C/1898 L1 (Coddington–Pauly)

Comet Coddington–Pauly, formally designated as C/1898 L1, is a hyperbolic comet that was visible through telescopes between 1898 and 1899. It is the second comet ever discovered through photography (after 206P/Barnard–Boattini),^[a] and the only comet discovered by astronomers Edwin Foster Coddington and Wolfgang Pauly, respectively.

C/1898 L1 (Coddington–Pauly)

Discovery photograph of Comet Coddington–Pauly (arrows) taken by Edwin F. Coddington from the Lick Observatory on 10 June 1898.
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	Edwin F. Coddington Wolfgang Pauly
Discovery site	Lick Observatory, California Bucharest, Romania
Discovery date	10–14 June 1898
Designations
Alternative designations	1898 VII, 1898c[2]
Orbital characteristics[3]
Epoch	12 August 1898 (JD 2414513.5)
Observation arc	541 days (1.48 years)
Number of observations	130
Perihelion	1.702 AU
Eccentricity	1.00098
Max. orbital speed	32.3 km/s
Inclination	69.935°
Longitude of ascending node	75.408°
Argument of periapsis	233.27°
Last perihelion	14 September 1898
Earth MOID	0.948 AU
Jupiter MOID	1.252 AU
Physical characteristics[4]
Comet total magnitude (M1)	5.0
Comet nuclear magnitude (M2)	7.7
Apparent magnitude	9.0 (1898 apparition)

Discovery and observations

Edwin Foster Coddington made a 2-hour exposure of the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex on the night of 10 June 1898, however the plates weren't developed until two days later.^[4] There he found a "strong nebulous trail" only about 2–3 degrees north of the star Antares,^[b] where his colleague, William J. Hussey, confirmed it was a comet.^[1] It was later discovered independently by Romanian astronomer, Wolfgang Pauly, while observing the Messier 4 globular cluster on 14 June 1898.