The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-02 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—Tho comet, of which I see some accounts
in the Times of this morning, appeared to me equal
in size to the planet Jupiter, with a tail very bill-
liant, for at least 20 degrees, traceable for as many
more, nearly up to the Pole star. On account of
the great breadth of the tail near the nucleus, and
unusually large dark space in the middle, it had
the appearance of being double, and the western
part seemed to end abruptly at about 10 degrees
from the body of the comet.

If the tail of the present comet is fainter, it is
much broader towards the nucleus, and even longer
than that of Donati's comet. In the apparent mag-
nitude and brilliancy of its nucleus it is much
superior to the latter ; and, considering the com-
paratively unfavourable circumstances under which
it is seen, in the light of the moon and in the
northern twilight of summer, it must be thought a
much more striking object than the great comet of
1858.—1 remain, Sir, your obedient servant,

JOHN BIRMINGHAM.
Cecil-street, Strand, Ist July.

The following letters appear in the Times :
Sir,—I beg to inform you that I saw an enormous
comet this evening in the border of Lynx. When
*
first seen, which was at 7h. 49m. G.M.T , it was
not only daylight, but the sun was shining. There
were then no signs of a tail, the appearance being
that of Jupiter in a fog, only much larger. At
9 o'clock the tail was visible, and by half-past 10 it
could be traced to the altitude of Polaris—i.e., 45
deg. in length ; and at the widest part three times
that of the diameter of the moon ; the nucleus being
twice the apparent size of Saturn. The tail was
nearly perpendicular, but passing slightly west of
Polaris, and varying in brightness.
From a very rough estimate (without measure-
ment) the 11. A. was 6h. 26m., and the N. D. 43
deg.—l have the honour to be, sir, your obedient
servant, E. J. LOWE.
Observatory, Beeston, June 30.

Sir,—l hpg to send you a few particulars of the
fine comet which was visible last night, as observed
here with Mr. Gurney Barclay's refracting tele-
scope, of 13 feet focal length and 10 inches aper-
ture, armed with a power of 105.
At 1.15 a.m., mean time, the head of the comet
presented the singular appearance of three distinct
parabolic envelopes, of which the innermost was
much the brightest ; a space devoid of luminosity
separated the innermost from the middle envelope,
excepting at the apex, and a similar belt intervened
between the middle and outer, but on the left side
only. The nucleus itself was situated on the appa-
rent right of the innermost envelope, and was equal
in brightness to a star of the second magnitude.
Notwithstar ding the moonlight and approaching
dawn the tail extended through a space of nearly
70 deg., reaching Draconis, or twice the length of
that of Donati's comet when at its maximum; it
was inclined at an angle of about 40 degrees to a
line drawn through the vertices of the parabolic
envelopes of the head. Shortly before 3 a.m. the
comet was hidden in a bed of cirrus cloud.

Measurements of the position of the comet gave
the following results, which are not corrected for
refraction :

H. m. H. m. s. D. m. s.
At 20 4 Sidereal time R.A. =641 54 Deel.= +47 40 50
„ 20 50 ------ 646 21 „ =+ 48 0 0
„ 21 20 647 13 „ =+4B 13 6
At 20 27, barometer corrected = 30.146 ; at-
tached thermometer, 58.5 deg; external tempera-
ture, 51.5 deg.
At 21 20, barometer corrected = 30.160 ; at-
tached thermometer, 53.8 deg.; external tempera-
ture, 49.0 deg.-1 am, sir, obediently yours,
H. S. EATON.
Observatory, Knott's-green, Leyton, Essex.

Sir,—We have been favoured this evening with
several views of the comet through fine clouds.
A clear break, however, at 12h, 25m. G.M.T.,
revealed the fact that its brilliancy has decidedly
increased, the nucleus being much condensed ; and
it is still moving in the direction indicated in Mr.
Hodgson's observations already published.

We have reason to believe that this is not a re-
turn of the comet of 1556.—We are, sir, yours
obediently,
THOMAS CRUMPLEN, 1, Harvey's-buildings,.
Strand, W.C:

J. TOWNSEND, Theobald's-road.
Monday Night, 12h. 35m.

CONSERVATIVE LAND SOCIETY.