Encke

Encke — comet, explore its interactive 3D model in Cosmoscope.

Explore Encke in a live 3D Solar System. Follow its calculated motion and inspect real astronomical data, distances and orbital facts.

The second comet ever found to return, after Halley’s, and the quickest of the famous ones: it laps the Sun every 3.3 years. Debris along its orbit gives Earth the autumn Taurid meteors.

Nucleus

~4.8 km across

Discovered

1786 — Pierre Méchain

Period

3.30 years — one of the shortest of any comet

Named for

Johann Encke, who computed its orbit in 1819

Meteors

Source of the Taurid showers

Shape

Illustrative nucleus

Explore Encke in 3D

Cosmoscope places Encke in the Solar System using astronomical ephemeris or orbital elements, updated for the simulation time. Explore its calculated motion, distance and orbital facts in the interactive 3D view. Accuracy depends on the orbital model and its valid time range.