ASTEROID SEEN AT OAK RIDGE OBSERVATORY

The recent rediscovery of the asteroid Hidalgo by a volunteer observer of the Harvard observatory at Oak Ridge has revived the theory that the body, which has been thought an asteroid may in fact be a comet. The discovery was made by Raymond Boyd a few days ago, previous to which time the flying body had not been seen since 1921.

Asteroids are members of the solar system, revolving about the sun in orbits between Mars and Saturn and hence visible the greater part of the time. Comets on the other hand, follow ellipse-shaped orbits of great size, entering the solar system only at intervals of years. The fact that Hidalgo has not been seen since 1921 tends to show that it is a comet, but further observations will be necessary before this conclusion can be definitely established.