for long.—Yours, etc., c JW August 10, 1936.