THE NEW COMET.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 3 October 1924, Page 4

THE NEW COMET.

SUCCESS OF NEW ZEALAND ASTRONOMERS. It would seem that Mr. F. Gawith, of Hawera, was the first to pick up the new comet since its discovery by Dr_ Finsler, of Berlin, »on September 20. Mr. Gawith’s discovery was made on September .30, at 7 p.m., while the other New Zealander who made the discovery the same evening—Mr. C. JG. Berry, M.A., the secretary of the astronomical section of the Wellington Philo, sophieai Society—did so at 7.30 p.m. Greenwich Observatory has cabled the New Zealand Government Astronomer that it picked up the comet 12 hours ’later than New- Zealand. It gave the position as 4 degrees 32 minutes south declination and 15 hours right ascension, while Mr. Gawith gave it as 3 degrees south declination and 15 hours 20 minutes right ascension, which is very close, allowing for the lapse of time between the Greenwich observation and his. It i s distinctly a feat that a little observatory in far away New Zealand should beat all the large observatories, particularly in the northern hemisphere, and be the first to pick the comet up after its original discovery. The comet has been named the Finsler comet, after its discoverer, and is evidently a newcomer.