Astronomy. 135 
» 2. Miss Mitchell’s Comet, found Oct. 1.—The comet discovered on 
the night of Oct. 1, 1847, by Miss Maria Mitchell at Nantucket, Mass., 
was detected on the 3d of that month by the astronomers of the Observ- 
atory at Rome,—on the 7th by Rev. W. R. Dawes at Cranbrook, Eng., 
—on the 8th by M. Colla, at Parma,—and on the 11th by Madam 
Rimker, at Hamburg. Miss Mitchell is therefore the earliest observer 
of this body, and is moreover the first American entitled to the honor 
of the original discovery of a comet. A communication on the subject 
will be found at p. 83 of this number. 
3. Schweizer’s Comet, found Aug. 31, (Astr. Nach., No. 612.)— 
M. Scuweizer, ubserver at Moscow, discovered on the evening of Aug. 
¥ 31, 1847, a faint telescopic comet not far from ¢ Cassiopeia, its posi- 
. tion being about R. A. 30° and N. decl. 653°. The following para- 
bolic elements were computed by Dr. Petersen, from the Altona ob- 
. servations of Sept. 11, 13, 15. 
by Perihelion passage, (Berl. m. t.) 1847, Aug. 8-18973. 
Pa ; perihelion, § ‘ 22° 10’ 248 } App. eqx. 
Long. of 
Dae A PRS WOMSS: Gi : 75 58 24 ‘7 § Sept. 13. 
Inclination, . : : : 82: 41:24 5 
Log. perihelion dist., 0-169672 
Motion, ; ; : ‘ direct. 
4. Elements of the Planet Iris.—M. Yvon Vittarckav communica- 
ted to the French Acad. of Sciences, Oct. 18, the following corrected 
elements of the planet Iris, which was discovered by Mr. ind, Aug. 
h. 
_ Mean long. 1847, Aug. 13-0. Par. m. t., 334° 12/353) 
; ne Saag 41 Aug 
4ong. of perihelion, 56 20 - ir 
“asc. node, : : : 259 53 14-0 
5 28 51-4 
g- semi-axis major, . : ‘ .  0°3758769 
Excentricity,  . . 02268410 
- Period in sidereal years, Sey ee 4B 
5. The New Planet Flora.—Mr. J. R. Hin of Mr. Bishop’s Observa- 
tory, London, discovered on the 18th October, 1847, another planet be- 
Onging to the group between Mars and Jupiter. It was not far from the 
star 15 Orionis, and appeared like a star of the ninth magnitude, with a 
bluish light. By measures from a star Bessel v, 48, Mr. Hind obtained 
the following positions of the new planet. ve Ad aa 
1847, Oct. 18, 11) 40™ 4° Gr. m.t, 5¢30 40°11 14° 3) 354 
= 15 410 ee 26-2 
a 52 4 E85 “S 
6. Sateitite of the Planet Neptune.—Mr. Lassett, of Liverpool, in 
. letter dated Sept. 20, 1847, to the Editor of the London Times, states 
that he finds the period of the satellite of Neptune to be 5 days, 20 
e hours, 50 minutes, 45 seconds,—which he thinks cannot be more than 
_ & few minutes in error. The projected orbit is @ narrow ellipse, with 
* See this Journal, ii ser., vol. iv, p- 425- 
