© Andy Roberts 1997. Pictured comet is C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp.

Comet 2P/Encke passes perihelion

Dominic Ford, Editor
From the Comets feed

Objects: 2P/Encke
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Comet 2P/Encke will make its closest approach to the Sun on 17 May, at a distance of 0.34 AU.

From Cambridge on the day of perihelion it will not be readily observable since it will be very close to the Sun, at a separation of only 19° from it.

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The events that comprise the 1997 apparition of 2P/Encke are as follows:

Date Event
17 May 1997Comet 2P/Encke passes perihelion
30 Jun 1997Comet 2P/Encke passes perigee

The table below lists the times when 2P/Encke will be visible from Cambridge day-by-day through its apparition:

Date Constellation Comet visibility
26 Apr 1997AriesNot observable
28 Apr 1997AriesNot observable
30 Apr 1997AriesNot observable
02 May 1997TaurusNot observable
04 May 1997TaurusNot observable
06 May 1997TaurusNot observable
08 May 1997TaurusNot observable
10 May 1997TaurusNot observable
12 May 1997TaurusNot observable
14 May 1997TaurusNot observable
16 May 1997TaurusNot observable
18 May 1997TaurusNot observable
20 May 1997TaurusNot observable
22 May 1997TaurusNot observable
24 May 1997TaurusNot observable
26 May 1997TaurusNot observable
28 May 1997TaurusNot observable
30 May 1997OrionNot observable
01 Jun 1997OrionNot observable
03 Jun 1997OrionNot observable
05 Jun 1997OrionNot observable

A more detailed table of 2P/Encke's position on each night is available here. A diagram of the orbit of 2P/Encke is available here.

Finder chart

The chart below shows the path of 2P/Encke over the course of its apparition, as calculated from the orbital elements published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC). It is available for download, either on dark background, in PNG, PDF or SVG formats, or on a light background, in PNG, PDF or SVG formats. It was produced using StarCharter.

Comet brightnesses

Comets are intrinsically highly unpredictable objects, since their brightness depends on the scattering of sunlight from dust particles in the comet's coma and tail. This dust is continually streaming away from the comet's nucleus, and its density at any particular time is governed by the rate of sublimation of the ice in the comet's nucleus, as it is heated by the Sun's rays. It also depends on the amount of dust that is mixed in with that ice. This is very difficult to predict in advance, and can be highly variable even between successive apparitions of the same comet.

In consequence, while the future positions of comets are usually known with a high degree of confidence, their future brightnesses are not. For most comets, we do not publish any magnitude estimates at all. For the few comets where we do make estimates, we generally prefer the BAA's magnitude parameters to those published by the Minor Planet Center, since they are typically updated more often.

No estimate for the brightness of comet 2P/Encke is currently available.

The comet's position at perihelion will be:

Object Right Ascension Declination Constellation Magnitude
Comet 2P/Encke 05h00m10s 22°12'N Taurus 5.7

The coordinates are given in J2000.0.

The sky on 13 Dec 2024

The sky on 13 December 2024
Sunrise
07:03
Sunset
16:11
Twilight ends
17:53
Twilight begins
05:21

12-day old moon
Waxing Gibbous

97%

12 days old

Planets
Rise Culm. Set
Mercury 05:41 10:33 15:25
Venus 10:09 14:52 19:35
Moon 14:31 22:22 06:25
Mars 19:19 02:49 10:19
Jupiter 15:36 23:06 06:36
Saturn 11:40 17:12 22:44
All times shown in EST.

Warning

Never attempt to point a pair of binoculars or a telescope at an object close to the Sun. Doing so may result in immediate and permanent blindness.

Source

This event was automatically generated on the basis of orbital elements published by the Minor Planet Center (MPC) , and is updated whenever new elements become available. It was last updated on 10 Dec 2024.

Image credit

© Andy Roberts 1997. Pictured comet is C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp.

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Cambridge

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42.38°N
71.11°W
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