: Comet c 1884. 

 : Wolfs Comet. 



ASTRONOMY. 385 



spectrum increased so in intensity tliat it almost equaled the bright- 

 ness of 'the middle baud, iu the green, and decidedly surpassed the 

 band in the jellow. 



Comet 1884 II: A comet first seen by Barnard, at Nashville, 



- Comet h 1884. Tenu., on the night of July 16. During the whole 



= Bamard^s Comet, period of its visibility (to about November 20) it 

 remained an inconspicuous object. The changes in brightness, as in 

 other comets recently observed, was neither uniform nor consistent 

 with the law of reflected light. The comet was found to move in an 

 elliptic orbit with a period of about 5*4 years, the elements bearing a 

 very close resemblance to those of De Yico's lost comet (1844 I), though 

 the two do not appear to be identical. The spectrum showed two of 

 the cometary bands, the middle one and that in the red ; the third was 

 only suspected. This comet perhaps belongs to the fainter class of 

 those revolving in a short period, and this year was probably observed 

 under somewhat favorable circumstances. Perihelion was passed on 

 August 16. 



Comet 1884 III : Discovered by Max Wolf, at Heidelberg, on Sep 

 tember 17, and independently, with the spectro- 

 scope, by Copeland, at Dun Echt, on September 22. 

 The last observation appears to have been by Young, at Princeton, on 

 April 6, 1885. This comet, like the preceding, was moving in an ellipse 

 of short period (6f years), and one of the most interesting facts in con- 

 nectiou with it was the near approach (about 8,000,000 miles) that it 

 must have made to Juijiter in May, 1875. It seems not at all improb- 

 able that from the perturbations experienced at that time, it was brought 

 into its present orbit. Krueger has pointed out that at the returns (con- 

 sistent with a period of 6| years) in 1871 and 1878 the comet was unfa- 

 vorably situated for observation. In 1864 and again in 1891 the situ- 

 ation is favorable, if we can suppose that it follows the same path as 

 now. During the whole period of its visibility the comet was an insig- 

 nificant object physically. The spectrum as observed at Mce was con- 

 tinuous, with the three cometary bands. Perihelion was passed on No- 

 vember 17. 



Comets of 1885. — During the year 1885 seven comets have been under 

 observation ; two were discovered by Barnard, two by Brooks, and one 

 by Fabry, a student at the Paris Observatory. Two of the known pe- 

 riodic comets, Encke's and Tuttle's, were expected to return this year 

 and both were found. Two other periodic comets, Tempel's 1867 II, 

 and Tempel-Swift 1869 III, were also expected, and were carefully 

 looked for; but they were unfavorably situated, and seem to have 

 passed unobserved. A suspicious object, thought to have been Tempel's 

 comet 1867 II, was observed at Geneva in March, but its identity was 

 not fully established. 



H. Mis. 15 25 



