John E. Mellish
Encyclopedia
John Edward Mellish was an American amateur astronomer
and telescope
builder.
John E. Mellish lived outside of Madison Wisconsin. By age 24 he was credited with discovering two comets using home built telescopes, and received astronomical medals from both the United States and Mexico as a result.
In November 1915 he announced to have observed crater
s on Mars
, and being the second person to do so after E. E. Barnard. Both claims are disputed to this day, but he is still credited to be the first human to recognize craters on Mars using the great 40-inch Yerkes refractor
.
A crater on Mars (Mellish
) was named in his honor.
‘’
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
and telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
builder.
John E. Mellish lived outside of Madison Wisconsin. By age 24 he was credited with discovering two comets using home built telescopes, and received astronomical medals from both the United States and Mexico as a result.
In November 1915 he announced to have observed crater
Impact crater
In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...
s on Mars
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
, and being the second person to do so after E. E. Barnard. Both claims are disputed to this day, but he is still credited to be the first human to recognize craters on Mars using the great 40-inch Yerkes refractor
Yerkes Observatory
Yerkes Observatory is an astronomical observatory operated by the University of Chicago in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. The observatory, which calls itself "the birthplace of modern astrophysics," was founded in 1897 by George Ellery Hale and financed by Charles T. Yerkes...
.
A crater on Mars (Mellish
Mellish (crater)
Mellish is a crater on Mars located in the planet's southern hemisphere at coordinates 72.9S, 24.0W. It was named after John E. Mellish, an American amateur astronomer from St. Charles, Illinois. The crater was named after Mellish in 1994 at the request of Steven Dick at the U.S. Naval Observatory....
) was named in his honor.
External links
- Discussion of crater observations on Mars
- The boy astronomer of Cottage Grove in Wisconsin Academy review http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/WI/WI-idx?type=div&did=WI.0009.0264.0011&isize=XL
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