72. Erste Entdeckung des Kometen von 1821 in Deutschland. 
369 
short period of revolution. From the observations made at Marseilles 
in June only, Professor Encke found, as you may already learned from 
the Berlin Almanac of 1822, or from Zach’s Correspondence, that the 
orbit was in all probability very remarkably elliptic. The observations 
made at Milan in July, published in the Ephemeris for 1820, have 
now established this fact beyond all doubt. — Professor Encke’s ele 
ments are these: 
Passage of the përihelium 1819 July 18,930 02 M. T. at Seeberg. 
Longitude of the SI . . 
Long, of the Perihelium . 
Inclination 
Eccentricity 
Logar. of the M. distance 
Period 
= 113° 10' 45,8"lFrom the mean equinox 
= 274° 40' 51,2"j 1 th July 1819. 
= 10° 42' 47,6" 
= . 75 519 035 
= . 49 970 96 
= 2051.93 days or 5 yrs. 7 months. 
By means of these elements the whole of the observations, which 
Carlini found irreconcilable with any parabola, are represented with 
wonderful accuracy. Even a difference of half a year more or less in 
the period introduces very improbable errors into the observations. 
A greater degree of accuracy is scarcely to be expected, since we have, 
unfortunately, been able to find no evidence of an earlier appearance 
of this comet. One is, howewer, involuntarily reminded by it of the 
comet of 1770, which may, perhaps, have had the elements of its orbit 
very materially altered by the effect of the attraction of Jupiter. 
72. Erste Entdeckung des Kometen yoh 1821 in Deutschland. 
Aus einem Schreiben vom 31. Januar 1821. 
[Astronomisches Jahrhuch für 1824, S. 99—100.] 
Ich eile Ihnen anzuzeigen, dass ich gestern Abend einen Kometen 
im Pegasus wahrgenommen habe. 
Nach lange anhaltendem trüben und nebligen Wetter klärte sich 
der Himmel am 29. endlich auf. Aber es war in den früheren xYbend- 
stunden doch nicht recht heiter, die kleineren Sterne blieben im Kometen 
sucher unsichtbar, und ich konnte unter anderen Variabilis Cygni gar 
nicht sehen, der sich doch schon vor 14 Tagen gezeigt hatte. Ich be 
trachtete auch y Pegasi und seine Umgebungen, weil ich dort (am 
27. September 1820 zuerst) einen auf Harding’s Karten fehlenden Stern 
24 
Olbers I