Abstract
ENCKE'S COMET.—Encke's comet, which has been observed at every perihelion passage since 1819, has once more been detected, the discoverer being Prof. Schorr, at Bergedorf, Hamburg. The position on December 30 at 5h. 27m. G.M.T. was R.A. 22h. 59m. 4-933., N. declination 3° 17′ 35″. The comet was of the 15th magnitude, but should brighten considerably in the next few weeks. The observed R.A. was smaller than the tabular by 45., the declination smaller by 40″. These small residuals indicate that Mr. Viljev's calculated time of perihelion passage 1918 March 24-3 G.M.T. is not much in error, perhaps about 0-2d. too late. This adds certainty to Mr. Viljev's conclusion that the object observed in September and November, 1916, was not the comet. An ephemeris was given in NATURE of December 27.
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Our Astronomical Column . Nature 100, 372–373 (1918). https://doi.org/10.1038/100372a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/100372a0