JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post
This lovely image of the head and envelopes of Coggia’s Comet (C/1874 HI) as seen by Norman Lockyer on a summery night “under first-rate atmospheric conditions”, July 12, 1874, and then drawn by him–and then published almost immediately in Nature on July 16, 1874, the magazine that Lockyer edited. This image is beautiful and significant for its “striking differences” from earlier cometary images
“Without doubt, C/1874 H1 (Coggia) was a beauty; a true great comet. At its brightest, it probably exceeded the first magnitude and displayed a series of envelopes within its coma that astronomers compared with Donati’s Comet 16 years earlier. Suitably placed observers also noted maximum naked-eye tail lengths reaching 70 degrees as the comet passed near Earth in July.” Seargent, David A. J. (2008). “C/1874 H1 (Coggia)”. The greatest comets in history. p. 126. –Wiki, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/1874_H1#cite_ref-6