Abstract
I THINK there must have been some mistake about Major J. Herschel's observation, as recorded in NATURE, vol. xxvii. p. 5. As other observers have shown, the comet appears quite bright in moonlight. On the morning following his observation I was perhaps as much astonished as he was, only in the opposite direction; for I was very much surprised to find then (the 31st ult., at 5 a.m.), that the tail was longer than on any other occasion when I have seen it, viz. 33°. The following observations will also show the brightness of the comet in moonlight and twilight. On the 26th, at 5.25 a.m., nine hours before full moon, and in brightish tiwilight, the tail was visible through fog and thin cloud to a distance of 13½°. On the 29th, at 5.37 a.m., it was fully 23° long. This morning, at 6.9 a.m., in bright twilight, it was very faint, but still above 18° long. I think Major Herschel cannot have looked low enough down, or his view must have been otherwise obstructed.
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BACKHOUSE, T. The Comet. Nature 27, 52 (1882). https://doi.org/10.1038/027052b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/027052b0
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