Astronomy Picture of the Day - Comet R3 PanSTARRS Through Time

NASA ^ | 8 Jun, 2026 | Image Credit & Copyright: Jakub Kuřák & Martin Mašek (FZU of the Czech Academy of Sciences)

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: What happens to a comet as it leaves our inner Solar System? Now, the arrival of a comet into the inner Solar System is typically heralded with great fanfare and high hopes that the comet will become bright and photogenic. But on the way out, the comet's nucleus is less warmed by the Sun, less gas and dust are expelled, the bright coma around the nucleus shrinks and fades, and the tail length drops off. Many comets will then return to the outer Solar System and only return in hundreds or thousands of years. In contrast, some comets -- like Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) -- receive a gravitational kick from the planets and so will never return. Pictured, Comet R3 PanSTARRs was imaged deeply many nights in early to mid-May near Cerro Paranal in Chile. Later images appear closer to the top and clearly show the shrinking ion tail.

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TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

[MtnClimber]

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

[TangoLimaSierra]

Weird time lapse till you remember the tail doesn’t necessarily indicate direction of travel.

[MtnClimber]

Yes, the comet has been flung into deep space and the solar wind blows the tail dust ahead of the direction of travel.

[NavyShoe]

Not exactly Comet Kohoutek

[No name given]

Wow.