Astroblog: May 2026

Tuesday, May 05, 2026

UPDATE on Comet C/2025 R2 (PANSTARRS)

Comet C/2025 R3 captured from Caufield Australia by Con Stoitsis ©, May 4th.

Comet C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS) has been recovered in the Southern Hemisphere and Australasia by multiple observers. Magnitude seems to be in the order of 5 or so. Although this makes it theoretically dark sky visible to the unaided eye, most observers will find binoculars or a small telescope best.

The comet is now climbing into darker skies and will be visible when the sky is full dark. I have been able to detect it in 10x50 binocular at nautical twilight, so it should remain visible when it gets fully dark for several days, especially as the moon wanes.

Of course this cloud permitting. Which it hasn't been.

While there has been outstanding images of the comet (see here and here) they are all long exposures, though binoculars it will look like a small fuzzy ball with a stubby tail

I finally got Comet C/2025 R3 after days of rain and cloud. It was still cloudy, but there were gaps that let me catch it in binoculars. Its the fuzzy dot roughly in the centre above the line of three stars. My long exposure got photobombed by clouds so I'm not presenting it. Under difficult conditions with twilight and drifting clouds interfering I estimated maybe magnitude 5.5?


Comet C/2025 R3, 4May, 2026 at 18:39 ACST as captured with my Samsung S24, 5x zoom, ISO 3200 and 2 seconds exposure from Largs Bay. The small unprepossessing fuzzy blob roughly in the centre is the comet, compare with the stellarium chart. t the right. Click to embigen	Stellarium chart of the comets position on 4May, 2026 at 18:39 ACST. Nestled between 48 and 57 Eridanus.

A printable B&W spotters chart and viewing guides are at my comet PANSTARRS page

https://astroblogger.blogspot.com/2026/04/c2025-r3-panstars-how-to-see-it-from.html

Labels: binocular, C/2025 R3, comet

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 7:41 pm 0 comments

Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower 6-7 May, 2026

The north-eastern horizon as seen from Adelaide at 5:00 am ACST on 7 May, the eta Aquariid radiant is marked with a starburst. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

The eta Aquariid meteor shower, which is produced by the debris from Halley’s Comet, will should peak on May 7 (strictly speaking May 6, 3UT).

This year the waning gibbous moon interferes. Dark sky sites could expect to see meteor every 6 minutes.

People in the suburbs should see a meteor around once every 10 minutes, and in the country about once every 6 minutes. The radiant of the shower is about five hand-spans up from the eastern horizon, and three hand-spans to the left of due east at 4 am (see spotter chart at 5:00 am above). The radiant is above the disincentive pair of Saturn and Mars below near the eastern horizon , which makes a good reference point.

Weather prediction looks a bit dodgy for South Australia and the east coast.

You may have read that this year the eta Aquariids have a predicted ZHR of 50 meteors. The figure ZHR is zenithal hourly rate. This is the number of meteors that a single observer would see per hour if the shower's "point of origin", or radiant, were at the zenith and the sky was dark enough for 6.5-magnitude stars to be visible to the naked eye.

In practice, you will never see this many meteors as the radiant will be some distance below the zenith. Also, unless you are out deep in the countryside, the darkness will be less than ideal (and of course this years Moonlight).

The radiant of the shower is about five hand-spans up from the eastern horizon and three hand-spans to the left of due east at 4 am (see above for a spotter chart at 5 am). When looking, be sure to let your eyes adjust for at least 5 minutes so your eyes can be properly adapted to the dark.

Don't look directly at the radiant site, because the meteors will often start their "burn" some distance from it, but around a hand-span up or to the side. The best way to watch the Eta Aquariids is to let your eye rove around the entire patch of the sky above the north-east horizon, between the only two obvious bright stars in the northeast, Altair and Fomalhaut, and Saturn as the center of your field (again, see the spotter chart at 5:00 am above). The meteors are fast, with few fireballs and persistent trains.

Be patient, although you should see an average of a meteor every 6 minutes, a whole stretch of time can go by without a meteor, then a whole bunch turn up one after the other.

Make yourself comfortable, choose an observing site that has little to obstruct the eastern horizon, have a comfortable chair to sit in (a banana lounger is best), or blankets and pillows. Rug up against the cold. A hot Thermos of something to drink and plenty of mosquito protection will complete your observing preparations. As well as meteors, keep an eye out for satellites (see Heavens Above for predictions from your site). The Milky way will arch above you, with Saturn and Mars below the radiant.You can follow the progress of the shower at the IMO live Aquariid site.

Guides for taking meteor photos are here and here.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: eta aquarid, Meteors, unaided eye

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 5:54 pm 0 comments

Thursday May 7 to Thursday May 14

The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday May 10. Venus climbs higher in the twilight. Jupiter dominates the north-western sky. In the morning Saturn and Mars form a line. On the 30th comet C/2025 R3 PANSTARS is fading but still should be visible in binoculars. Eta Aquariid meteor shower 7th May.

The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday May 10.

Eastern horizon on the morning of Saturday, May 9 as seen from Adelaide at 6:01 ACST (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen).

Saturn, and Mars form a line in the twilight.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes before sunrise).

Western sky on the evening of Saturday, May 9 as seen from Adelaide at 18:23 ACST ( 60 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen).

Venus is visible above the western horizon with Jupiter nearby, you may need a level, unobscured horizon to see it.

C/2025 R3 will be visible in binoculars near the bright star Rigel.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (60 minutes after sunset).

North-western sky on Saturday, May 9 as seen from Adelaide at 18:58 ACDST (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). Jupiter forms a broad triangle with the bright stars Betelgeuse and Procyon, and a narrower triangle with the stars Castor and Pollux.

The inset shows the telescopic view of Jupiter at this time.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

Western sky on Thursday, May 7 as seen from Adelaide at 18:54 ACST (90 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen) when the sky is fully dark. Comet C/2025 R3 will be visible in binoculars near beta Eridani, the next obvious star below the bright star Rigel.

Comet C/2025 R3 has now been reported visible in the Southern Hemisphere. It is probably around magnitude 5. Although this makes it theoretically dark sky visible, most observers will find binoculars best.

It is now climbing into darker skies and will be visible when the sky is full dark. I have been able to detect it in 10x50 binocular at nautical twilight, so it should remain visible when it gets fully dark for several days as at moon wanes, cloud permitting.

A printable B&W spotters chart and viewing guides are at my comet C/2025 R3 viewing page.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time (90 minutes after sunset).

The north-eastern horizon as seen from Adelaide at 5:00 am ACST on Thursday, 7 May, the eta Aquariid radiant is marked with a starburst. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

The eta Aquariid meteor shower, which is produced by the debris from Halley’s Comet, should peak on May 7 (strictly speaking May 6, 3UT). This year the waning gibbous moon interferes. Dark sky sites could expect to see meteor every 6 minutes.

Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at roughly the equivalent local time.

Whole sky on Saturday, May 9 as seen from Adelaide at 18:58 ACDST, 90 minutes after sunset (click to embiggen).

Jupiter is prominent in the north-west.

Bright Canopus and Sirius are sinking from the Zenith. Orion is now low in the north-western sky.

The Southern Cross is rising in the Southern sky. The moon waning and the fainter clusters and nebula are becoming easier to see.

Elsewhere in Australia will see a similar view at the equivalent time (90 minutes after sunset).

Mercury is lost in the twilight.

Venus climbs higher in the evening twilight.

Mars is climbing in the twilight.

Jupiter is seen most of the evening, setting before midnight. Jupiter forms a broad triangle with the bright stars Betelgeuse and Procyon, and a narrower triangle with the stars Castor and Pollux.

Saturn is climbing in the twilight above Mars.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ACST, Western sky at 10 pm ACST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Star Map via Virtual sky. Use your mouse to scroll around and press 8 when your pointer is in the map to set to the current time.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Here is the near-real time satellite view of the clouds (day and night) http://satview.bom.gov.au/

Labels: weekly sky

# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 1:29 am 0 comments