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,[3] later increasing to four by May 24.[4] In addition, it is thought that this comet was the parent body of the June Lyrids meteor shower, which was first discovered in 1966.[5][6]
 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[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 |
| Semi-major axis | –3,663.395 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 |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 7.7 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Comet Names and Designations". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ "C/1915 C1 (Mellish) – JPL Small-Body Database Browser". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ R. G. Aitken (1915). "Companions to Mellish's Comet". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 27 (159): 131. doi:10.1086/122413. JSTOR 40711347.
- ^ P. J. Melotte. "Comet a 1915, Mellish". The Observatory. 39: 53–54. Bibcode:1916Obs....39...53M.
- ^ "June Lyrids". meteorshowersonline.com. 15 August 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
- ^ D. Dickinson (22 April 2013). "The Curious History of the Lyrid Meteor Shower". Universe Today. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
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