Year: 1861

The STRANGE COMET.-A comet which was yisi.
Ole mere on Tuesday morning, before day, and OBJ
served by several citizens. same of whom mistook
1t Tor military signal, is thus described in the
Washington Star


After the severe rain storm of last evening a
heaVy oank OF clouds covered the northeastern sky
till about III O'Clock. About this time some qen
tlemen OF the United States Coast Survey, engaged
at the Once saw what they supposed to be bright
auroral beam shooting up towards the zenith from
behind the dark masses of cloud but bevond q re-
marx as tn the unusual occurrence of the phenom-
at this season, it attracted then but little atten
tion. just before l O'Clock, the clouds HAVING
disappeared, the broad beam of light proved to he
the tail OF comet of extraordinary brillisncy the
nucleus OF which was larger than, and very nearly
as bright as, star OF the first magnitude while
the tail stretched over an arc of at least eighty
degrees, sweeping upwards from an altitude Of six
or eight degrees above the horizon to the milky
way. In general appearance this comet reminded
the observers of the great comet of 1853 but the
suddenness of its approach, and enormous length
OF taii when hrSt seen, are perhaps unparalleled


Editor Sdr:-l watched the comet between half
past one and halt past two, A. M, July 2. 1861; its
head appeared to be near the boundary OF the con-
stellations Lynx and Ursa Major, not far from the
mead OF the latter. About quarter before two
the head appeared about 70 above the northern
horZ N, lew degrees to the east of the mhriiiap:
the tau extended in straightline through the con-
stellsrions Urse Minoris and Hercules, and nearly
reached the milky way, passing )me distance be-
low Vega. The total extent could not have been
less than $50, and its average width was nearly so
In orillAncy the nucleus as well the tall seemed
somewhat inferior to that of the great G. met of
1858. The nucleus very conspicuous on ac
count OF its large apparent size, though hardly an
preaching In Intensity of light star of the second
magnitude It's eastern limb better defined
than the opposite one. Within the envelope of the
nucleus streamers appeared, and it seemed to be
the centre OF short pulsations extending in waves
along the tail. The head was of blueish and vel
which mlUht hav haan h.
Its proximity to the horizon. The shape of the
head was round and much less pointed than that of
the comet of 1858, -


There seemed to be an outer envelopa over the
nucleus, which. extending to ab ut lSo rendered
that part OF the tail conspicuous, with
brightness much greater than that of the milky
way. AT this limit there a sudden diminutiop
In the brightness; beyond it, the fainter illumipa
tlnn seemed uniform. No central brighter streak
OF hght along its axis, nor any darker space behind
the nucleus could be made out. The general out


line was nearly equally well defined for some dis
tance near the brighter portion of the tail; further
on, the lower outline appeared as diffused light
Inc brighter part, Of rather bushy appearance
was about 60 in its greatest width; and near the
mead Its breadth WAS near 1912. The outline of
the tail, at first sight, seemed perfectly straight
yet there was slight curvature concave to the
pole about 25o from the nucleus; the end OF the
tan again slightly turned in the opposite d ecton;
tue upper outline when first seen, seemed lust to
pass over the two bright stars beta and gamma Ursse
MINORS; later, the upper edge appeared little
below


1t is possible that this comet is the one long
looked Tor by astronomers, known al that of
Charles " Its orbit and possible identity with anv
previous comet will no doubt be soon established


Washington, d. C. GAS


The comet was distinctly visible in the heavens
last night. 1t passed over the city in a northeast
ery direction, and in the forepart of the night was
very brilliant, although the tail did not appear to
be anything like as long the night previous.