18 SEPTEMBER 1909, Page 2

Last Sunday morning Professor Wolf of Heidelberg dis- covered Halley's

comet, for which all astronomers have been watching. It last appeared in 1835, and its brilliance is slightly less at each appearance. This is the comet which caused consternation both in England and France just before the Norman conquest of England, and which figures in the Bayeux tapestry. It should be visible to the naked eye next April, and will seem largest at the end of May, but unfor- tunately, as we learn from an interesting article in the Times, it will then be low on the horizon, and visible only for a short time after sunset. The position of the comet is known now entirely through the use of photographic plates. Its position has never before been defermine-d so long before its near approach to the earth.