ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA AND PEOGEESS. 



37 



March 17th. Its elements, according to Dr. H. 

 Oppenheim, are as follows: 



Perihelion passage 1S82, June 10, Berlin M. T. 



Longitude of perihelion 53 55' 25" j \r o 



Longitude of ascending node.. .204 54 54 [ M ? 



Inclination ? 73 47 29 f 1 



Perihelion distance 5,600,000 miles. 



Motion Direct. 



These elements have no decided resemblance 

 to those of any other known comet. Spectro- 

 scopic examinations by Drs. Vogle, Huggins, 

 Lohse, and others, gave evidence of a peculiar 

 chemical constitution. In the " Astronomische 

 Nachrichten," No. 2,434, Dr. Vogle remarks 

 that " since 1864, when Huggins first analyzed 

 the light of a comet, about twelve comets have 

 been spectroscopically examined. The spectra 

 of all these showed, in addition to a more or 

 less distinct continuous spectrum, three sepa- 

 rate streaks diffused on one side, and situated 

 correspondingly to those in the spectra of the 

 compounds of carbon. The completely different 

 constitution of the present comet, the proper 

 light of which appears principally to proceed 

 from incandescent vapor of sodium, places it 

 among the most interesting subjects of obser- 

 vation in the new department of spectrum 

 analysis that have yet been examined." This 

 result, however, need not seem surprising, since 

 the spectroscopic analysis of the meteors of dif- 

 ferent streams has indicated 

 a difference in their chemical 

 composition. 



The second comet of 1882 

 was observed very near the 

 sun during the total solar 

 eclipse of May 17th. It was 

 seen by Messrs. Lockyer, Tac- 

 chini, Thollon, TrSpied, and 

 possibly others. Its bright- 

 ness appeared to M. Tr6pied 

 of the same order as that of 

 the exterior parts of the co- 

 rona. For several days after 

 the eclipse this observer con- 

 tinued his search for the com- 

 et, both after sunset and be- 

 fore sunrise, but without suc- 

 cess. If periodic, however, the fact may be 

 determined by future observations, and the 

 comet identified by tracing back its movement 

 to the position when seen in 1882. Three pho- 

 tographs of the corona were taken during the 

 totality of the eclipse. The comet is found in 

 each of these pictures, and an exact compari- 



tember 17th, at ten o'clock A. M. It was seen, 

 very generally, close to the sun, by the aston- 

 ished inhabitants of the village ; and so great 

 was its brilliancy that its motion could be ob- 

 served through thin passing clouds. On ex- 

 amining it by the aid of an opera-glass with 

 colored lenses, the tail was distinctly visible. 

 The distance of the nucleus from the sun when 

 first noticed was about 1 30'. In England it 

 was first seen by Mr. Ainslie Common, at Bal- 

 ing, at 10 h - 45 m - Mr. Common happened to be 

 observing the sun, when to his surprise he 

 found a bright comet close to its margin, and 

 apparently approaching it with great rapidity. 

 On Monday, September 18th, it was seen in 

 bright sunlight by many observers both in Eu- 

 rope and America. In the clear mountain air 

 of Colorado and Arizona it could be followed 

 without a telescope for several days after its 

 discovery. Its nearest approach to the sun 

 occurred on Sunday, September 17th, when its 

 distance from the surface, according to Dr. 

 Hind, was only 300,000 miles. This was the 

 distance of its nucleus or center of gravity, and, 

 as its envelope or coma was of considerable 

 extent, the latter doubtless grazed the solar 

 atmosphere. The comet's velocity in perihelion 

 was 370 miles per second, or nearly twenty 

 times that of the earth in its orbit. Consider- 



THB COMET AS SEEN BY THE EYE AT NEW YORK. 



able perturbation of the comet's motion during 

 its perihelion passage would therefore be high- 

 ly probable, and accordingly such disturbance 

 was indicated by observation. In " Nature," 

 for October 12th, it is said that 



At the moment when Mr. Gill observed the comet 

 upon the sun's limb, when the distance from the sun's 



son shows its distance from the sun to have center was consequently 16-0', the orbit gives the 

 been increasing. In other words, the comet central distance as 10-9', or the comet projected upon 

 i-> T ., " .1 T the sun's disk. Considering that Mr. Gill's observa- 



tion was made less than one day previous to the ac- 

 cordant meridian observations at Dun Echt and Coim- 

 bra, it is not easv to see how such difference could 



had passed its perihelion. 



The third comet of 1882 was discovered at 

 Cordoba, South America, by Dr. B. A. Gould, 

 on the night of September 6th. It was de- 

 tected independently by Mr. Finlay, of the 

 Eoyal Observatory, at the Cape of Good Hope, 

 on the morning of the 8th, and four days later 

 by Dr. Cruls, of Eio de Janeiro. In the north- 

 ern hemisphere it was first seen at Eeus, Spain, 

 by M. Jaime Pedro y Ferrier, on Sunday, Sep- 



arise from error of elements, which represent the 

 middle position employed in their determination 

 within a minute of arc. 



Mr. Gill, in his account of the observations 

 of September 17th, makes the interesting re- 

 mark that the comet was followed by two ob- 

 servers with different telescopes entirely to the 



