Observations on the Same Comet; By the Rev. John Michell, M. A. Fellow of Queen's College in Cambridge. In a Letter to Mr. James Short, F. R. S.

XLII. Observations on the same Comet; by the Rev. John Michell, M.A. Fellow of Queen's College in Cambridge. In a Letter to Mr. James Short, F.R.S. Dear Sir, Read Jan. 10, 1760. Though in all probability you will have seen the comet, which is now apparent; yet, lest you should not, I was not willing to omit this opportunity of informing you of it. I received a message last night from Dr. Mason, who, as far as I find, was the first here, that discovered it. We did not suspect at first, that its apparent motion was so great, as it appeared to be on examination; or else should have taken more observations. Very luckily, however, I took its distance from four principal stars, between a quarter and half an hour after nine, which was as soon as I saw it; and, about an hour and a quarter after, finding that it had manifestly moved, to the naked eye, I took other observations of it, every quarter of an hour, or twenty minutes, till very near two o'clock, when it ceased to be visible, on account of its being too low in the mud. The first observations gave its distance from K Orionis, $3^\circ 29'$; from Rigel, $11^\circ 46'$; from Betelgeuse, $17^\circ 10'$; and from Syrius, $12^\circ 56'$. All these observations were made between a quarter and half an hour past nine, and, as well as I could recollect, in the order I have set them down; which, not imagining gining it was material, I had not been careful to mark to single minutes. At $1^h\ 22'$, its distance from Rigel was $7^\circ\ 6'$; at $1^h\ 24'$, from Betelgeuse $15^\circ\ 53'$; and at $1^h\ 36'$, its distance from Sirius was $17^\circ\ 36'$. This will be sufficient for you to find its place by. The observations, together with above twenty others, were made with a little Hadley's quadrant, and may most of them, I believe, be depended on to about two or three minutes; but some perhaps may err four or five minutes. I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, Cambridge, Jan. 9, 1760. John Michell. XLIII. An Account of the same Comet; by Nicolas Munckley, of Lincoln's-Inn, Esq; Read Jan. 17, January 9, 1760, I observed what ap- peared to me to be evidently a comet, west of the constellation of Orion, or (to speak more astronomically and exactly) over the two stars marked $\mu$ and $\nu$ in the river Eridanus, but nearer the latter than the former; right ascension, about 66 deg. de- clination, about 3 deg. S. It was something dimmer and larger than either of these stars; and through a telescope, appeared magnified, and surrounded with a broad, faint, ill-defined haziness, like the last comet, such as plainly distinguished it from any