C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS)
Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) imaged on 16 March 2026 | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Pan-STARRS |
| Discovery date | 8 September 2025 |
| Designations | |
| CK25R030[2] | |
| Orbital characteristics[3][4] | |
| Epoch | 22 November 2025 (JD 2461001.5) |
| Observation arc | 190 days |
| Earliest precovery date | 7 September 2025 |
| Number of observations | 509 |
| Aphelion | ≈6000 AU (inbound)[3] ejection (outbound) |
| Perihelion | 0.499 AU (75 million km) |
| Semi-major axis | ≈3000 AU (inbound) |
| Eccentricity | 0.99983 (inbound) 1.00024 (outbound) |
| Orbital period | ≈170000 years (inbound) ejection (outbound) |
| Inclination | 124.73° |
| 38.69° | |
| Argument of periapsis | 162.23° |
| Mean anomaly | -0.00259° |
| Next perihelion | 19 April 2026 |
| TJupiter | -0.498 |
| Earth MOID | 0.489 AU |
| Jupiter MOID | 1.45 AU |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Comet total magnitude (M1) | 12.5±0.6 |
| 8.5 (2026-03-20)[5] | |
C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) is a hyperbolic Oort cloud comet that will reach perihelion on 19 April 2026. Around perihelion may reach a naked eye visibility of around apparent magnitude +2.[5][6] The comet was discovered by PanSTARRS in images obtained on 8 September 2025.[1] By 20 March 2026 it became visible in 10x50 binoculars.[7]
Observational history
Discovery
The comet was spotted in images obtained by the 1.8-m Ritchey-Chretien telescope at Haleakala, Hawaii, as part of the PanSTARRS survey, at an apparent magnitude of about 20. The head of the comet appeared diffuse, about 2.5 arcseconds across, and there was no tail visible.[1] A broad tail 10 arcseconds long was visible in follow-up images by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. On 11 September the comet was 3.60 AU (539 million km) from the Sun.[2]
Follow-up observations
As of early March 2026, it is visible in telescopes just before sunrise about 25 degrees from the Sun. In mid March it had brighened to about magnitude 9.[5] On 20 March 2026 the comet was detected visually in 10x50 binoculars by Alan Hale.[7] On 7 April 2026 it will be 33 degrees from the Sun.[8] It will come to perihelion, at 0.499 astronomical units (74,600,000 km; 46,400,000 mi), on 19 April 2026 when it will be 20 degrees from the Sun.[9] Afterwards it will move between the Sun and Earth and its brightness could be boosted by forward scattering.[6] It will reach solar conjunction on 25 April 2026 around 05:24 UT when it will be 3.5 degrees from the Sun.[10] The comet will pass 0.489 AU (73.2 million km) from Earth on 26 April 2026.[11][9]
Its future (outbound) trajectory shows the comet being ejected from the Solar System.[3]
See also
- C/2025 R2 (SWAN)
- C/2026 A1 (MAPS), a Kreutz sungrazer that is expected to become visible to the naked eye a few weeks before C/2025 R3
References
- ^ a b c Y. Ramanjooloo; R. Weryk; R. Wainscoat; et al. (18 September 2025). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS)". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 5607: 1. Bibcode:2025CBET.5607....1R.
- ^ a b Y. Ramanjooloo; A. Nastasi; A. Aletti; A. Novichonok; R. Weryk (18 September 2025). "Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS)". Minor Planet Electronic Circulars. 2025-S104.
- ^ a b c Horizons output. "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for PanSTARRS (C/2025 R3)". Archived from the original on 4 March 2026. Retrieved 18 March 2026. (Solution using the Solar System's barycenter (Sun+Jupiter). Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)
Inbound period (PR) = 6.06E+07 / 365.25 days = 165900 years - ^ "C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 14 March 2026. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
- ^ a b c "COBS Observation list: C/2025 R3". Crni Vrh Observatory. Retrieved 3 March 2026. Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) Lightcurve
- ^ a b J. Carter (2 January 2026). "Will Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) be the 'great comet' of 2026?". Space.com. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
- ^ a b Alan Hale. "C/2025 R3 visual (comet-ml)". Retrieved 20 March 2026.
- ^ "Sun-Observer-Target angle (local maximum) for PanSTARRS (C/2025 R3) on 2026-Apr-07". JPL Horizons. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
- ^ a b G. van Buitenen. "C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS)". astro.vanbuitenen.nl. Retrieved 3 March 2026.
- ^ "Solar conjunction (Sun-Observer-Target angle) for PanSTARRS (C/2025 R3) on 2026-Apr-25". JPL Horizons. Retrieved 8 March 2026.
- ^ "Earth approach on 2026-Apr-26". JPL Horizons. Archived from the original on 5 March 2026. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
External links
- C/2025 R3 at the JPL Small-Body Database
- C/2025 R3 at Gideon van Buitenen's website
- C/2025 R3 at Seiichi Yoshida's website
- Comet Chasing @ Youtube: Chasing the Comets of March