{"id":564740,"date":"2026-05-03T23:22:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T23:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/564740\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T23:22:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T23:22:18","slug":"comet-visible-in-nz-skies-for-the-next-week-then-gone-for-170000-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/564740\/","title":{"rendered":"Comet visible in NZ skies for the next week, then gone for 170,000 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

\nA closer look at the comet, captured from Wellington.
\nPhoto: Supplied: Brian Diettrich\n<\/p>\n

A comet never seen before is lighting up the Southern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n

The Oort cloud comet – known as C\/2025 R3 PanSTARRS – will be visible in New Zealand skies for the next week.<\/p>\n

Te Whatu Stardome astronomer Josh Aoraki told RNZ it can be seen about an hour after sunset.<\/p>\n

“Anywhere in the country is going to get a good view,” he said.<\/p>\n

Have pictures of the comet you would like to share? Send them to iwitness@rnz.co.nz<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\nThe comet captured from Hikurangi.
\nPhoto: Supplied\n<\/p>\n

Good weather was critical for viewing the comet, so checking the forecast in advance is a good idea, he said.<\/p>\n

It was also important to find a viewing spot with an unobstructed view of the western horizon, he added.<\/p>\n

“So, for example, on the West Coast is going to be a really good place.<\/p>\n

“That’ll give you … [the] best viewing opportunity.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\nThe comet up close in the night sky.
\nPhoto: Supplied: Lauren Gooch\n<\/p>\n

It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as the comet has an orbital period of about 170,000 years.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Ng\u0101 Pitopito K\u014drero<\/a>, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A closer look at the comet, captured from Wellington. Photo: Supplied: Brian Diettrich A comet never seen before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[4688,4687,50,4689,4686,4684,4685,90,416,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-564740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-audio","tag-current-affairs","tag-news","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz","tag-science","tag-space","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}