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public  Greenwich, UK Greenwich, UK  ⓘ
TimezoneEurope/London
Sunrise: 4:46 
Transit: 13:03 
Sunset: 21:19
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Comets » 

Comet 2P/Encke

Below the horizon.  Rise: 0:19 | Tran: 6:20 | Set: 12:18
Alt: -36.95°   Az: 340.78°   Direction: South-West

Comet 2P/Encke is in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of 567,510,076.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 23h 43m 13s and the Declination is -00° 01’ 18” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 2P/Encke, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 21.15).

Finder Charts

The sky charts below show, at different resolutions, the position of comet 2P/Encke in the sky. Click on each chart to access the interactive star map tool.

Star map showing the position of comet 2P/Encke in the constellation of Pisces on F, d Y. Field of view: 50x30 degrees. View interactive star map.
Star map showing the position of comet 2P/Encke in the constellation of Pisces on F, d Y. Field of view: 15x9 degrees. View in interactive star map.

The following map uses photographic imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) to realistically visualize the precise position of comet 2P/Encke against the stars in the background. The horizontal size of the map measures 60 arcminutes. Click on the image to access a more detailed full-screen view.

2P/Encke
RA: 23h 41m 55s
Dec: -00° 09’ 48”
Simplified high-resolution deep sky chart showing the current position of comet 2P/Encke. Field of view: 60 x 40 arcminutes. Go to the dedicated page

Equatorial Coordinates

Apparent

23h 43m 13s
-00° 01’ 18”
10h 58m 58s
10h 42m 12s

J2000

23h 41m 55s
-00° 09’ 48”

Additional Information

Pisces
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
21.15

The observed values of Magnitude, Coma Diameter and Tail Length are derived from the most recent observation recorded at the Comet Observers Database. The value of Predicted Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and, in the case of comets, might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of these objects. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Predicted Magnitude as a directional indication. We acknowledge with thanks the comet observations from the COBS Comet Observation Database contributed by observers worldwide and used in this table to report recent comet observations.

Rise and Set Times

The following table lists today's rise, transit and set times of comet 2P/Encke from Greenwich, UK (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):

Azimuth: 90.0°
Max altitude: 38.5°
Azimuth: 270.0°

If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.

Distance from Earth

The distance of comet 2P/Encke from Earth is currently 567,510,076.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.7935705458 Astronomical Units. Light takes 31m 33.010s to travel from comet 2P/Encke and arrive to us.

567,510,076.0
3.7935705458
31m 33.010s

The following graph shows the distance of comet 2P/Encke from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance is measured in Astronomical Units and the data is sampled with an interval of 1 day.

Chart of the distance of comet 2P/Encke from Earth in Astronomical Units (au)
Note: The values in this chart may not be entirely accurate around the time of closest approach for objects passing very close to Earth at high speed (e.g., Near-Earth Objects).

The value of the distance of 2P/Encke from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the live position tracker.

Closest Approach to Earth

In the period between January 1, 1900 and December 31, 2099, the closest approach of comet 2P/Encke to Earth happened on Saturday 5 July 1997 at a distance of 0.190257 Astronomical Units, or 28,462,061 kilometers:

Saturday 5 July 1997
28,462,061
0.190257

Note: the values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.

Light Curve

The following chart shows the light curve of comet 2P/Encke, i.e., its apparent magnitude as a function of time. The curve is calculated using the latest ephemerides provided by JPL Horizons. The magnitude data is sampled with the interval of 2 days. Because of this sampling, inaccuracies may occur for objects that have large variations of brightness over a few days. For comets, large discrepancies can arise between the calculated brightness and the observations due to their highly dynamic, and not always precisely predictable, behavior.

Chart of the magnitude of comet 2P/Encke as a function of time

Orbital Elements

The following table lists the orbital elements of comet 2P/Encke at epoch January, 06 2017 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457760.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database

Element Symbol Value
Orbit eccentricity e 0.84833408
Orbit inclination i 11.77822630°
Perihelion distance q 0.33590100 AU
50,250,075 km
Aphelion distance Q 4.09358455 AU
612,391,533 km
Semi-major axis a 2.21474278 AU
331,320,804 km
Orbital period period 3.2960 years
1,203.8805 days
Date of perihelion transit Tp March 10, 2017
2,457,822.5925 JD
Next perihelion transit June 25, 2020
2,459,026.4730 JD
Argument of perihelion peri 186.56269392°
Longitude of the ascending node node 334.56005331322°
Mean anomaly M 341.43228384528°
Mean motion n 0.29903301°/day

Orbit Visualization

The following chart is a 3D animated visualization of the orbit of comet 2P/Encke relative to the other major objects in the Solar System. You can access more advanced features using our 3D Solar System Viewer.

15 Days Ephemeris

The following table lists the ephemerides of comet 2P/Encke computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Apparent celestial coordinates are provided.

Date Right AscensionR.A. DeclinationDec. MagnitudeMag Constellation
Jun 20 2025 23h 42m 52s -00° 11’ 45” 21.22 Pisces
Jun 21 2025 23h 42m 57s -00° 10’ 05” 21.21 Pisces
Jun 22 2025 23h 43m 02s -00° 08’ 31” 21.20 Pisces
Jun 23 2025 23h 43m 06s -00° 07’ 03” 21.19 Pisces
Jun 24 2025 23h 43m 09s -00° 05’ 39” 21.19 Pisces
Jun 25 2025 23h 43m 12s -00° 04’ 21” 21.18 Pisces
Jun 26 2025 23h 43m 13s -00° 03’ 08” 21.17 Pisces
Jun 27 2025 23h 43m 13s -00° 02’ 01” 21.16 Pisces
Jun 28 2025 23h 43m 13s -00° 00’ 59” 21.15 Pisces
Jun 29 2025 23h 43m 11s -00° 00’ 03” 21.14 Pisces
Jun 30 2025 23h 43m 09s +00° 00’ 46” 21.13 Pisces
Jul 01 2025 23h 43m 05s +00° 01’ 31” 21.12 Pisces
Jul 02 2025 23h 43m 01s +00° 02’ 10” 21.11 Pisces
Jul 03 2025 23h 42m 56s +00° 02’ 43” 21.10 Pisces

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