h m
Dec. 2. P.M. 6-17 Comet from a lynae ------------37˚-32'-30"
6-15 ------ from a Pegasi, right, below 47-34-30
To the naked eye the comet and a Aquilia appear nearly in contact. Indeed without close examination the star seems to be the head from which the tail proceeds. This last is much diminished, being about 4˚ in length. The head daily decreases in splendour. The tail seems to be condensing round the nucleus, and every appearance indicates that the comet is fast receding from the sphere of vision; and yet leaving astronomers in the same perplexing uncertainty, with regard to the origin and (ultimate) design of these peculiar erratic bodies, which at intervals, come forth from their unknown recesses, alarming and confounding the ignorant and credulous, and exciting the curiosity and profound investigations of the explorers of the arcane of nature.
Dec. 4. P.M. 6-17 Comet from a Lynae 35˚-04'-30"
6-20 ------- from a Cygna 38-05-00
6-24 ------- from a Pegasi - 46-39-00