Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2023 October 27 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Encke and the Tadpoles Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Dan Bartlett Explanation: History's second known periodic comet is [5]Comet Encke (2P/Encke). As it swings through the inner [6]Solar System, Encke's orbit takes it from an aphelion, its greatest distance from the Sun, inside the orbit of Jupiter to a perihelion just inside the orbit of Mercury. Returning to its perihelion every 3.3 years, Encke has the shortest [7]period of the Solar System's major comets. Comet Encke is also associated with ([8]at least) two annual meteor showers on planet Earth, the [9]North and South Taurids. Both showers are active in late October and early November. Their two separate radiants lie near bright star Aldebaran in the head-strong constellation Taurus. A faint comet, Encke was captured in [10]this telescopic field of view imaged on the morning of August 24. Then, Encke's pretty greenish coma was close on the sky to the young, embedded star cluster and light-years long, [11]tadpole-shaped star-forming clouds in emission nebula IC 410. [12]Now near bright star Spica in Virgo Comet Encke passed its 2023 perihelion only five days ago, on October 22. Tomorrow's picture: mostly a ghostly weekend __________________________________________________________________ [13]< | [14]Archive | [15]Submissions | [16]Index | [17]Search | [18]Calendar | [19]RSS | [20]Education | [21]About APOD | [22]Discuss | [23]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [24]Robert Nemiroff ([25]MTU) & [26]Jerry Bonnell ([27]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [28]Specific rights apply. [29]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [30]ASD at [31]NASA / [32]GSFC, [33]NASA Science Activation & [34]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2310/2P_Encke_2023_08_24JuneLake_California_USA_DEBartlett.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.astrobin.com/users/h2ologg/ 5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Encke 6. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/2p-encke/ 7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_numbered_comets 8. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2017A&A...605A..68S/abstract 9. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/taurid-meteors-all-you-need-to-know/ 10. https://www.astrobin.com/jurom7/C/ 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200618.html 12. https://theskylive.com/encke-info 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231026.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 17. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 22. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=231027 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231028.html 24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 27. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 29. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 30. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/ 32. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 33. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 34. http://www.mtu.edu/