Encke-type comet
Comet Encke
A comet with one of the shortest orbital periods known, returning every few years and linked to the Taurid meteor showers.
- Distance from Earth today
- 140.1 million km0.937 AU · light: 7 min 47 s
- Distance from the Sun today
- 266.3 million km1.780 AU
- As of
- 4 November 2026position from NASA/JPL orbital elements
Where it is today
Top view of the plane of Earth’s orbit, compressed distance scale. Open on the big map with the time slider →
Facts
- Diameter
- 4.80 km
- Rotation period
- 11.1 h
- Semi-major axis
- 2.218 AU (331.8 million km)
- Perihelion
- 0.339 AU
- Aphelion
- 4.097 AU
- Orbital period
- 3.30 years
- Orbital eccentricity
- 0.847
- Orbital inclination
- 11.3°
- Last perihelion
- 22 October 2023
- Next perihelion
- 10 February 2027
- Minimum orbit distance from Earth’s orbit (MOID)
- 0.166 AU (24.82 million km)
- Albedo
- 0.046
Source of the figures: JPL Small-Body Database (public domain).
Discovery: 1786 – Pierre Méchain
Description
Comet Encke was first seen by Pierre Méchain in 1786, but it is named after Johann Franz Encke, who in 1819 calculated its orbit and showed that several sightings belonged to the same object – only the second comet after Halley's whose return was predicted. It has one of the shortest orbital periods of any known comet and stays entirely inside Jupiter's orbit, which makes it the prototype of its own small class. Encke has been observed on more returns than almost any other comet. It is thought to be the source of the Taurid meteor streams, which produce bright fireballs in autumn.