Rare comet visits our early morning sky this week
Right now may be the best to try to view it. It’s located in the constellation Pegasus about 90 minutes before sunrise.
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There's a new visitor to our solar system. This past week, Comet R3 (C/2005R3 Panstarrs) has been spotted by astrophotographers all around the Northern Hemisphere. Thisone is a little hard to see because it’s visible right before the sun rises and it’s very low in the sky. Right now, it’s a camera comet and astronomers hope it will become visible to the naked eye.
The comet has brightened and expanded its tail since it was discovered back in September 2025. According to Space.com, the comet has brightened a touch this week, down to a 4.6 magnitude. It’s difficult to predict exactly how bright the comet will become, but it may drop as low as +2 to +3 magnitude. That would put it as bright as Polaris, our north star. Bright and easily seen objects in our night sky, such as Sirius or Venus, are roughly -1.5 to -4 magnitude. The lower the number and more negative it is, the brighter it appears.
Comet R3 is a long period comet, meaning it could have last been in our solar system approximately 170,000 years ago. It’s coming in all the way from the Oort cloud which is the outer icy and rocky boundary of our solar system. R3 is traveling toward the Sun, and it will brighten even more. It will pass by the Sun on April 19-20 and after that if still intact, it will come closest to Earth on April 26-27. Unfortunately, at that time, it will only be visible to the Southern Hemisphere.
So right now may be the best to try to view it. It’s located in the constellation Pegasus about 90 minutes before sunrise.
Get those star charts ready!
