Ad Astra Edward

Comets, of course, were one of Barnard’s specialties. He was, in his own way, intensely competitive, and naturally hoped to be the first one to see Comet Halley on its return in 1910. As early as October 1908, when the comet was still out between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, he began sweeping the region of the sky where it was supposed to be lurking with the 40-inch refractor, as well as exposing plates to the region with the Bruce telescope. Despite his best efforts, he upstaged. His friendly rival Max Wolf at the Königstuhl Observatory in Heidelberg beat him to it. Wolf first recognized the comet’s faint image on plates taken on September 11, 1909.