Abstract
COMET e 1894 (SWIFT).—The general resemblance of the orbit of this comet to that of De Vico's, 1844 I, was noticed very soon after its first appearance (NATURE, vol. li, pp. 132, 160). Mr. Barnard was, fortunately, able to determine the place of the comet on five nights at the end of January, when it was “most excessively faint and difficult, about 10″to 15″in diameter,"as seen with the 36-inch refractor. These observations have enabled Dr. Chandler to revise the elements of the orbit, and to undertake a discussion of the possible identity with the comet of 1844 (Astronomical Journal, No. 338). Dr. Chandler points out that in view of the numerous close family resemblances among the periodic comets, we can distinguish between similarity or identity in the present case only by actual calculation of the principal planetary perturbations. He has accordingly calculated the perturbations, and he finds that “both in direction and approximate amount these changes are uniformly of the character required to reconcile the differences between the observed orbits of the comets 1844 I and e 1894.” Some of the results are shown in the following table, the elements for the 1844 comet being those of Briinnow:—
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Our Astronomical Column. Nature 51, 542–543 (1895). https://doi.org/10.1038/051542a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/051542a0