COMET OF 1889-1896-1903 235 



observed by many observers until March 20, 1890. It was 

 again found by Barnard, using the 36-inch telescope of the 

 Lick Observatory, on November 22, 1890, and was observed 

 by him during the next two months, the last observation, being 

 obtained on January 12, 1901. The observations thus extend 

 over a period of 556 days, and during this time the comet passed 

 over 1 5 5 degrees of its orbit about the sun. 



At the time of its discovery the comet was faint, appearing 

 about as bright as an i ith magnitude star, with a small nucleus 

 and a short wide tail about 10' in length. At no time did it 

 become a conspicuous object ; at its brightest in September it 

 was an easy object for telescopes of from 8 to 10 inches diameter, 

 being about loth magnitude, with a head some 4' in diameter, 

 and a short faint tail. By January 1890 it has become a very 

 difficult object to observe and could be seen with the largest in- 

 struments only. At this time its brightness was less than one 

 half that at discovery ; it appeared as a fourteenth magnitude 

 star, with a head of from one to two minutes in diameter, and a 

 tail of about the same length. Upon the rediscovery by Barnard 

 in November, it appeared as a weak, hazy nebulosity six or 

 eight minutes in diameter. It was described by Barnard as the 

 most difficult object he had ever measured. In August the 

 comet was found to be accompanied by several companions ; 

 smaller, fainter bodies, which travelled in orbits nearly parallel 

 to that of the main comet. It seemed as though the comet in 

 some way had been shattered and broken up into fragments. 

 The observations of these bodies were discussed and their orbits 

 determined by Chandler.' 



13. In all, some 446 complete observations were made by 

 46 different observers on 158 different days. The instruments 

 with which these observations were made varied in size from 

 5jf/^-inch refractor used by Schwab at Kremsmiinster to the 36- 

 inch Lick telescope used by Barnard. Most of the telescopes 

 were fitted with filar micrometers, only five observers using ring 

 micrometers and but two using square-bar micrometers. These 



1 " Definitive Orbits of the Companions of Comet 1889 V," As/r. Jour.^ Nos. 

 236, 237. 



