This watercolour depicts a woman, possibly a domestic servant, stepping out of a door with candle in hand and a black cat behind her, in search of a comet. It may satirise the popular interest in astronomy stirred by the series of impressive cometary appearances of the mid 19th century, apparently reaching all levels of society. The woman's expression is nearer foreboding than wonder, perhaps suggesting that she sees comets as portents of disaster, objects that can strike the Earth or the possible cause of illness as a result of the matter carried in their tails.