APOD: 2026 April 18 – PanSTARRS and Planets
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:
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
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