ASTRONOMICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY. 



51 



photographic observatory of the Royal Ob- It has been suggested that there were three 



servatory at the Cape of Good Hope. He no- 

 ticed with the naked eye a suspicious object, 

 which, on investigation with the opera-glass, 



tails. In May the appearance of the comet 

 was said to be similar to that of Encke's comet 

 (Dec. 2, 1871), as drawn by Prof. Hall. A 



proved to be a comet. The observations of sudden increase in brightness is reported to 

 various observers show that the comet was have occurred about May 23. The spectrum 

 well defined, the tail being distinctly visible to obtained was faint, but fairly broad, continu- 



LICK OBSERVATORY PIER OP THE GREAT TELESCOPE. 

 Mr. Lick's tomb is in the base of the pier. 



the naked eye, and estimated in April to be 

 nearly 5 in length. The nucleus was seen 

 elongated by many ; others report a complete 

 separation into two portions. The duplicity 

 of the nucleus was confirmed by observations 

 made by Barnard, at Lick Observatory. The 

 separation of the two portions was estimated 

 by C. B. Hill to be about equal to 3" of arc. 

 Observers report the tail very bright along the 

 central axis, and much fainter on either side. 



ous, and crossed by three faint bands, cor- 

 responding to the well-known carbon-bands 

 characteristic of cometary spectra in general. 



Comet II is the twenty-fifth reappearance 

 of the Encke comet, the period of which is 3'3 

 years. It was detected on the evening of July 

 8, by John Tebbutt, at Windsor, New South 

 Wales. Its position had been predicted by 

 Drs. Backlund and Seraphimoff, and it was 

 found almost exactly in the place assigned. 



