On this day in space: March 22, 1997: Comet Hale-Bopp flies by Earth

On March 22, 1997, a super bright comet by the name of Hale-Bopp made its closest approach to Earth. It was bright enough for people to see without telescopes or binoculars for over 18 months.

Hale-Bopp comet is regarded as one of the most viewed comets in history. — Comet Hale-Bopp, one of the most viewed comets in history. (Image credit: ESO/E. Slawik)

It passed by Earth at a safe distance of about 120 million miles before continuing its orbit around the sun.

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As it got closer to the sun, Hale-Bopp's two blue and white tails grew bigger and brighter. By the time it made it to the sun on April 1, it was shining brighter than every star in the sky except for Sirius.

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Hanneke Weitering is a multimedia journalist in the Pacific Northwest reporting on the future of aviation at FutureFlight.aero and Aviation International News and was previously the Editor for Spaceflight and Astronomy news here at Space.com. As an editor with over 10 years of experience in science journalism she has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos.

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