VISITOR OF THE SKIES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20289, 23 December 1927, Page 10

VISITOR OF THE SKIES.

COMET PASSING NORTHWARDS. PROVISIONAL ORBIT CHARTED. (Special to Daily Times.) WELLINGTON, December 22. The comet, which suddenly appeared a week or two ago, has disappeared from the view of those in the Southern Hemisphere, and is now a source of interest to people in the Northern Hemisphere. At the, present time it is in a part of the sky not visible in New Zealand after sunset, being somewhat to the north of the star known as Alpha Aquila. As the comet is rapidly moving north it. is exceedingly doubtful if we shall see it again. A provisional orbit has been drawn out by Dr C. E. Adams, of the Dominion Observatory, using the calculations of Mr P. W. Glover.' of Canterbury College coupled with his own observations. Dr Adams reckons that Perihelion (or the nearest approach to the sun) was reached at the beginning of December. ’At that time the comet was about 60,000,000 miles, or two-thirds of the earth’s distance, from the sun, that being a fairly close approach for a comet. At that time the comet was about 40,000,000 miles from the earth, not very far away as comets go. The inclination of its orbit to that of the earth has been reckoned to be about 86 degrees. Its position on Christmas Day will be approximately 19 hours 45 minutes right ascension, and 22 degrees 12 minutes north declination. Checks with other local observations agree fairly well with these calculations, which also agree closely with those cabled from the Union Observatory at Johannesburg in South Africa. ■ They do not agree, however, with a cablegram from Melbourne. The latter, however, probably had been mutilated in transmission. The problem of deciding the name of the discoverer of the comet not yet solved. The earliest claimant now is a railway fireman who saw it from his train near Marton early in the morning of November 29.