Messier, Charles; Phil. Trans. LIV, 151 (1764)

XXVII. A Table of the Places of the Comet of 1764 discovered at the Observatory of the Marine at Paris, the 3rd of January, about 8 o'clock in the Evening, in the Constellation of the Dragon, concluded from its Situation observed with regard to the Stars: By Monsier Charles Messier, Astronomer at the Depot of the Plans of the Marine of France, at Paris.

         True time. mean time  R.ascension Northern   Longitude   Northern
                                observed.  declinati-  observed   Latitude
 1764                                      on observ.             observed
         h  '  "    h  '  "    d   '  "    d  '  "    d   '  "    d  '  "

Jan. 3    9 24 33    9 29  9   236 29 16   58 32 58   281 37 16   72 53 48
         15  5  4   15  9 47   239 45 31   58 51 29   284 49  7   74 22 13
         18 48 55   18 53 42   241 56  1   59  2 54   287  9 14   75 19 50
    10   16 10 39   16 18 28   305 57 17   44 23 10   329  0 38   60 41 41
         18 33 53   18 41 44   306 22  2   44  6 14   329 15 54   60 18 20
    11    6 43 27    6 51 31   308 14 21   42 45 45   330 21 59   58 28 49
          7 30 54    7 38 59   308 20 17   42 42 35   330 26 19   58 23 58
         18 28 33   18 36 48   309 50 42   41 22 54   331  7 31   56 42  7
    14   17  7 58   17 17 22   316 59 44   34 37 55   334 23 15   48  8 16
         18 32 53   18 42 18   317  5 44   34 30 37   334 25 22   47 59 50
    15    5 43 14    5 52 48   317 53 29   33 39 23   335  8 47   47  6 48
          7 13 15    7 22 51   317 59 44   33 31 50   335 20 11   47  1 47
    16    6 35 19    6 45 15   319 28 52   31 51 34   335 22 51   44 44 33
          7 26 11    7 35 28   319 32 37   31 48 41   335 24 58   44 40 44
    18    5 40 32    5 51  8   321 52 36   28 45 54   336  9 39   41  4  3
          7  4 45    7 15 22   321 56 21   28 40 52   336 10 49   40 58  8
    19    7 42  8    7 53  4   322 57  8   27 17 25   336 29 47   39 19 57
    20    6 50 20    6 50 20   323 46 38   26  5 33   336 43 22   37 56 17
    22    5 49 50    6  1 38   325  9 52   23 49  1   337  0 56   35 20 54
          6 11 16    6 23  4   325 10 22   23 47 57   337  0 57   35 19 45
    29    5 50 59    6 12  8   328  9 59   17 28 48   337  7 46   28 25  8
    30    6  2 52    6 16 28   328 23 44   16 42 10   337  1 12   27 36 59
Feb. 4    5 57 53    6 12  8   329 17 41   13 11 38   336 26 10   24  2 24
     7    6 30 23    6 44 54   329 33 51   11  6 15   335 50 20   22  0  9
     8    6 16 20    6 30 54   329 39 35   10 26 47   335 41 16   21 21 25
    11    6 14 49    6 29 28   329 41 27    9  2 46   335 10  5   20  2 34

The ascending node: ------- 3s 29d 20' 6"
Inclination: ----------------------- 53d 54' 19"
Place of perihelium: --------- 16d 11' 48"
Logarithm of perihelion distance: 9.751415.

Passage by the perihelium 12 February at 10h 29' mean time in the meridian of Paris. The motion retograde.

Remark: [hf] In modern notation, the elements of this comet, dubbed 1764 Messier, read:
Ascending Node: 104.852 deg, Inclination: 127.093 deg, Length of Perihelion: 122.685 deg, Perihelion Distance: 0.555216 AU, Perihelion Pasage: 1764 Feb 13.0710

Messier's Comets

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Hartmut Frommert
Christine Kronberg
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Last Modification: March 17, 2000