C/1915 C1 (Mellish)
Comet Mellish photographed by Harry E. Wood from the Union Observatory in June 1915 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | John E. Mellish |
| Discovery date | 10 February 1915 |
| Designations | |
| 1915a 1915 II | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch | 30 June 1915 (JD 2420678.5) |
| Observation arc | 376 days (1.03 years) |
| Number of observations | 94 |
| Perihelion | 1.0053 AU |
| Eccentricity | 1.00027 |
| Inclination | 54.792° |
| 73.453° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 247.782° |
| Last perihelion | 17 July 1915 |
| Earth MOID | 0.3339 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 0.9970 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 2.07 km (1.29 mi) |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 4.5 |
Comet Mellish, also known formally as C/1915 C1, is one of five comets discovered by American astronomer John E. Mellish. It is a hyperbolic comet that reached perihelion on 17 July 1915. However, just two months earlier, Edward E. Barnard had reported the comet had split into three distinct objects on 12 May, later increasing to four by 24 May. In addition, it is thought that this comet was the parent body of the June Lyrids meteor shower, which was first discovered in 1966.