Ì ); 
I 
I № 1 
hum 
ill 
362 
Kometen. 
far to the south to be seen by European observers. But in the south 
ern hemisphere it will be beautifully conspicuous; and at the end 
of June, when its latitude will be 77° south, its light will be more 
than 26 times as strong as when it was discovered by Pons, on the 
26 th November 1818. It is therefore greatly to be desired that this 
comet should be watched and properly observed in the southern pos 
sessions of Great Britain, in particular at the Cape or at Botany Bay. 
For this purpose, the ephemeris of its motion should be sent out in good 
time, with proper instructions for its employment, and an astronomer should 
be found who might be capable of making the necessary observations. 
For this, and. for many other reasons it is the general wish of 
all astronomers, who are attached to the science, that an observatory 
should be established at the Cape of Good Hope, furnished with all the 
instruments that are required in the present state of astronomy. In 
Europe, I imagine, there are a sufficient number of observatories, if a 
proper use were made of them. But, for the still further perfection of 
astronomy, it is absolutely necessary to compare the observations made 
in the northern hemisphere, with others made with similar instruments 
beyond the equator. The physical properties of the materials, of which 
our instruments are constructed, and by which they are supported and 
surrounded, notwithstanding the perfection of our artists, and the skill 
and attention of our astronomers confine the precision of the obser 
vations within certain limits. But in an observatory situated in the 
southern hemisphere, all the causes, which distort our European obser 
vations by small errors which cannot be avoided, and which are with 
great difficulty discovered: small irregularities of refraction, for example, 
small flexures of the telescopes of our instruments, and other similar 
disturbances, would all operate in contraiy directions; so that, by a 
comparison of both series of observations, the effects of these common 
causes of error might be discovered and removed. The Cape of Good 
Hope is so much the better situated for such an observatory, as it lies 
under a meridian, which passes through the middle of Europe. 
The great comet of last summer I was perhaps able to follow 
longer than most other astronomers. I saw it last on the 20 th October, 
and on the 12 th I obtained a good observation. Perhaps some of your 
friends would like to have my last observations, I therefore subjoin them. 
1819. 
Mean Time Bremen. 
Apparent jR 
App. Dec! 
. N. 
Sept. 
17. 
8 h 
14' 50" 
133° 
40' 
2" 
50° 
CO 
°o 
59" 
» 
19. 
8 h 
3' 38" 
133° 
50' 
1" 
© 
o 
iO 
46' 
0" 
?? 
24. 
9 h 
H 
CO 
134° 
7' 
CO 
51° 
6' 
18" 
?? 
24. 
13 h 
CO 
05 
DO 
134° 
8' 
35" 
51° 
6' 
51" 
Oct. 
12. 
7 h 
52' 45" 
133° 
LO 
© 
54" 
53° 
0' 
52"