We've already had our fair share of amazing celestial events this year. In April, a total solar eclipse fell over a large part of the U.S. The next month, several states got to see the dazzling Northern Lights for the first time thanks to an explosive solar storm. Along the way there have been scattered comets and meteor showers, and another is on the horizon. Tomorrow, a rare comet will pass Earth at its closest distance in almost seven decades.
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Comet 13P/Olbers is currently making a spectacular return to the inner solar system after 68 years since it last passed, according to EarthSky.org.
Categorized as a Halley-type Comet, 13P/Olbers orbits the sun every 24,500 days—or roughly 69 years, per SpaceReference.org. It made its closest approach to the sun (also known as its perihelion) during this trip on June 30.
After making its way through Leo Minor in the northwestern sky, the comet is set to be the closest to Earth tomorrow, July 20. During this approach, the comet will pass by at 176 million miles away from the planet.
That means there's no danger of collision, but it should still be a notable sight. "Even at that distance, Comet 13P/Olbers is currently the brightest comet in our skies," the experts at EarthSky.org note.
It's not visible to the naked eye, however, as the comet has a limited brightness around magnitude 6.9. But if you have binoculars or a small telescope, you should be able to view this celestial event as it makes its closest approach to Earth since it was officially observed on Sept. 12, 1956.
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Those in the Northern Hemisphere—including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, and most of Europe—will have the best chance of seeing Comet 13P/Olbers on July 20, according to Orbital Today.
The comet will appear low in the northwest sky for about two hours after sunset, but your ability to see it may also depend on weather conditions and the brightness of nearby city lights.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has also classified 13P/Olbers as a "Near Earth Asteroid" because of its orbit's proximity to Earth, SpaceReference.org states. At the same time, the agency reiterates that "it is not considered potentially hazardous because computer simulations have not indicated any imminent likelihood of future collision."
This comet was first discovered by a German astronomer named Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers in March 1815, Cometography reports. At the time, Olbers said 13P/Olbers "is small, has a badly defined nucleus, and a very pale transparent coma, and was visible in the cometseeker."
