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Comet Near-Earth

Encke

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2P/Encke

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
2.052 AU
True anomaly
214.94°
Distance from Earth
1.073 AU
As of
11 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.998 AU from the Sun Earth Encke — 2.052 AU from the Sun Encke
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Encke is 1.073 AU from Earth today (8.9 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
00h 23m 16s
Declination
+18° 31′ 33″
Constellation
Pisces
Distance from Earth
1.07 AU
Elongation from the Sun
164.18° — near opposition — up most of the night

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
2.219 AU
Eccentricity
0.8469
Inclination
11.34°
Orbital period
3.3 years
Perihelion
0.34 AU
Aphelion
4.098 AU
Longitude of ascending node
334.02°
Argument of periapsis
187.29°
Epoch · J2000
2460291.5
Orbit class · ETc
Encke-type comet
Earth MOID · 64.6 LD
0.1661 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
3.026

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 2).

Observations used
1,057
Data arc
7.93 years
First observed
5 November 2018
Last observed
9 October 2026
Residual RMS
0.38 ″
Solution · Davide Farnocchia
9 October 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
2.40 km
Rotation period
11.08 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.046
Absolute magnitude (H)
15.7
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 4.5
15.7

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Mechain, Pierre F. A.
Discovery date
17 January 1786

Also known as 2P · 1786 I · 1795 · 1805 · 1819 I · 1822 II · 1825 III · 1829

Near-Earth Object Named

Close approaches 53 on record

Flyby geometry
Ecliptic flyby of Encke at 2063-07-07 07:15 UTC Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2063-07-07 07:15 UTC close approach of Encke. Catalogue miss distance 75.9 LD · 2.92 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2063-07-04 to 2063-07-10, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate. Sun 75.9 LD · 2.92 × 10⁷ km 2063-07-07 07:15 UTC Earth Moon Heliocentric, approximate

Top-down view of the ecliptic, Earth at the centre, for the 2063-07-07 07:15 UTC close approach of Encke. Catalogue miss distance 75.9 LD · 2.92 × 10⁷ km. The curve is the geocentric path from 2063-07-04 to 2063-07-10, with a mark at UTC midnights and an arrow for the direction of motion. The circle is the Moon’s mean orbit; the Moon is plotted at closest approach. A ray shows the Sun’s direction. The labelled distance is the full separation. The drawn radius is the part that lies in the ecliptic plane. At closest approach the object is south of the ecliptic. The path is a geocentric ecliptic ephemeris from JPL Horizons. The inset is a heliocentric view and is approximate.

JPL Horizons

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2037-01-08 18:52:00 Merc 0.0735 AU 28.6 LD 22.3 km/s
2037-01-08 18:59:00 Mercury 0.0735 AU 28.6 LD 22.3 km/s
2045-09-19 08:11:00 Juptr 1.361 AU 529.7 LD 9.8 km/s
2057-11-15 17:42:00 Juptr 1.7528 AU 682.1 LD 12.1 km/s
2063-07-07 07:15:00 Earth 0.195 AU 75.9 LD 32.5 km/s
2063-07-07 07:24:00 Earth 0.1951 AU 75.9 LD 32.5 km/s
2079-11-14 01:57:00 Merc 0.0505 AU 19.6 LD 33.6 km/s
2079-11-14 02:16:00 Mercury 0.0501 AU 19.5 LD 33.5 km/s
2081-05-27 14:12:00 Juptr 0.9373 AU 364.8 LD 8.4 km/s
2093-02-10 20:08:00 Merc 0.0764 AU 29.7 LD 36.5 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources