{"id":6674,"date":"2026-05-07T09:35:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/6674\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T09:35:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:35:19","slug":"how-to-see-rare-comet-c2025-r3-panstarrs-in-western-australian-skies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/6674\/","title":{"rendered":"How to see rare comet C2025-R3 PanSTARRS in Western Australian skies"},"content":{"rendered":"

A rare comet has appeared in WA skies, giving locals an opportunity to witness a piece of space history this week.<\/p>\n

Comet C2025-R3 PanSTARRS was first discovered in Hawaiian skies back in September, when the celestial body was navigating the northern hemisphere.<\/p>\n

Researchers from the Haleakala Observatory revealed the icy body came from the Oort Cloud, on the outskirts of the solar system, and has likely existed for hundreds of thousands of years.<\/p>\n

Since its discovery, the blue-and-green comet has slingshot around the sun and is now touring Earth\u2019s southern hemisphere, with WA locals fortunate enough to be in a prime viewing location.<\/p>\n

Perth Observatory tour administrator Matt Woods told PerthNow<\/a> this is a rare phenomenon, with the PanSTARRS comet not likely to return to Perth for hundreds of thousands of years \u2014 if ever \u2014 due to its extremely long orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis comet is a relic from the birth of the solar system, a frozen archive of cosmic history, and for a brief moment, it\u2019s visible from right here in WA,\u201d Mr Woods said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese comets are often one-time visitors because gravitational interactions with planets, particularly Jupiter, can eject comets from the solar system entirely.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo when you look up and spot this comet, you may be witnessing something that has not passed this way since long before human civilisation, and may never return again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CometCamera IconComet C\/2025 R3 pictured after sunset in Perth. Credit: Perth Observatory\/Facebook<\/p>\n

The comet is the first to cross WA skies so far in 2026 and many space enthusiasts have already caught a glimpse of it.<\/p>\n

David Nicolson, amateur astronomer and former head of the Gingin Observatory, told PerthNow he was able to capture images of the rare phenomenon at Watermans Bay using a telescope.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe comet is not \u2018naked eye\u2019 visible but fairly easy to see as a dull blob using binoculars or even a small telescope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will need a camera with a time exposure of at least 30 seconds, however, to see the tail.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PanSTARRS comet will be visible in the WA sky after sunset for the next week.<\/p>\n

For the best chance to see the comet:<\/p>\n

Head outside around 6:30 pmLook low toward the western horizonChoose a location with a clear view, such as a beach or open coastlineUse a pair of binoculars, a telescope, or a camera with a telephoto lens<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rare comet has appeared in WA skies, giving locals an opportunity to witness a piece of space…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[152,335,1134,464],"class_list":{"0":"post-6674","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-perth","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-perth","10":"tag-technology","11":"tag-wa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}