Comet C/2025 R3 PanSTARRS Visible in Southern Skies for Two Weeks

A comet from the solar system's outer edges will appear in southern skies for the next two weeks, providing a rare viewing opportunity before it vanishes for another 170,000 years.

The comet, C/2025 R3 PanSTARRS, traveled through the northern hemisphere but has swung around the sun and now shows up in the south, said Josh Aoraki, an astronomer at Te Whatu Stardome in Auckland, New Zealand.

The comet shines fairly bright, but viewers need binoculars, a telescope or a camera to spot it, Aoraki said.

"It's not naked-eye brightness, but this one is a decently easy one to photograph, which is always nice," he said.

The comet will fade gradually over the next two weeks. Viewers in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and the Pacific should try to capture it soon, Aoraki said.

People hoping to see the comet should seek a clear view of the western horizon just after sunset, when it sits low in the sky. It stands out most in the hour after sundown.

Those who spot it can expect a blue-green orb, a temporary gas around the nucleus known as a coma, plus a smudgy tail.

"You get the coma and the tail looking like a little fuzzy meteor in the sky," Aoraki said.

C/2025 R3 PanSTARRS comes from the Oort Cloud, a vast shell of icy comet-like objects at the solar system's farthest edges. Discovered in 2025, it counts as a long-period comet with an orbit of about 170,000 years around the sun, assuming it holds together.

"It's really hard to predict the trajectory of them, because as they do go around the sun, they're losing mass, and that can change the path," Aoraki said.

"So it could be back in that amount of time, but it also could be ejected from the solar system entirely."