Comet Encke (2P/Encke)
Comet Encke (2P/Encke) Position
Comet Encke (2P/Encke) is currently in the constellation of Pisces. The current Right Ascension is 01h 08m 40s and the Declination is +13° 20’ 43”.
Simplified sky chart showing where Comet Encke (2P/Encke) is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars and constellations (see full screen Online Planetarium)
Field of view: 60x30 degrees
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Higher precision deep sky finder chart showing where Comet Encke (2P/Encke) is right now (view fullscreen)
Also check out Where is Comet Encke (2P/Encke)?, a page that provides all the information needed to find Comet Encke (2P/Encke) in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
Comet Encke (2P/Encke) Distance
The distance of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) from Earth is currently 384,239,620 kilometers, equivalent to 2.568483 Astronomical Units. Light takes 21 minutes and 21.6854 seconds to travel from Comet Encke (2P/Encke) and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Encke's Comet from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) to Earth
Between January 2013 and December 2100 the closest approach of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) to Earth happens on Sat Jul 7 2063 at a distance of 0.19418219 Astronomical Units, or 29,049,243 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
Comet Encke (2P/Encke) brightness
The current visual magnitude of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) is 16.85.
The observed magnitude and coma diameter values are derived from the Comet Observers Database by averaging the values reported in recent observations (more recent than 4 days), when available. The Estimated Magnitude comes from the JPL Horizons ephemerides service and might be inaccurate given the highly dynamic and unpredictable behavior of comets. When available, please refer to the Observed Magnitude value and consider the Estimated 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.
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of Comet Encke (2P/Encke), according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
Comet Encke (2P/Encke) rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's Comet Encke (2P/Encke) rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Comet Encke (2P/Encke) Orbital Elements
The following table lists the orbital elements of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) at epoch 04 May 2015 00:00 UTC (JD: 2457147.5). Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Element | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Orbit eccentricity | e | 0.84833603 |
| Orbit inclination | i | 11.78199782° |
| Perihelion distance | q | 0.33595713 AU 50,258,471 km |
| Aphelion distance | Q |
4.09432546 AU 612,502,372 km |
| Semi-major axis | a |
2.21514129 AU 331,380,421 km |
| Orbital period | period |
3.3000 years 1,204.2054 days |
| Date of perihelion transit | Tp | 2013-Nov-21 18:39:22 2,456,618.2773 JD |
| Next perihelion transit | 2017-Mar-09 23:35 2,457,822.4828 JD |
|
| Argument of perihelion | peri | 186.54464586831° |
| Longitude of the ascending node | node | 334.56787256872° |
| Mean anomaly | M | 158.21233783681° |
| Mean motion | n | 0.29895232°/day |
Visualization of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) Orbit
This 3d orbit diagram is a feature of our 3D Solar System Simulator and shows the orbit of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) with respect of the Sun and the orbits of the major planets. The position of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) and the planets along their orbits in this diagram accurately represents the current configuration of the objects in the Solar System. This is an experimental feature and it requires a WebGL enabled browser. Please provide us feedback!
View Comet Encke (2P/Encke) in the 3D Solar System Simulator
Comet Encke (2P/Encke) 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate Comet Encke (2P/Encke) in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 Mar 28 | 00h 53m 42s | +11° 47’ 14” | 17.55 | Pisces |
| 2020 Mar 29 | 00h 55m 37s | +11° 59’ 26” | 17.46 | Pisces |
| 2020 Mar 30 | 00h 57m 34s | +12° 11’ 44” | 17.37 | Pisces |
| 2020 Mar 31 | 00h 59m 33s | +12° 24’ 07” | 17.27 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 01 | 01h 01m 32s | +12° 36’ 37” | 17.18 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 02 | 01h 03m 33s | +12° 49’ 09” | 17.09 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 03 | 01h 05m 36s | +13° 01’ 50” | 16.99 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 04 | 01h 07m 40s | +13° 14’ 34” | 16.90 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 05 | 01h 09m 45s | +13° 27’ 24” | 16.80 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 06 | 01h 11m 52s | +13° 40’ 18” | 16.70 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 07 | 01h 13m 59s | +13° 53’ 18” | 16.60 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 08 | 01h 16m 09s | +14° 06’ 24” | 16.49 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 09 | 01h 18m 20s | +14° 19’ 33” | 16.39 | Pisces |
| 2020 Apr 10 | 01h 20m 33s | +14° 32’ 49” | 16.29 | Pisces |