GOMET APPEARS

Evening Post, Issue 30, 4 August 1936, Page 10

GOMET APPEARS

VISIBLE TO NAKED EYE

MAY GROW BRIGHTER

A recently discovered comet has now reached a point in the heavens which makes it visible in the Southern Hemisphere, and it distinctly surprised local astronomers who observed it last night by being much brighter than was anticipated. They were searching for a telescopic object, but the comet was found to be easily visible with the aid of a pair of ordinary binoculars, and were it not for the brightness of the moon at the present time it could be comparatively easily seen with the naked eye. Possibly during the next two or three nights or so it will be brighter still, but .unfortunately it is likely to become much more cloudy during the next few days, and if that happens there will, be no seeing the comet either with, the 'naked eye or with a telescope.

The comet as observed last night by Mr. I. L. Thomsen, of the Dominion Observatory, had a bright nucleus and was surrounded by cometary haze. At 10.30 p.m. its position was calculated by Mr. Thomsen to be Right Ascension 21 hours 45 minutes, and its Declination one degree North. To the astrono»mer that means a lot: to the layman it may convey nothing, but to describe the comet's position is not easy. It is in the constellation of Aquarius, to the south-east of the star Altair. According to. previous calculations the comet was expected to have a magnitude of about 3.5, but Mr. Thomsen found it to be very much brighter than that, with a magnitude probably between 2 and 2.5. ;'

Its rapid movement through the heavens is something amazing. When observed through a telescope, the comet can be seen to have moved perceptibly in the short space of three minutes. If one is lucky enough to pick it up with the naked eye, it will be seen to move its position quite perceptibly in an hour. It is believed that this comet, which is distant from the earth between 15 and 16 million miles, will increase in brightness during the next night or two and that thereafter it will gradually grow familiar as it careers through space. But, as pointed out above, the moon's brightness prevents it being very conspicuous. This comet was discovered on May 15 by a Mr. L. C. Peltier, who is an amateur astronomer of considerable repute living in the United States. Up till now it has been visible only in the Northern Hemisphere, and only as a comparatively faint object. From now onwards, however, astronomers in this part of the world will be following its course with much interest, provided the clouds allow observations to be taken, but in about a fortnight the comet will probably have disappeared again. .