EDWIN TAYLOR.
Edwardsville, Kans.
[KNOWLEDGE.]
A FIVEFOLD COMET.
The figure illustrating this article is taken from L'Astronomie, and represents the remarkable southern comet of January, 1887, as drawn on successive days by Mr. Finlay, of Cape Town.
The comet was first seen by a farmer and a fisherman of Blauwberg, near Cape Town, on the night of January 18-19. The same night it was seen at the Cordoba Observatory by M. Thome. On the next Mr. Todd discovered it independently at the Adelaide Observatory, and watched it till the 27th. On the 22d Mr. Finlay detected the comet, and was able to watch it till the 29th. At Rio de Janeiro M. Cruls observed it from the 23d to the 25th; and at Windsor, New South Wales, Mr. Tebbutt observed the comet on the 28th and 30th. Moonlight interfered with further observations.
The comet's appearance was remarkable. Its tail, long and straight, extended over an arc of 30 degrees, but there was no appreciable condensation which could be called the comet's head. The long train of light, described as nearly equal in brightness to the Magellanic clouds, seemed to be simply cut off at that end where in most comets a nucleus and coma are shown.
This comet has helped to throw light on one of the most perplexing puzzles which those most perplexing of all the heavenly bodies, comets, have presented to astronomers.
In the year 1668 a comet was seen in the southern skies which attracted very little notice at the time, and would probably have been little thought of since had not attention been directed to it by the appearance and behavior of certain comets seen during the last half century. Visible for about three weeks, and discovered after it had already passed the point of its nearest approach to the sun, the comet of 1668 was not observed so satisfactorily that its orbit could be precisely determined. In fact, two entirely different orbits would satisfy the observations fairly, though one only could be regarded as satisfying them well.