An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A faint comet with the shortest known period (about 3.30 years). Its semimajor axis is 2.21 AU and aphelion 4.1 AU. it is the parent body of the Taurids meteor shower. The comet was first observed in 1786 by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain.

See also: Named after the German astronomer Johann Franz Encke (1791-1865), who in 1819 computed its orbit and proved that sightings of apparently different comets in 1786, 1795, 1805, and 1818 were in fact appearances of the same comet. → comet.