                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2026 April 18

                            PanSTARRS and Planets
                 Image Credit & Copyright: Luc Perrot (TWAN)

   Explanation: Near the eastern horizon before sunrise, Comet C/2025 R3
   PanSTARRS is getting brighter. Readily visible in binoculars and small
   telescopes, the comet may be just on the verge of naked-eye visibility
   from dark sky sites. Though it was not quite apparent to the eye,
   PanSTARRS is still easy to spot in this camera image taken on April 16.
   In the view from a volcanic peak overlooking France's Reunion Island,
   planet Earth, the comet shares eastern predawn skies with naked-eye
   planets Mars and Mercury and fainter Neptune. Saturn is hiding behind
   the low cloudbank that doesn't quite hide an old crescent Moon. This is
   a good weekend for northern hemisphere comet watchers to try to catch
   PanSTARRS an hour or so before sunrise, as the comet grows brighter
   approaching its perihelion on April 19. On April 26 the comet makes its
   closest approach to our fair planet but by then will be difficult to
   see in the solar glare. Good views of this comet PanSTARRS in late
   April and early May will be from the southern hemisphere.

                       Tomorrow's picture: starry-eyed
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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