[11] Reaching a peak magnitude of –17, some sources claim that C/1882 R1 is the brightest comet ever recorded in history.

The first astronomer to record observations of the comet was W. H. Finlay,[14] the Chief Assistant at the Royal Observatory in Cape Town, South Africa.

Finlay's observation on 7 September 1882, 16:00 GMT was also an independent discovery,[10] and he reported that the comet had an apparent magnitude of about 3, and a tail about a degree in length.

Her Majesty's Astronomer at the Cape, David Gill, reported watching the comet rise a few minutes before the Sun on 18 September, and described it as "The nucleus was then undoubtedly single, and certainly rather under than over 4″ in diameter; in fact, as I have described it, it resembled very much a star of the 1st magnitude seen by daylight.

[9] Subsequent orbital studies have determined that it was a sungrazing comet, one which passes extremely close to the surface of the Sun.

For many hours on either side of its perihelion passage, the comet was easily visible in the daytime sky next to the Sun.

[16] At the Cape, Finlay observed the comet with the aid of a neutral density filter right up until the moment of transit, when the Sun's limb was "boiling all about it".

[15] The comet faded gradually, but despite its fragmentation it remained visible to the naked eye until February 1883.

[9] These comets had also suddenly appeared in the morning sky and had passed extremely close to the Sun at perihelion.