28 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



OBSERVATIONS OF COMET "B," 1882. 



BY PROF. H. S. S. SMITH, UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS. 



The present equipment of the observatory of the State University does 

 not permit of measurement of positions out of the meridian, nor of spectro- 

 scopic investigations, nor of photographic work Being thus necessarily lim- 

 ited in my scope of workj nothing remained but to do the best that I could 

 with the means at my disposal. Attention has been entirely directed to ob- 

 serving the appearance and changes of the comet, and the attempt has been 

 made to make drawings of such features as would warrant it. The telescope 

 used is a comet-seeker, having an object glass five and five-eighths inches in 

 diameter, and a focal length of forty-two inches. The tube is bent so that 

 the eye-piece is always horizontal, the reflector being a right-angled prism. 

 It was found that the power of fourteen was best suited to show the faint 

 portions, as the prism absorbs so much light that they could not be exam- 

 ined satisfactorily with the higher powers. No attempt was made to study 

 the nucleus or the coma critically, as it was evident that the telescopic power 

 was not sufficient for the purpose. Chief attention was given to the fainter 

 portions, and the results seem to repay the labor expended. 



EYE OBSERVATIONS. 



On September 26th I first saw the comet, and it was then low down in the 

 horizon. The nucleus was estimated to be as bright as Procyou. The tail 

 was about five and a half degrees in length, and was bright enough to be 

 seen until twenty minutes before sunrise. The nucleus became invisible five 

 minutes later. On October 9th the comet was] very bright. The tail was 

 fifteen degrees long, the south side was much better defined than the north, 

 and on the south side of the end there was a projection about half a degree 

 long in the direction of the tail. On October 13th the south edge was quite 

 well defined, while the north edge faded gradually away. A faint hazy ap- 

 pearance was seen along the north side of the coma. Near the end of the 

 tail and on the south side there was an appearance of twisting, and there 

 seemed to be a tendency toward a forked arrangement of the end. On Oc- 

 tober 14th the tail was bright and long, poorly outlined on the north, sharply 

 on the south. The twist in the end of the tail was less prominent, but the 

 forked appearance was more noticeable. The haze on the north side of the 

 head was seen to be extended in front of the coma. The nucleus was more 

 star-like than on previous days. On the 15th the tail had broadened percep- 

 tibly on the northern side. The end was less twisted and more nearly even 

 than before, but it was still noticeably forked. The nucleus was more star- 

 like, but less brilliant. Two days later the comet had not changed much. 



