A visitor from the outermost reaches of the solar system is about to become a naked-eye object. Introducing Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2025 R3):

Comet Pan-STARRS (C/2025 R3)
© Taken by Michael Jaeger, Gerald Rhemann on March 23, 2026 @ Weißenkirchen, AustriaOne week after the full moon in April, Comet C/2025 R3 Panstarrs is expected to become visible to the naked eye. On March 23, it reached a magnitude of 7.8 for the first time, and its brightness has increased significantly in recent weeks. It will not reach its perihelion—nor its closest approach to Earth—for another month. The image was taken with an 11"RASA and a color CMOS camera
Michael Jaeger and Gerald Rhemann photographed the comet (magnitude +7.8) from Weißenkirchen, Austria: "The comet's brightness has increased significantly in recent weeks," they say. "One week after the full moon in April, it is expected to become visible to the naked eye."

Discovered by the Pan-STARRS survey in Sept. 2025, the comet is diving toward its closest approach to the sun (0.50 AU) on April 19th, 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.

C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS)
© Taken by Mike Olason on March 25, 2026 @ Tucson, ArizonaComet C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS) has developed a nice tail, the tail is longer than the 1.1 degrees visible in these images. The comet's tail has several lumps visible. The comet was magnitude 8.4 with a coma 4.5 arc minutes wide in these images. Click on the larger image to get the best resolution image.
The comet's brightness could receive a further boost on 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 will be amplified 100-fold or more.

We won't be able to see the April 24th surge from Earth. The comet will be too close to the sun. But coronagraphs onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) will have a great view of what could briefly become a truly magnificent object.

More Images: from Dan Bartlett of June Lake, California; from Mike Olason of Tucson, Arizona; from Larry Stevens of Portal, Arizona