ASTEONOMY. 123 



nuclei or condensations in the bead. Barnard says it was a most sin- 

 gular looking telescopic comet — "a perfect miniature of the naked-eye 

 appearance of a great comet." It does not seem to have been observed 

 beyond the last week of May, when its theoretical brightness was about 

 half that at the time of discovery. 



According to Wendell's elements the comet passed perihelion on May 

 5. Dr. Weiss called attention to the fact that at the ascending node 

 the orbit approached quite near the orbit of the earth, so that when the 

 earth passed the line of nodes, July 9, a meteoric shower visible in the 

 southern hemisphere might result from particles following in the wake 

 of the comet. We believe, however, that no unusual display was re- 

 ported. 



Comet 1886 IV : Discovered on the evening of May 22, 



= Comet c 1886. 1886, by W. R. Brooks, in the constellation 



= Comet 1886.. ..(Brooks 3). Yirgo, a large, nearly round, and feebly 

 luminous spot with a slight condensation occasionally visible. It was 

 decreasing m brightness when detected, and passed out of sight early in 

 July. Mr. Sherman, of the Yale Observatory, found the three cometary 

 bands in its spectrum. Dr. S. Oppenheim has calculated an elliptic 

 orbit with a period of about nine years. Dr. Hind makes the period 

 very much shorter, not much more, in fact, than six and a quarter years, 

 according to which the comet would return in the autumn of 1892. The 

 perihelion passage took place on June 6 or 7. A new discussion of the 

 orbit has been undertaken by Drs. Oppenheim and Bidschof, of Yienn^. 



Comet 1886 V: 

 = Comet a 1886. 

 = Comet 1886.... (Brooks 1). 



Discovered by Brooks on the evening of 

 April 27, the first comet found in 1886. 

 Until May 3 or 4 it was a round nebulous 

 object V or 2' in diameter. An uncertain nucleus could occasionally be 

 made out. On May 5 and 9 several bright points were seen in the 

 nucleus, giving it a " granular" appearance. On May 18 the nucleus 

 was of the eighth magnitude, and May 21 and 25, sixth to seventh mag- 

 nitude with nearly circular coma 2' 20" in diameter. Dr. Krueger's ele- 

 ments show that the comet's nearest approach to the sun, 0.27 (the 

 radius of the earth's orbit being unity), occurred on June 7. 



Winnecke's periodic comet (five and two- 

 thirds years) for which an ephemeris had been 

 prepared by Dr. Lamp, was detected by Mr. 

 Finlay, of the Cape of Good Hope Observatory, on August 19. During 

 its two or three weeks of visibility it was a faint, misty object, V or 2' 

 in diameter, without tail, but with some central condensation. Perihel- 

 ion was passed on August 19, about twelve days earlier than predicted 

 by Dr. A. Palisa. An attempt was made at Paris to photograph the 

 comet, but without success. 



Comet 1886 YII : i D*iscovered by Mr. W. H. Finiay, of the Cape 

 = Comet e 1886. | of Good Hope Observatory, on September 26, 



= FJDlay's comet. [ ig^Q^ ^nd reported as " faint, circular, about 1' 



Comet 1886 VI: 



= Comet d 1886. 



== Winnecke's comet. 



