228 Astronomical Society. 



Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 

 November Sih, 1828. 



" The comet was, I believe, seen, for the first time at this place, 

 last night. You probably, with your powerful telescope, may al- 

 ready have seen it. Should that not be the case, you will be glad to 

 hear of its appearance. Mr. Richardson first perceived it with a 30- 

 inch telescope, of large aperture, applied to the western equatorial." 

 Nov. 4th. /.fl22"47'"49% 



Meantime, 11" 13'" 22^ | D 23° 39' 27" N. 



Lastly', There was read the following communication from James 

 South, Esq. : — 



" Thursday Evening, October 30th. — Right ascension, 23'' 13™; 

 declin. -j- 25° 43'; a luminous patch in the field of the transit in- 

 strument, but so extremely faint, as to be invisible, unless the eye 

 be directed to another part of the field. The five-feet equatorial 

 exhibits it with difficulty ; but the night is hazy. Its place accords 

 so closely with the calculated place of Encke's comet, and its ap- 

 pearance so reminds me of that which Encke's comet put on, when 

 I first detected it at Passy, in the summer of 1825, that I consider 

 it no other than that body. I communicated my sentiments the 

 following morning to Mr. Troughton, and (as I believe) toMr.Baily 

 also. 



" Monday, November 3rd. — Directed the equatorial to R.A. 

 23'' 13"' ; declin. •\-25° 43' ; but the nebulous spot seen on the 30th 

 cannot be perceived. The night, however, is perhaps a little hazy. 

 About half an hour subsequent to this, the sky became beautifully 

 clear ; and on placing the equatorial on the spot which Encke's 

 comet should occupy, according to his ephemeris, a nebulous spot 

 was seen exactly in the centre of the field, of the same figure as 

 that perceived on the 30th. It was, however, now so distinct, as 

 to be seen by Captain Beaufort and myself without difficulty. Lord 

 Ashley, Mr. Baiiy, and Professor Moll, were present at the time. 

 Clouds, however, suddenly supervened, which prevented its meri- 

 dian passage being observed: nor was it visible during the more 

 advanced period of the night. 



" Tuesday, November 4th. — Right ascension, 22'' 49""; declin. 

 -1- 23° 48'; three stars seen in the field of the equatorial, two of 

 them forming a double star of the 6th class, of the 9 and 9^ mag- 

 nitudes (we will call them A and B), angle of position, about 70° 

 south following : distant, and at an angle of 20° or 30°, with the 

 larger of the two first-mentioned stars, is another star of the 10th 

 magnitude, which we will denominate C. About a minute north of 

 A, and nearly in a line with its companion B, and preceding A three 

 seconds of time, is a faint nebulous spot. The equatorial was now 

 placed at R.A. 23" 13'"; declin. -f 25° 43' ; and at R.A. 22" 53-" ; 

 declin. -j- 24° 14' ; but no nebula can be detected in either place, 

 although the night is remarkably fine. By the transit instrument, 

 the right ascension of the presumed comet was 22'' 48"' 50^ At 

 1'' 15'" sidereal time, it had materially altered its position relatively 

 to the neighbouring stars, being considerably to the south of the 



star 



