Abstract
Comets.?Pop. Astr. for April contains photographs of comet Schwassmann-Wachmann before and after the recent outburst, reported in NATURE for April 11. They were taken by Prof. G. van Biesbroeck with the 24-inch reflector at Yerkes Observatory. The first was taken on Dec. 16, 1930, when the comet?s magnitude was about 16: in spite of its faintness, Dr. F. E. Ross has managed to bring out an appreciable amount of coma by making successive photographic copies. The second photograph, taken on Feb. 11, 1931, shows the comet as a small, bright disc of magnitude 12.5. Examination of the original negative showed a little diffused light at the edge of the disc, but the extended coma had vanished. By Mar. 10 the comet had again sunk to magnitude 16, and the outer coma was again visible. On Feb. 11 the comet was 7.05 units from the sun, 6.33 from the earth. Prof, van Biesbroeck is confident that it will remain visible round the whole of its orbit, which will be a new cometary record. It is now within two years of aphelion passage.
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