C/1915 C1 (Mellish)

For other comets discovered by John E. Mellish, see Comet Mellish.

Not to be confused with another 1915 comet of the same name, C/1915 R1 (Mellish).

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 July 17, 1915. However, just two months earlier, Edward E. Barnard had reported the comet had splitted into three distinct objects in May 12,^[4] later increasing to four by May 24.^[5] In addition, it is thought that this comet was the parent body of the June Lyrids meteor shower, which was first discovered in 1966.^[6][7]

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
Alternative designations	1915a[1] 1915 II
Orbital characteristics[2]
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°
Longitude of ascending node	73.453°
Argument of periapsis	247.782°
Last perihelion	17 July 1915
Earth MOID	0.3339 AU
Jupiter MOID	0.9970 AU
Physical characteristics[3]
Mean radius	2.07 km (1.29 mi)[a]
Comet total magnitude (M1)	4.5