Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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 May 8 [2]A starfield appears with three large objects. Near the top is a bright star. Near the middle is a small light blue nebula. And near the bottom is a comet with its long tail extending to the upper left and passing in front of both the star and the blue nebula. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Comet R3 PanSTARRS Before Rigel Image Credit & Copyright: [3]Jakub Kuřák & [4]Martin Mašek ([5]FZU of the Czech Academy of Sciences) Explanation: Which way is [6]Comet R3 PanSTARRS going? Not towards the star at the top of the image, because that is [7]Rigel, which, being far in the background, is [8]unrelated to the comet. Not through the nebula in the image middle, because that is the [9]Witch Head Nebula and it, too, is far in the distance -- but [10]not far from Rigel. Not into northern skies because over the past week Comet [11]C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) has moved into southern skies and is now best visible in [12]Earth's [13]Southern Hemisphere toward the west after sunset. Angularly, [14]Comet R3 PanSTARRS is slowly moving toward the upper right, night by night, and will soon be in the [15]constellation Orion. Spatially, the comet is now headed out of our [16]Solar System but should remain [17]visible to cameras in southern skies for about a week. The [18]featured image was captured last week near [19]Cerro Paranal in [20]Chile. Growing Gallery: [21]Comet R3 PanSTARRS in 2026 Tomorrow's picture: stereo Moon __________________________________________________________________ [22]< | [23]Archive | [24]Submissions | [25]Index | [26]Search | [27]Calendar | [28]RSS | [29]Education | [30]About APOD | [31]Discuss | [32]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [33]Robert Nemiroff ([34]MTU) & [35]Jerry Bonnell ([36]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [37]Specific rights apply. [38]NASA Web Privacy, [39]Accessibility, [40]Notices; A service of: [41]ASD at [42]NASA / [43]GSFC, [44]NASA Science Activation & [45]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2605/CometRigel_Karuk_2851.jpg 3. https://www.instagram.com/jakubkurak/ 4. https://www.fzu.cz/en/people/mgr-martin-masek 5. https://www.fzu.cz/en/home 6. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/comets/ 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230407.html 8. https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https://i.redd.it/n1kcuhwl80y91.jpg 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap231004.html 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241031.html 11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/2025_R3_(PanSTARRS) 12. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/facts/ 13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Hemisphere 14. https://theskylive.com/c2025r3-info 15. https://science.nasa.gov/universe/discovering-the-universe-through-the-constellation-orion/ 16. https://eyes.nasa.gov/apps/solar-system/#/home 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260420.html 18. https://www.instagram.com/p/DYCUulairo3/ 19. https://youtu.be/k_LwlwJWZN0 20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile 21. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.946613941400517 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260507.html 23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 26. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 28. https://apod.com/feed.rss 29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 31. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260508 32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260509.html 33. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 35. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 36. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 37. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 38. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 39. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 40. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 41. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 42. https://www.nasa.gov/ 43. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 44. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 45. http://www.mtu.edu/