Comet Encke / ˈɛŋki /, or Encke's Comet (official designation: 2P/Encke), is a periodic comet that completes an orbit of the Sun once every 3.3 years. (This is the shortest period of a reasonably bright comet; the faint main-belt comet 311P/PanSTARRS has a period of 3.2 years.)

Nov 3, 2024 · Comet 2P/Encke is a small comet. Its nucleus measures approximately 2.98 miles (4.8 kilometers) in diameter, which is about a third of the size of the object hypothesized to have led to the demise of the dinosaurs. It takes 3.30 years for Enke to orbit the sun once.

Oct 2, 2023 · Periodic comet 2P/Encke will pass perihelion on October 22, 2023. At that moment, it will be at a distance of 0.34 AU from the Sun and might brighten to magnitude 6.6. However, as the comet will be positioned close to the Sun, it will only be visible in the morning sky.

Comet 2P/Encke is a small comet. Its nucleus measures approximately 2.98 miles (4.8 kilometers) in diameter, which is about a third of the size of the object hypothesized to have led to the demise of the dinosaurs. It takes 3.30 years for Enke to orbit the sun once.

Encke’s Comet, faint comet having the shortest orbital period (about 3.3 years) of any known; it was also only the second comet (after Halley’s) to have its period established. The comet was first observed in 1786 by French astronomer Pierre Méchain.

Encke is a periodic comet with a very short run of only 3 years. It comes within Earths view (though not always visible to the naked eye) in such a short period because unlike most comets, Encke only goes as far out as Jupiter.

2P/Encke is a mid-sized comet whose orbit brings it closer to the sun than Jupiter. NASA JPL has classified 2P/Encke as a "Near Earth Asteroid" due to its orbit's proximity to Earth, but it is not considered potentially hazardous because computer simulations have not indicated any imminent likelihood of future collision.

From Virginia Beach , 2P/Encke is not observable – it will reach its highest point in the sky during daytime and is no higher than 1° above the horizon at dusk. All times shown in Virginia Beach local time. The position of this comet was calculated from orbital elements published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC).

Comet 2P/Encke is a periodic comet that takes about 3.3 years to complete one orbit around the Sun. It was first discovered by Pierre Méchain on January 17, 1786, and was later independently rediscovered by Johann Franz Encke on November 2, 1818.

J. F. Encke would ultimately be the first person to recognize that comets discovered in 1786, 1795, 1805, and 1818 were the same comet. Encke first began to notice this relationship while investigating the orbit of Pons' comet of 1818-19.