John Edward Mellish (1886 – 1970) 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.[1]
In November 1915 he announced to have observed craters 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.
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