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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 ( Jean-Louis Pons ). Comet Encke is believed to be the originator of the Taurid Meteor shower ( Whipple , 1940; Klačka, 1999). Some consider the Bronze Age breakup of the originally larger comet 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 . COMET CORE PARAMETERS Diameter: 1–3 Km DISCOVERY See biography of Johann Franz Encke . REFERENCES
''Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc.,'' 83, 711-745. EXTERNAL LINKS
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