Comet Encke

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**2P/Encke**
Comet (List of comets)

Discovery
Discoverer	Pierre Méchain
Discovery date	1786
Alternate designations	1786 I; 1795; 1805; 1819 I; 1822 II; 1825 III; 1829; 1832 I; 1835 II; 1838; 1842 I; 1845 IV;
Orbital elements ^A
Epoch September 22, 2006 (JD 2454000.5)
Eccentricity (e)	0.8471
Semi-major axis (a)	2.2178 AU
Perihelion (q)	0.3302 AU
Aphelion (Q)	4.11 AU
Orbital period (P)	3.30 a
Inclination (i)	11.76°
Last perihelion date	December 29, 2003
Next est. perihelion date	19 April 2007

Comet Encke (officially designated 2P/Encke) is a periodic comet, named after Johann Franz Encke, who through laborious study of its orbit and many calculations was able to link multiple observations in 1786 (2P/1786 B1), 1795 (2P/1795 V1), 1805 (2P/1805 U1) and 1818 (2P/1818 W1) to the same object. In 1819 he published his conclusions in the journal Correspondance astronomique, and predicted correctly its return in 1822 (2P/1822 L1).

As its official designation implies, Encke's Comet was the second periodic comet discovered after Halley's Comet (aka 1P/Halley). It is unusual in that it was named after the person who calculated its orbit rather than the person who discovered it (Pierre Méchain).

Some consider the Bronze Age breakup of an originally larger comet of which Comet Enke is a member to be responsible for ancient destruction in the Fertile Crescent, perhaps evidenced by a large meteor crater in Iraq. The origin of the swastika has also been connected with Comet Encke.

The failed CONTOUR mission was launched to study this comet, as well as Schwassmann-Wachmann 3.

1 Meteor Showers
2 Comet core parameters
3 Discovery
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Meteor Showers

Comet Encke is believed to be the originator of several related meteor showers which are are encountered three times - the Taurids which are encountered as the Norther Taurids and Southern Taurids across November and the Beta Taurids in late June and early July[1]. (See also Whipple, 1940; Klačka, 1999).

[edit] Comet core parameters

Diameter: 1–3 km

[edit] Discovery

See biography of Johann Franz Encke.

[edit] References

Klačka, Jozef (1999). "Meteor Streams of Comet Encke. Taurid Meteor Complex". Abstract
Whipple, F.L. (1940). "Photographic meteor studies. III. The Taurid shower."

Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., 83, 711-745.