THE COMET.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XIV, Issue 4774, 27 January 1887, Page 2

THE COMET.

"Cibcinus" writes : —As some of your readers and correspondents seem to take an interest in our visitor, you will perhaps find space for the few following observations of it made last night : It appeared as a streak of faint nebulous light, commencing apparently at the little cluster of stars, delta Gruis, and terminating between Achernar and the Nebicula Minor, the termination being half as far from Achernar as from the Nebula. Prolonged examination (with the naked eye) failed to reveal any nucleus, and it docs not appear improbable that there may be nono in the ordinary sense, as the brightest part appears to be near the middle of what we would commonly call the tail. In fact it is so faint near the extremities that it is difficult to say where it begins or ends, though its line of direction is fairly well marked through a distance of from tweuty-five to thirty degrees. I notice that you observed yesterday evening that the nucleus was visible, and was about the si.r; of a third magnitude star. I think you must have mistaken the sta»r mentioned above, viz., delta Gruifl, $or the nucleus. This you mis>ht vary easily have done in the absence oi a celestial gJobe O:' star map. I may perhaps add that the part of the ahy in whioh the comet appears is a very bad one for observation as it is invariably hazy in the early part of the ni>>ht. So much was this the case during the last two evening') that sometimes the comet seemed tv disappear altogether.