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[[Image:Comet-Hale-Bopp-29-03-1997 hires adj.jpg|250px|Comet Hale-Bopp]]

'''[[Comet Hale-Bopp]]''' sails across the sky in the vicinity of [[Pazin]] in [[Istria]], [[Croatia]]. To the lower right of the comet the [[Andromeda Galaxy]] is also faintly visible. The [[comet]] was visible to the naked eye for a record 18 months, twice as long as the [[Great Comet of 1811]]. At [[perihelion]], it shone brighter than any star in the sky except [[Sirius]], and its two tails stretched 30-40 degrees across the sky. The passage of Hale-Bopp was notable also for inciting a degree of [[panic]] about comets not seen for decades. Rumours that the comet was being followed by an [[extraterrestrial life|alien]] [[spacecraft]] gained remarkable currency, and inspired a mass [[suicide]] among followers of the [[Heaven's Gate (cult)|Heaven's Gate]] [[cult]].

{{{type|Photo}}} credit: Philipp Salzgeber 
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Wiki143:POTD column/November 11, 2006 - Revision history

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