Abstract
NEW ELEMENTS FOR HALLEY'S COMET.—In a note appearing in No. 419 of the Observatory (February, p. 104), a set of elements for Halley's comet, deduced by Mr. C. J. Merfield from the observations made since the re-discovery of the comet in September last, is compared with the elements predicted for this return, as follows:—time of perihelion passage, April 19.6394 (G.M.T.), ω=110° 43′ 24″ (= predicted + 68″), Ω =57° 15′ 56″ (= predicted-16″), i= 162° 12′ 34″ (= predicted −8″), e = 0.967300 (= predicted + o.oooo19″), and μ = 46.6723″ (= predicted+ 0.003″). From these elements Mr. Crommelin has calculated the conditions for the comet's transit over the sun, and finds that the first contact should take place on May 18d. 14h. 22m. (G.M.T.) in position angle 264°. Thirty minutes later the centres of the two bodies will be at their least separation, the comet being 62″ south. Last contact should occur at 15h. 22m., in position angle 92°, and the horizontal parallax of the comet will be 54.4″, or 45.7″ relative to the sun. The transit will be visible in Australia, the Pacific, and Asia, and it is sincerely to be hoped that careful and comprehensive observations will be made, for they may provide useful additions to our knowledge concerning the constitution of the denser portions of the comet.
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Our Astronomical Column . Nature 82, 440 (1910). https://doi.org/10.1038/082440a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/082440a0