Comet Morehouse in 1908. This comet, formally classified as C/1908 R1, was discovered by US astronomer Daniel Walter Morehouse, and observed on 1 September 1908. Comets are icy bodies from the outer solar system that boil and form a bright tail of gas and dust as they approach the Sun. This comet was observed to have a highly variable tail structure. At times, the tail seemed to split into up to six separate tails, while at others it appeared completely detached from the head of the comet. Glass plate photograph taken on 18th November 1908 by Max Wolf at the Heidelberg Observatory, Germany.