Discovery
IAU Circular, No. 995 (1944 Sep. 22) reported that D. C. Berry (Dunedin, New Zealand) discovered this comet on 1944 September 13. He described it as magnitude 5, with a tail less than 1° long. IAU Circular, No. 996 (1944 Oct. 16) reported a second position was sent by Berry from September 16 and gave the magnitude as 6. The 1944 October 1 issue of the New York Times reported the comet "was seen with the naked eye by many soldiers in the Southwest Pacific." Berry was the director of the comet section of the New Zealand branch of the British Astronomical Association.
Positions
Analysis
Berry had indicated in his initial announcement that the comet was moving about 6° daily toward the east-northeast. G. van Biesbroeck said this indicated a close approach to Earth. Both he and L. E. Cunningham independently noted the comet was apparently lost in twilight. Cunningham also suggested the comet would enter the morning sky and be visible in the region of Crater, Leo, or Sextans. No additional observations were made and, with only two positions, no orbit could be calculated. The comet received the preliminary designation of "1944d" in Europe, but was referred to as "1944e" by van Biesbroeck in Popular Astronomy.
Sources:
IAU Circular, No. 995 (1944 Sep. 22)
New York Times, 1944 Oct. 1, sec. 4, p. 11, col. 5
IAU Circular, No. 996 (1944 Oct. 16)
Science (News Supplement), 100 (1944 Oct. 20)
Popular Astronomy, 52 (1944 Nov.), pp. 467-8
Popular Astronomy, 52 (1944 Dec.), p. 518
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 56 (1944 Dec.), p. 248
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