THE COMET

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 147, 19 December 1927, Page 10

THE COMET

VISIBLE IN THE NORTH

LIVELY AMERICAN INTEREST

BRIGHTER THAN VENUS

(United Press Association.—Copyright.) (Received 19th December, 1 p.m.) < LONDON, 18th December. The Hanover Observatory, reports' the sighting of Skjellcrnp* comet, which it is believed will be visible after sun- ' set for the next few days. (Received 19th December, 1 p.m.) . NEW YORK, 17th December. Reports from Flagstaff, Arizona, and La Plata, Argentina, state that the bkjellerup comet'is visible to the naked eye, but astronomers in New York and Washington failed to see it. A United States naval observatory astronomer made a flight in an airplane to a height of 10,000 feet, but a very high layer of haze prevented observation of the comet. It is expected that it will be visible in every part of the western Hemisphere within a dar or two. • . Dr. Slipher, director of the Lowell Observatory at Flagstaff, described'the comet as being unusually brilliant. It was brighter than Venus at her maximum brilliancy on Friday, even though the dazzling rays of the sun extended over the region. This indicates that it was of —5 magnitude at the time. The length of the tail visible to the naked eye was about half a degree, or equal to the diameter of the full moon. Spectroscope analysis of the comet's light shows that it is practically all reflected sunlight. I Direct photographs of the comet I show it to have a small nucleus varying considerably in shape from an elongated circular form, with conspicuous envelopes visible on the sunward side. . The naming of the new comet "Skjellerup's" appears to be a trifle premature, and is likely to bo very misleading, says Dr. C. E. Adams, the* Government Astronomer. Skjellerup certainly discovered the comet, but that was on 3rd December, whereas Mr. O'Connell, a NewZealand Railway official at Taihape, first saw it on 29th November last. The comet will not be officially named until all reports have been received and checked up, and it is quite possible that someone, perhaps on a steamer, saw it even before Mr. O'Connell. Dr. Adams points out that South African and South American reports are not yet complete, and he considers that even the popular naming of a comet is unfortunate until the first discovered is properly located. The position is further complicated: by; the fact that Skjellerup was the dis-' coverer of another comet, which was also known as Grigg's comet, having been discovered by a resident of Thames, New Zealand, now deceased. ■That comet was finally known as the •Grigg-Skjellerup comet. It cannot be confused with the new comet, as it was always a "telescopic" one, invisible to the naked eye, and was never brighter than the 9th magnitude. It is now, moreover, far out in space on its orbit.