Abstract
DR. R. D‘E. ATKINSON, who led the Royal Observatory eclipse expedition, cabled confirmation of a bright comet seen in the southern sky early in November. During the eclipse on November 1 a photograph showed that the comet was 1° 33' from the centre of the sun, and it was then very bright with a tail. It has been seen in different parts of the southern hemisphere since then. Its brightness has been estimated as mag. 2. Its daily motion is approximately - 8.lm. in R.A. and -51' in declination. It is doubtful whether it will be seen from the British Isles. The latest description from the Cape Observatory states that the object is diffuse with central condensation or nucleus, and that the tail exceeds 1° in length; hence some of the Press reports about the length of the tail were probably exaggerated.
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Comet 1948 1. Nature 162, 809 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/162809e0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/162809e0