ASTKOXOMY. 213 



COMETS. 



The followiug- is a list ol" the comets of the year ISSl in the order of 

 their discovery : 



Ooinet A Swift Eochester, X. Y. 



Comet B Tebbutt South Africa. 



Comet C Schaeberle Ann Arbor, Mich. 



Comet D Encke's (Periodic and expected.; 



( omet E . . .• Barnard ... Nashville, Teun. 



( 'omet F Brooks Phelps, Is". Y. 



I'omet G . . . . Swift Eochester, N. Y. 



Comet A was found May 1 in Andromeda. It was a faint object, 

 and, moving- rapidly southeast, was soon lost in the morning twilight, 

 and was not seen in the southern hemisphere. 



Comet B was the brightest since the memorable one of 1861. Its 

 l)ath was nearly due north, and by its proximity to the sun was soon 

 rendered invisible from any part of the world. It passed the sun at 

 noon on June 19, and was first seen in the northern hemisphere on the 

 morning of June 22, its tail only then being visible. The next morning 

 it became an object of general observation. Its subsequent career is 

 too well remembered to need a description here. Its orbit is probably 

 elliptical, having a period of about 3,000 years. From a similarity of 

 elements it was at first thought to be the comet of 1807. 



Comet C was first seen on the morning of July 18, somewhat singu- 

 larly, in almost the same place where comet B had so suddenly ap- 

 peared after having been lost sight of in the southern hemisphere. 

 Like B it had two tails. Its elements are unlike those of any comet 

 heretofore observed. 



Comet D (Eucke's), which has a period of only about 3-i% years, has 

 just paid us the twenty-ninth visit since it was first detected in 178G. 



Comet E was discovered on August 18 by Mr. E. E. Barnard. It 

 moves in a jiarabolic orbit. 



Comet F was first detected on the morning of October 4 by Mr. W. E. 

 Brooks, and on the next morning by Mr. W. F. Denning, of Bristol, 

 England, who immediately announced it, which Mr. Brooks for two 

 days failed to do, as clouds prevented him from determining whether 

 it were a comet or a nebula. It is, notwithstanding that it was visible 

 only through the telescope, by far the most important one of the year. 

 It is a periodic comet of the short period of eight years. It is, there- 

 fore, and probably for years has been, a permanent member of our 

 system. 



Comet G, discovered by Swift on the evening of Kovember 16, is of 

 fair size, though faint, and, like A, E, and F, without a tail. Its ele- 

 ments are somewhat like those of comet A, 1792. 



Comet B Avas successfully photographed by several astronomers — 

 notably by Prof. Henry Draper and Dr. Huggins — a feat never before 



