Abstract
COMET 1899 a (SWIFT).—This comet, after passing perihelion, showed such a definite increase of brightness and other evidence of internal action, that its progress was closely watched at several observatories (Astronomical Journal, No. 464, vol. xx. pp. 60–61). Prof. E. E. Barnard, observing it on May 20 and several succeeding occasions, with the 40-inch refractor of the Yerkes Observatory, found the head of the comet to be distinctly double, the smaller component being south preceding with reference to the main body. From successive measures it was found that the position angle was gradually decreasing, while the distance between the two nuclei was increasing from 28″˙84 on the 20th to 38″˙16 on the 23rd. Though no tail was visible to the eye, a photograph obtained on May 18 showed a slender tail 6° or 8° long.
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Our Astronomical Column. Nature 60, 231–232 (1899). https://doi.org/10.1038/060231a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/060231a0