702 PROGRESS OF ASTRONOMY FOR 1891 AND 1892. 



Coinct 1891 III: I >SV'c comet Ejieke. 

 =Coiuet c 1891. 

 :=Eucke's comet. 



Comet 1891 IV : a tele.scopie comet ol tlic twelfth magiiitnde, dis- 



=Conn-t c 1891. covered by Bjiniard at the Lick Observatory ou 



October 2, 1891. At the time of discovery it was in the constelhition 

 Argo; it moved farther south and was not seen at all in the northern 

 hemisphere except at the Lick Observatory, where it was followed up 

 to October 9; in the southern hemisphere it does not seem to have 

 been followed beyond October 11. 



Comet 1.S91 \ : lS(w comet Temple.-Swift. 



=Co]iiet Teinpel:i-Swil't. t 

 =Coniet 1869 III. 

 =Comet 1880 IV. 

 =Comet d 1891. 



Comet 1892 I: ' Discovered by Swift on March 0. 1892, at 11^ 

 =:Couie t a 1892. ; Rochester mean time, or 5 o'clock on the morning of 

 March 7, in 30° south declination; the brightest comet seen in the 

 northern hemisphere since the great September comet of 1882. At the 

 time of its greatest brilliancy, which was at perilielion, April 6, it was 

 as bright as a star of the third or fourth magnitude, with a bright, 

 round head and nucleus of 10" to 15" diameter. The tail, on the other 

 hand, was exceedingly faint, and was variously estimated at from 1° to 

 20° in length. Barnard reported it on April 3 as double. The i^hoto- 

 graphs of the tail were of unusual interest, especially those taken in 

 March at Sydney and in April at Mount Hamilton. On the morning 

 of April 5 a photograph, made by Barnard at Mount Hamilton with a 

 G-inch lens, showed three main branches to the tail, each being sepa- 

 rated into several others, so that in all at least a dozen could be counted. 

 At a distance of two degrees from the head, along the northern side of 

 the middle tail, there was a sudden bend southward. On the 7th "the 

 southern component, which was the brightest on the 5th, had become 

 diffused and fainter, while the middle tail was very bright and broad; 

 its southern side, which was the best detined, was wavy in numerous 

 places, the tail api)eariug as if disturbing- currents were flowing at 

 right angles to it. At 42' from the head the tail made an abrupt bend 

 towards the south, as if its current was deflected by some obstacle. In 

 the densest portion of the tail, at the point of deflection, is a couple of 

 dark holes similar to tliese seen in some of the nebulce." 



The comet was visible to the naked eye till the beginning of June, 

 and was still under observation with the telescope at the close of the 

 year. 



The .spectrum as o])served by Konkoly on April 1 and 2 consisted of 

 a continuous spectrum and Ave bright lines, while Campbell, at the 



