The Shootin' Guy

Comet C/2025 R3 PANSTARRS Pass by Earth

 A bright comet is making its way through our solar system, and you might be able to go out to see it in the night sky.

Discovered this past September, Comet C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS) has been steadily brightening throughout 2026, with predictions suggesting it will reach well within naked-eye visibility as it makes its closest passes to the Sun and Earth. To see it, head outside about an hour and a half before sunrise and face toward the east. It’s here that you’ll find Comet PANSTARRS as a faint, soft glow low on the horizon.

Try to spot it first with the naked eye, but you may need a pair of 10x50 binoculars to scan the sky until you come across it. If you own a telescope, switch to a low-powered eyepiece once you’ve found it to see the coma in more detail and possibly even a faint tail extending from it.

On the morning of April 19th, it will make its closest pass to the Sun and will appear near the star Alenib, somewhere around magnitude 2–3, putting it well within reach of naked-eye visibility. As it passes the Sun, PANSTARRS will get lower to the horizon each morning until it becomes too close to the rising Sun to safely view.

At this point, no one on Earth will be able to observe it for a few days because of how close it will be to the Sun. However, space-based telescopes, such as the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, will be able to image and capture it during this time.

As it begins to move away from the Sun, it will become an impressive target for observers in the Southern Hemisphere. On April 26th, Comet PANSTARRS will make its closest pass to Earth, and from that date on, it will begin to slowly rise night after night in the western sky as a naked-eye object, possibly reaching between magnitude 1 and 0.

Head outside about 30 to 45 minutes after sunset and scan the western sky until you find it. As April transitions into May, the comet will climb higher in the western sky, offering increasingly better views. Predictions suggest it will remain visible to the naked eye throughout the first half of May.

As Comet PANSTARRS travels through the constellation Orion, it will make a close pass to the Orion Nebula around May 10th, creating excellent opportunities for astrophotography.

If this comet holds together and you’re able to observe or image it, share where you saw it from and what your experience was like in the comments below. If you enjoyed this content, consider liking and subscribing to stay updated on what you can see in the night sky.

Thank you all so much for your continued support, now get out there and look for this thing!