It was discovered independently by two American astronomers, William Robert Brooks and Lewis A.
[3] The comet was discovered on the morning of 24 February 1883 in the constellation Pegasus.
[b] Both Brooks and Swift spotted the comet about 25 minutes from one another, with initial orbital calculations suggesting it already passed perihelion on 19 February.
[4][5] Nikolaus von Konkoly made spectroscopic observations of the comet on 3 March, two days after it made its closest approach to Earth at a distance of 1.156 AU (172.9 million km).
[7] By late March, the comet started to fade away rapidly, until it was last observed within the constellation Orion on 24 April 1883.