SOMEWHERE BETWEEN PARANORMAL & ABNORMAL

Comet that’s really a near-Earth asteroid comes back around after 69 years

PARABNORMAL NEWS — Keep an eye out for a comet that only comes around every 69 years.

Comet 13P Olbers is zipping through space fast and reached its closest approach to Earth on July 20 at 176 million miles.

It’s close enough to be seen with binoculars or a small telescope this summer as long as you have an unobstructed view of the horizon. So close that NASA classifies it a near-Earth asteroid, but with no risk of hitting Earth.

During its orbit around our sun, the space rock travels from just outside Earth’s orbit all the way to Neptune and beyond.

Comet 13P Olbers is named after German astronomer Heinrich Olbers who first identified it more than 200 years ago.

Photo: Dan Bartlett

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