Comet Encke Circles the Sun Every 3.3 Years

Comet Encke orbits the Sun once every 3.3 years. That is the shortest orbital period of any known comet, meaning it completes a lap around the Sun faster than any other.

Encke is the parent of the Taurid meteor stream. Dust and rock it sheds spread along its path, and Earth crosses that debris each October and November. Taurids hit the atmosphere at about 104,600 kilometers per hour and are known for bright fireballs. Pierre Mechain discovered the comet in 1786, and Johann Franz Encke later showed that separate sightings were one comet by calculating its orbit.