Papers of Philbert Melotte

Philbert Jacques Melotte (1880-1961), astronomer, was born in London on 29 January 1880, the son of Belgian immigrants. He was educated in Greenwich before joining the Royal Observatory as a supernumerary computer. He discovered the moon Jupiter VIII, known today as Pasiphae, in 1908, and the following year made the discovery of the asteroid 676 Melitta. In 1944 he served as President of the British Astronomical Association. He died on 30 March 1961.

The collection contains a wide range of material created or accumulated by Melotte during his lifetime. There are four main series, relating to the Royal Greenwich Observatory, British Astronomical Association, Royal Astronomical Society and solar eclipses. The remaining material comprises papers, photographs and other items on a wide range of astronomical subjects.

The collection is comprised of two accessions of material. The provenance of the first accession is unknown. It includes an incomplete miscellaneous series numbered 118 Misc 1-57. The second accession was deposited by Dr George H.G. Melotte in 12 August 1992, and allocated the temporary classmark TAN-112. Accompanying the collection is a list of the items in the second accession and correspondence regarding this material, including reproductions of letters and other items featured in it.

In English, Fre

Please cite as Royal Greenwich Observatory Archives, Papers of Philbert Melotte, RGO 74

Indexed

This description was created by Robert Steiner, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives.