{"id":604900,"date":"2026-04-15T04:08:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T04:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/604900\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T04:08:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T04:08:17","slug":"comet-r3-panstarrs-is-brightening-pics-and-chart-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/604900\/","title":{"rendered":"Comet R3 PanSTARRS is brightening! Pics and chart here"},"content":{"rendered":"

EarthSky friend John Ashley<\/a> shared his video<\/a> of Comet R3 PanSTARRS rising before the sun in Arizona on April 12, 2026. John wrote: \u201cComet PanSTARRS rises beyond the Smithsonian\u2019s Whipple Observatory<\/a>. The comet is barely visible to the eye but an easy target with binoculars. And it\u2019s getting brighter each morning. In the timelapse video, you can see the observatory spin, and you can also tell when the quarter moon rises as it colors the atmosphere blue.\u201d Thank you, John!<\/p>\n

Comet R3 PanSTARRS is brightening!<\/p>\n

Comet C\/2025 R3 PanSTARRS is now visible in the morning sky just before the sun rises. You\u2019ll want binoculars or a telescope to see it. Current brightness estimates<\/a> put it at about magnitude 4.6<\/a>. Use the finder chart below to help locate the comet in the constellation Pegasus<\/a>. It\u2019s inside the asterism<\/a> of the Great Square<\/a> of Pegasus. <\/p>\n

Comet R3 PanSTARRS will be closest to the sun on April 19, 2026. Then it will then pass closest to Earth just a week later, on April 26. The comet will get as close as 45.5 million miles (73.2 million km) from Earth. That\u2019s slightly closer than half the Earth-sun distance. When Comet PanSTARRS passes closest to Earth, it will be in the direction of where we see the sun. That\u2019s because the comet will be passing between Earth and the sun at that time.<\/p>\n

Observers in the Southern Hemisphere will have to wait until late April to try to spot Comet PanSTARRS low in the western horizon just after sunset. But the situation rapidly improves from there in early May as the comet gets higher just after dusk.<\/p>\n

\"FinderHave you seen Comet R3 PanSTARRS yet? It\u2019s visible in the morning sky just before the sun rises. This chart will show you where to look. Chart via AstroBob<\/a>. Used with permission.
\nImages of the comet from our community
\n\"AEarthSky friend Eliot Herman<\/a> shared a photo of Comet R3 PanSTARRS from Tucson on April 12, 2026, on his Flickr page<\/a>. Eliot wrote: \u201cConditions were actually rather poor seeing. As the time continued toward dawn, the haze was worse. Just as the comet rose above the Catalina Mountains, the sky was nice, and then minutes later it changed.\u201d Thank you, Eliot!
\n\"AView at EarthSky Community Photos<\/a>. | Samit Saha<\/a> in Mohalla, Jammu and Kashmir, India, captured Comet R3 PanSTARRS on April 12, 2026. Samit wrote: \u201cMoments before this capture, a mild earthquake (magnitude 4.6) originating near Bhaderwah subtly shook the region, adding an unexpected layer of intensity to the experience. Despite the brief disturbance, the sky remained calm and offered a striking contrast to the restless world below.\u201d Thank you, Samit!
\n\"AView at EarthSky Community Photos<\/a>. | Ross Stone<\/a> in Big Pine, California, captured the comet on April 11, 2026. Ross wrote: \u201cSo many satellites wanted to be in the photo with our otherworldly visitor, comet C\/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS).\u201d Thank you, Ross!
\nMore comet pics
\n\"AView at EarthSky Community Photos<\/a>. | Bartlomiej Grzywacz<\/a> in Poland captured Comet R3 on April 9, 2026. Bartlomiej wrote: \u201cThe object was very low above the horizon. It was getting bright quickly. It\u2019s not an easy comet to capture from Poland due to the timing and its low altitude.\u201d Thank you, Bartlomiej!
\n\"CarView at EarthSky Community Photos<\/a>. | Petr Horalek<\/a> in Prosec u Sece, Czech Republic, captured the comet on April 9, 2026. Petr wrote: \u201cIn the morning sky, just before the twilight, you can easily find the comet C\/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) in the constellation Pegasus<\/a>. It\u2019s by the asterism<\/a> of the Great Square<\/a>. Northerners can succeed with spotting it through a small telescope. The comet\u2019s tail exceeded 14 degrees<\/a> in the photographs, making it such a nice object along with the Andromeda Galaxy<\/a> located on the left. The moonlight made the foreground decently illuminated at the same moment when an early-bird driver went in the car down on the road.\u201d Thank you, Petr!
\n\"AView at EarthSky Community Photos<\/a>. | Jelieta Walinski<\/a> also caught the comet. Jelieta wrote: \u201cWhat happens when a comet barely clears the horizon before dawn? On April 9, under the dark skies of Arizona, I captured Comet C\/2025 R3 just moments after rising into view. From the Desert Bloom Observatory, the comet appeared extremely low in the sky, its faint glow filtered through thick layers of Earth\u2019s atmosphere.\u201d Thank you, Jelieta!<\/p>\n

Did you catch a pic of the comet? Submit it to us!<\/a><\/p>\n

Bottom line: Comet R3 PanSTARRS is now visible in the morning sky for those with binoculars or a telescope. Will it get brighter? See pics and a finder chart here.<\/p>\n

Kelly Kizer Whitt
\n View Articles<\/a><\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/p>\n

Kelly Kizer Whitt – EarthSky\u2019s nature and travel vlogger on YouTube – writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She’s been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children’s picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EarthSky friend John Ashley shared his video of Comet R3 PanSTARRS rising before the sun in Arizona on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604901,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[49,48,66,306],"class_list":{"0":"post-604900","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-space"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604900\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}