Discovery
The 1905 December 15 issue of the Harvard College Observatory Bulletin said that V. M. Slipher (Lowell Observatory, Arizona, USA) was examining a photograph obtained on 1905 November 30.20, when he noticed a comet-looking object. The photograph had been exposed for 57 minutes and the object was apparently moving at a rate of 4' per hour toward PA 285°. The Bulletin added, "Moonlight has since interfered with observation."
Positions
Analysis
Although this was treated as a spurious image at the time, B. Skiff (Lowell Observatory, Arizona, USA) looked at the plate during the late 1980s and concluded this was a "likely comet." During May of 2007, after many years of photographing comets, Skiff again pulled the 1905 plate and commented, "It still looks to me like a convincing comet with some provisos." He noted that the object was on a portion of the plate that was out-of-focus. He said the coma was as well-defined as the nearby stars and had trailed during the exposure. There was a tail extending about 15' toward PA 345 degrees. He added that one possible hint that it was a flaw is that the tail was parallel to one edge of the plate.
Sources:
Harvard College Observatory Bulletin, No. 214 (1905 Dec. 15)
Nature, 73 (1905 Dec. 21), p. 182
Popular Astronomy, 14 (1906 Jan.), p. 57
Personal Communication with Brian Skiff (2007 May 22)
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