NEW ZEALAND SKIES — Comet C/2025 R3 PanSTARRS, a long-period comet discovered in 2025, will be visible in southern skies over the next two weeks before fading from view. The comet originates in the Oort Cloud and takes roughly 170,000 years to orbit the sun.

The object had been traveling through the northern hemisphere before swinging around the sun and becoming visible in the southern hemisphere. Viewers in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and the Pacific should aim to capture the comet as soon as possible, as it will gradually decrease in brightness over the coming fortnight.

To see C/2025 R3 PanSTARRS, observers need binoculars, a telescope or a camera. Interested viewers should find a clear, unobstructed view of the western horizon just after sunset, with the comet most visible in the hour following sundown. Observers can expect to see a blue-green orb, called a coma, and a smudgy tail.

"It's not naked-eye brightness, but this one is a decently easy one to photograph, which is always nice," said Josh Aoraki, an astronomer at Te Whatu Stardome. "You get the coma and the tail looking like a little fuzzy meteor in the sky."

After this appearance, the comet will not return for about 170,000 years, if it returns at all. Aoraki said the orbital path leaves the comet's long-term future uncertain. "It could be back in that amount of time, but it also could be ejected from the solar system entirely," he said.