Abstract
COMETS OF SHORT PERIOD.—Faye's comet was detected by Mr. Common at Ealing, with his large reflector, on August 2, in the position given by Dr. Axel Möller's ephemeris. The theoretical intensity of light at this date was 0.078, which rather exceeds that at the first and last observations at the appearance in 1850–51. The comet was very small and extremely faint when the sky was not quite black. The perihelion passage does, not take place until January 22, 1881, but although long visible, the faintness of the comet will prevent its being well observed at any time with ordinary telescopes. Since its last appearance in 1873, when only four observations were secured, the effect of perturbation has been to lengthen the period 56.5 days, and to retard the arrival at perihelion by 38 days, the main part of this perturbation having been produced by Jupiter in 1875.
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Our Astronomical Column . Nature 22, 347–348 (1880). https://doi.org/10.1038/022347a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/022347a0