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. The comet is named after Encke, who calculated its orbit and predicted its return in 1822. Comet 2P/Encke has a relatively short orbital period and its orbit is known for being influenced by the gravitational pull of Jupiter. It has an average distance from the Sun of about 2.2 astronomical units (AU) and an eccentricity of 0.85, which means its perihelion distance is only 0.34 AU while its aphelion distance is around 3.5 AU. Comet 2P/Encke is known for being a source of the Taurid meteor shower, which occurs every year in late October and early November as Earth passes through the dust and debris left behind by the comet.

Find it in the Sky

Chose a date & time and view the position of comet 2P/Encke in the sky on our interactive planetarium.

Time: : UTC

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Comet 2P/Encke

Below the horizon. Rise: 23:10 | Tran: 5:08 | Set: 11:10

Alt: -38.45° Az: 237.05° Direction: West-South-West

Comet 2P/Encke is in the constellation of Pisces, at a distance of 554,366,144.0 kilometers from Earth. The current Right Ascension is 23h 42m 55s and the Declination is +00° 02’ 53” (apparent coordinates). The estimated magnitude of comet 2P/Encke, computed using JPL Horizons's data, is 21.10).

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.

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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.

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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 36s
Dec: -00° 05’ 36”

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

Right Ascension 23h 42m 55s

Declination +00° 02’ 53”

Hour Angle 09h 15m 39s

Sidereal Time 08h 58m 34s

J2000

Right Ascension 23h 41m 36s

Declination -00° 05’ 36”

Additional Information

Constellation Pisces

Observed Magnitude (COBS) n/a

Coma Diameter (COBS) n/a

Tail Length (COBS) n/a

Observation Date (COBS) n/a

Predicted Magnitude (JPL) 21.10

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 Nuriootpa, Australia (all times relative to the local timezone Australia/Adelaide):

Azimuth: 89.9° RISE 23:10

Max altitude: 55.5° TRANSIT 5:08

Azimuth: 270.0° SET 11:10

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 554,366,144.0 kilometers, equivalent to 3.7057087872 Astronomical Units. Light takes 30m 49.166s to travel from comet 2P/Encke and arrive to us.

Distance Km 554,366,144.0

Distance AU 3.7057087872

Light Travel Time 30m 49.166s

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:

Date Saturday 5 July 1997

Distance Kilometers 28,462,061

Distance AU 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 26 2025	23h 43m 13s	-00° 03’ 05”	21.17	Pisces
Jun 27 2025	23h 43m 13s	-00° 01’ 58”	21.16	Pisces
Jun 28 2025	23h 43m 13s	-00° 00’ 56”	21.15	Pisces
Jun 29 2025	23h 43m 11s	-00° 00’ 00”	21.14	Pisces
Jun 30 2025	23h 43m 09s	+00° 00’ 49”	21.13	Pisces
Jul 01 2025	23h 43m 05s	+00° 01’ 34”	21.12	Pisces
Jul 02 2025	23h 43m 01s	+00° 02’ 13”	21.11	Pisces
Jul 03 2025	23h 42m 56s	+00° 02’ 46”	21.10	Pisces
Jul 04 2025	23h 42m 49s	+00° 03’ 14”	21.09	Pisces
Jul 05 2025	23h 42m 42s	+00° 03’ 35”	21.08	Pisces
Jul 06 2025	23h 42m 34s	+00° 03’ 51”	21.07	Pisces
Jul 07 2025	23h 42m 25s	+00° 04’ 00”	21.06	Pisces
Jul 08 2025	23h 42m 15s	+00° 04’ 04”	21.06	Pisces
Jul 09 2025	23h 42m 03s	+00° 04’ 01”	21.05	Pisces

Ephemeris Calculator

Compute the position of comet 2P/Encke for any date and time between January 1, 1900 and December 31, 2099 and display the results on an interactive star map.