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13h ago

Rare Comet Pan‑STARRS Now Glows Before Dawn for a Short Northern Viewing Window

The window closes around April 19 perihelion, leaving the comet out of view for Northern Hemisphere skywatchers.

Caption: Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) is continuing to brighten as it approaches perihelion, visible in the early-morning sky. This photo shows the comet not long ago, on March 29. Credit: Dimitrios Katevainis (Flickr, CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Overview

  • Skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere have the best chance to see Pan‑STARRS before sunrise through about April 20, low on the eastern horizon near the Great Square of Pegasus.
  • The comet reaches perihelion on April 19 at about 0.5 astronomical units from the Sun, a safe distance that makes breakup unlikely compared with recent sungrazers.
  • Closest approach to Earth comes on April 27, when it may be brightest, yet the viewing geometry will keep it out of sight from the Northern Hemisphere.
  • Forecasts cluster around magnitude +2 to +3, though comet brightness is hard to predict, so binoculars such as 10x50s are advised to pick it out of dawn twilight.
  • This visitor likely last passed the Sun about 170,000 years ago and was discovered by the Pan‑STARRS survey in Hawaii on September 7, 2025, with darker skies helped this week by the new moon on April 17.