Windsor astronomer’s world first
ON THE night of May 13, 1861, in Windsor, a sheep farmer and amateur astronomer took a look at the western sky, combing the star-studded blackness for comets. He saw something that he thought was a comet, but wrote in his diary “mistook a small nebula for a comet”. To be certain, he took measurements of distances from what he thought was a nebula to nearby first magnitude stars, Procyon, Sirius and Canopus, the brightest objects in that part of the sky.
He then looked at the only catalogue of nebulae he had in his library, which was compiled by French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille and published in 1753. There was no mention of a nebula in that part of the heavens. He realised that it could, in fact, be a comet. He decided to make observations and take meticulous measurements over the next few nights to confirm that it was moving like a comet should move.
He got up before dawn on May 14 and tried to take another look, but fog and sunrise prevented him. Fog and cloud ruined the next few nights of observation, but on May 21 he saw the object again. It appeared to have moved slightly. Cautiously he made another observation on May 22 to confirm this and on May 23 he made his discovery known to the world, sending a letter to The Sydney Morning Herald, as well as one to the Rev William Scott, the official Government Astronomer at Sydney Observatory.
His letter was published on May 25. The first line read: “Sir, Will you kindly allow me, through the columns of your valuable paper, to apprise your astronomical readers of the presence of a comet.” It was signed John Tebbutt.
The discovery would make his name as an astronomer. On the strength of it he was later offered the job of Government Astronomer, but he turned it
down, preferring instead to pursue his own interests.
Tebbutt found another comet in May 1881. He died in 1916.
One hopes he will be remembered when comet Tebbutt revisits Earth in about 2283.