Comet C/2025 R3 Panstarrs: View from Austria (Starlink satellites removed)

Comet C/2025 R3 Panstarrs: View from Austria (Starlink satellites removed)

Astrophotographer Michael Jaeger: "If you want to show the comet in all its glory, you have to remove the Starlink satellites. We generally do this and won’t mention it again in the future, since there are up to a dozen streaks in almost every image. This is the last image taken before perihelion, captured in Austria using an 8-inch RASA telescope and a color CMOS camera (10 exposures of 2 minutes each)."

Discovered by the Pan-STARRS survey in September 2025, the comet is diving toward its closest approach to the sun (0.50 AU) on April 19, 2026, bringing it well inside the orbit of Venus. If current trends continue, the comet could brighten to magnitude +2, easily seen and photographed in the pre-dawn sky.

The comet's brightness will receive a further boost between April 24-25 when it passes almost directly between Earth and the Sun. The process is called "forward scattering." Sunlight passing through the comet's dusty atmosphere could be amplified 100-fold or more.

We will not be able to see the April 24 surge from Earth. The comet will be too close to the Sun. However, coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) will have a great view of what could briefly become a truly magnificent object.

Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. Austria is bordered by Germany to the northwest, the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia to the northeast, Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west.

Image Credit: Michael Jaeger, Gerald Rhemann

Location: Astronomisches Zentrum Martinsberg  (AZM), Martinsberg, Austria

Text Credit: Spaceweather[dot]com

Date: April 18, 2026

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