Page:The story of the comets.djvu/122

82 6⋅3 years was assigned to it. It was expected to return in April 1898, but was not seen, the position in the heavens being unfavourable; nor was it seen in 1905, when again expected to have been in perihelion.

Whilst searching for Zona's Comet, which had been discovered at Palermo on Nov. 15, 1890, Spitaler of Vienna detected a faint nebulous object near the reported place of Zona's Comet. This turned out to be a new comet, and though the observations were somewhat limited the ellipticity of its orbit was quite free from doubt, and a period of about 6 years or less was assigned to it. It was thought that the comet had only recently entered the Solar System, because in 1887 at its descending node it approached so closely to Jupiter that its orbit must have been seriously affected. The comet was calculated to be due to appear again in March 1897, but it escaped detection, and as the same thing happened in 1903 it must be regarded, at any rate for the present, as lost.

On Dec. 8, 1896, Perrine at the Lick Observatory discovered a small comet which was found to be moving in an elliptic orbit with a period of 6⋅44 years. It should have returned in 1903 and have passed through perihelion in April, and perhaps did so, but it escaped notice. This was, however, not to be wondered at, because not only was it near the Sun, but its estimated brightness was only th of what it was when the comet was seen for the last time in 1897.

On Aug. 26, 1906, Kopff at Heidelberg discovered a small comet which was found to be revolving in an elliptic orbit with a period of about 6 years.