Abstract
THE well-known comet- and nebula-finder of the observatory of Arcetri, Tempel, has just made an observation of great interest in reference to his Comet No. II. of 1873, which, as astronomers know, has an orbit between Earth and Jupiter. It has no tail, but a nebular surrounding, which Tempel observed to be gradually diminishing in luminousness without losing bulk, and finally has entirely disappeared, leaving the comet perfectly distinct, but with a slight scintillation or rather an appearance of being composed of several masses having motion in the rest of the nucleus; probably an optical effect due to our own atmosphere, but which is at all events seen quite distinctly enough to make it certain that the disappearance of the nebulous, surrounding is not due to failure of the telescope to show it.
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STILLMAN, W. Tempel's Comet. Nature 19, 217 (1879). https://doi.org/10.1038/019217c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/019217c0
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