Comet Encke (2P/Encke)

Comet Encke (2P/Encke) is currently in the constellation of Pisces. The current Right Ascension of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) is 23h 19m 49s and the Declination is +00° 02’ 52” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current estimated magnitude of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) is 20.59 (JPL).

Summary of key facts about Comet Encke (2P/Encke) [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:

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Additional information about Comet Encke (2P/Encke) available on TheSkyLive:

Available Resources

• Position and finder charts (see also Where is Comet Encke (2P/Encke)?)
• Distance from Earth (see also How far is Comet Encke (2P/Encke) from Earth?)
• Rise and set times (see also When does Comet Encke (2P/Encke) rise and set?)
• Brightness (see also How bright is Comet Encke (2P/Encke)?)
• Orbital elements. Detailed information about Comet Encke (2P/Encke) orbital parameters.
• Interactive orbit visualization. 3d visualization showing the orbit of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) with respect to the major Solar System objects.
• 15 days ephemerides. Table showing celestial coordinates and magnitude of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) for the past and next 7 days.
• Interactive sky chart. An online planetarium application that shows where to locate Comet Encke (2P/Encke) in the sky from your location.
• Live position tracker. A high precision sky chart that uses real deep sky imagery to help locate Comet Encke (2P/Encke) with your telescope or on your astrophotographies.

Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where Comet Encke (2P/Encke) is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.

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 from Earth

The distance of Comet Encke (2P/Encke) from Earth is currently 586,889,094 kilometers, equivalent to 3.923111 Astronomical Units. Light takes 32 minutes and 37.6513 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 0.194634 Astronomical Units, or 29,116,844 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 20.59.

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

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.

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!

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
2023 Feb 02	23h 13m 06s	-00° 40’ 04”	20.61	Pisces
2023 Feb 03	23h 14m 03s	-00° 34’ 10”	20.61	Pisces
2023 Feb 04	23h 14m 58s	-00° 28’ 15”	20.60	Pisces
2023 Feb 05	23h 15m 55s	-00° 22’ 15”	20.60	Pisces
2023 Feb 06	23h 16m 51s	-00° 16’ 13”	20.60	Pisces
2023 Feb 07	23h 17m 48s	-00° 10’ 05”	20.60	Pisces
2023 Feb 08	23h 18m 46s	-00° 03’ 56”	20.60	Pisces
2023 Feb 09	23h 19m 44s	+00° 02’ 17”	20.59	Pisces
2023 Feb 10	23h 20m 43s	+00° 08’ 35”	20.59	Pisces
2023 Feb 11	23h 21m 41s	+00° 14’ 56”	20.59	Pisces
2023 Feb 12	23h 22m 40s	+00° 21’ 20”	20.59	Pisces
2023 Feb 13	23h 23m 39s	+00° 27’ 47”	20.58	Pisces
2023 Feb 14	23h 24m 39s	+00° 34’ 18”	20.58	Pisces
2023 Feb 15	23h 25m 40s	+00° 40’ 54”	20.58	Pisces