another one has presented itself, namely the Comet of 1887 (i.), whose elements also bear a strong resemblance to those of the 3 comets just mentioned. The suggestion has been made that these 4 comets, all of them large ones (and perhaps another also), had a common origin, but that by some process of disintegration the original mass yielded 4 or more fragments which, pursuing paths only slightly different, have arrived at perihelion at different epochs. It will be seen at once that this is a very speculative question.[1]
| Fig. 87. | Fig. 88. |
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| Oct. 13. (Holden.) | Oct. 17. (Holden.) |
THE COMPOUND NUCLEUS OF THE GREAT COMET OF 1882.
The Comet of 1887 was seen only in the Southern hemisphere. It seems to have been first seen in South Africa by a "farmer and fisherman" at Blauwberg near Cape Town on Jan. 18. Finlay, who first saw it on Jan. 22, describes it as "a pale, narrow ribbon of light, quite straight, and of nearly uniform brightness throughout its length. There was no head or condensation of any kind visible near the end, the light simply fading away to nothing". The tail was described by Todd, at Adelaide, Australia, as a "narrow nebulous streak"; but the remarkable thing is that the tail was as much as 30° or more long, according to several observers. To both Finlay and Todd this comet recalled the great Southern Comet of
- ↑ Month. Not., vol. xliii, p. 108, Feb. 1883; ibid., vol. xlviii, p. 199, Feb. 1888. For various drawings of the Comet of 1882 see Ast. Nach., vol. civ, No. 2489, Feb. 5, 1883 (Barnard); vol. cvi, No. 2535, Aug. 31, 1883 (Hartwig); vol. cvii, No. 2550, Oct. 31, 1883 (Peters); Month. Not., vol. xliii, p. 288, March, 1883 (Brett).
