£4 The Comet. 



For the first 13 days, that is, from December 22d 1823 to 

 January 4th 1S24, it's motion under die fixed stars was at 

 the rate of 1° 31' per day. From the 4th to the 12th of 

 January its daily motion was 1° 58'; and from the morning 

 of the 12th, to the evening of the 23d of January, its velocity 

 through the heavens increased to 2° 36" per day. These cer- 

 tainly are great inequalities. Its present motion is hvice as 

 great as when it was at its perihelium, and its nucleus gets 

 larger and its tail longer as it recedes from the sun, which are 

 anomalies not easily to be accounted for ; as they do not seem 

 to arise from any inclination the comet has towards the earth, 

 because it is approaching its aphelium. 



The speed of this comet outstrips all that have been ob- 

 served here for many years past, not excepting that of the 

 brilliant comet in the autumn of 1811. 



It now being a circumpolar object, at least in this latitude, 

 it may therefore be seen soon after sunset, and throughout 

 the night in clear weather. 



It is now (January 26th) in the tail of Draco, between the 

 head of Ursa Minor and the tail of Ursa Major, and by the 

 end of the month it will be at or near the last star in the tail 

 of Draco, and about 21° under Polaris, in the evening. 



From the preceding remarks I have found that it must have 

 crossed the Equinoctial about the 22d of December 1823, 

 when its distance from the sun was about 27^ degrees, which 

 may be considered as its perihelion point. Wm.Buhxey. 



Ilichbonny, Jan. 13, 1824. 

 The comet a few days hence will be within the circle of 

 perpetual apparition, and will be continually above the hori- 

 zon, and so never set. At present it rises between the N.N.E. 

 and N. by E. about 15 minutes past 10 at night, and comes 

 to the meridian about 45 minutes past 8 in the morning, and 

 sets between the N.N.W. and N. by W. at 35 minutes past 

 seven at night. Its correct distance was, on the 10th January, 

 1 7 hours 30 minutes mean time ; from Arcturus 32 deg. 48 

 min. 16 sec; from Lyra, 26 deg. 38 min. ; and from Rasal- 

 hagus, 22 deg. 50 min. The earth travels nearly at the rate 

 of one million and a half of miles per day in its annual course 

 round the sun, and the earth's mean daily motion is nearly 59 

 minutes and eight seconds; but the daily motion of this comet 

 at present is 112 minutes, which is nearly double that of the 

 earth round the sun. About six o'clock in the morning the 

 planet Venus will be seen on the south-east, and the planet 

 Mars a little past the meridian, and nearly in conjunction 



with 



