Local Observatory Cannot See New Southern Comet

Astronomers at the University Observatory in Harvard, Massachusetts, have thus far been unable to observe the second magnitude comet that their colleagues at the Harvard Observatory in Bloemfontein, South Africa, discovered on Sunday.

Charles A. Federer of the Observatory respected that scientists in Los Angeles and Flagstaff, Arizona, saw the new comet yesterday but that Boston is too far north for the comet to come over the horizon while it is still dark enough to see it.

"Every milkman in the southern part of the U.S. probably saw it this morning." Federer said last night. "It's a very bright comet," He added that the astronomers do not yet know which way the solar visitor is travelling, but that they would look for it again, at about 4:30 a.m. this morning.

Observers in Australia also spotted the celestial spectacle on Sunday, so the Bloemfontein claim of discovery may be disputed. According to Federer, enough people probably saw the comet at the same time to cancel anyone's right to name it. Future astronomers will probably refer to it as "The Great Comet of 1948."

The comet is reported to be as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper.