A New Comet.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19178, 8 December 1927, Page 8

A New Comet.

It is a proof of the advance of science that the appearance of an uncharted comet in the south-western skies just above Addington has occasioned nothing more than a mild curiosity as to its identity. Whereas a few hundred years ago our ancestors used to pray fervently for deliverance " from "the devil, the Turk, and the comet," no one is now alarmed but the uncertain few who may be if it is not a "visitation" to warn us of the sin of throwing out the Licensing Bill. The experience of a few months ago, when Pons-Winnecke actually grazed us with its tail, has no doubt increased our confidence in the stability of the universe even when a piece of the firmament seems to have got out of control. It is worth pointing out, also, that the visitation has one especially gratifying feature: it occurred quite without the knowledge or approval of the astronomers, who have in the past not merely forewarned us of eclipses, comets, and other celestial phenomena, but done it all with an accuracy and a confidence that made us wonder if they had a hstnd in arranging things. The unexpectedness of this new arrival shows that astronomers are mere men

like the rest of us; indeed our astronomical correspondent reminds us that the newcomer has still to be named. But if they have been caught napping, we hope that the astronomers will show a little more enterprise in christening the stranger than they have shown in the case of some others. Comets after all have some beauty, and it is hard that they should have to go through life with names like "Tuttle," or " Brorsen," or " Encke."