Live Tracker: C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS)
🔴 Live Update: Position, Distance & Brightness
C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) may become visible as a naked-eye comet for the upcoming weeks in April 2026 in the early morning sky at mid-northern latitudes, just before sunrise.
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For Naked-Eye Viewers: Magnitudes <6 are visible under dark skies, <5 under urban skies, and <4 under light-polluted city skies.
Using binoculars or a small telescope? Because optics gather much more light than the human eye, you should be able to easily spot the comet even from within the city! As we move towards a new moon on April 17, the lack of moon glow will make spotting the comet much easier for everyone. It reaches perihelion (its closest point to the Sun) on April 19, and will reach its closest point to Earth on April 26 at roughly 73 million kilometers away.
Where to Look?
Here’s the current position of the comet in your local night sky, based on your location.*
* Location is securely estimated via your device’s built-in location services. If blocked, the map defaults to a mid-northern European perspective.
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🔭 Want to explore further? Click here for a full interactive planetarium featuring all the planets and comets currently visible in the night sky.
Predictions for the Next 15 Days
| Date (Local) | Right Ascension | Declination | Earth Distance | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Tips for Smart Telescope Users
If you are using a smart telescope, an ASIAIR, Stellarmate, or any other computerized tracking mount, simply copy the live RA and DEC coordinates from the tracker above. Because these coordinates pull directly from the latest JPL Horizons ephemeris data, your mount will automatically slew right to the comet’s exact position, allowing you to capture it using long exposures and stacking.
Note: Because your mount tracks the background stars, the comet will slowly appear to move across your field of view over time. This makes it a fantastic target for creating a timelapse video!
About This Comet
Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) is currently transitioning from an orbital (long-period) comet to a non-returning (hyperbolic) comet.
While it originally emerged from the distant Oort Cloud with an orbit that would have brought it back to our skies every 170,000 years, its current path through the inner solar system has been significantly altered by the gravitational pull of the planets (primarily Jupiter). Thanks to this “gravity assist,” the comet is now being ejected from our solar system on a one-way trip into interstellar space.