https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Hale%E2%80%93Bopp wrote:
<<Comet Hale–Bopp likely made its previous perihelion 4,200 years ago, in July 2215 BC. The estimated closest approach to Earth was 1.4 AU, and it may have been observed in ancient Egypt during the 6th dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Pepi II (Reign: 2247 – c. 2216 BC).
Pepi's pyramid at Saqqara (in ancient Egyptian
Men-nefer-Pepi meaning Pepi's splendour) is enduring contains a text referring to an "nhh-star" as a companion of the pharaoh in the heavens, where "nhh" is the hieroglyph for long hair.
Hale–Bopp may have had a near collision with Jupiter in early June 2215 BC, which probably caused a dramatic change in its orbit, and 2215 BC may have been its first passage through the inner Solar System from the Oort cloud. The comet's current orbit is almost perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic, so further close approaches to planets will be rare. However, in April 1996 the comet passed within 0.77 AU of Jupiter, close enough for its orbit to be measurably affected by the planet's gravity. The comet's orbit was shortened considerably to a period of roughly 2,533 years, and it will next return to the inner Solar System around the year 4385. Its greatest distance from the Sun (aphelion) will be about 370 AU, reduced from about 525 AU.
The estimated probability of Hale-Bopp's striking Earth in future passages through the inner Solar System is remote, about 2.5×10
−9 per orbit. However, given that the comet nucleus is around 60 km in diameter, the consequences of such an impact would be apocalyptic. Weissman conservatively estimates the diameter at 35 km; an estimated density of 0.6 g/cm
3 then gives a cometary mass of 1.3×10
19 g. At a probable impact velocity of 52.5 km/s, impact energy can be calculated as 1.9×10
32 ergs, or 4.4×10
9 megatons, about
44 times the estimated energy of the K-T impact event.
Over many orbits, the cumulative effect of gravitational perturbations on comets with high orbital inclinations and small perihelion distances is generally to reduce the perihelion distance to very small values. Hale–Bopp has about a 15% chance of eventually becoming a sungrazing comet through this process.>>