Sky Observer Anthony Cook

Comet C/2025 R3 PanSTARRS on March 23 with Takahashi Epsilon 130ED. Credit: Günter Kerschhuber astronomie.at/astrofoto/c-20…

For those interested, a newly discovered Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) is expected to be visible in the day sky around April 4-6…. ☄️ ☀️ space.com/astronomy/come…

Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) is now brightening rapidly? The latest reported brightness estimates and measurements seem to indicate the comet is now between magnitudes 8.5 and 9.0. It is at this point unclear whether this is an outburst or if the comet has resumed 'regular' brightening. All bets are off.

Antlia Solar 200/F4 Ha&CaK Telescope Technical Specifications. #solar200F4 #antlia200F4

This girl is still alive, and there is still time to act... help bring attention to her case so we can save her life I never ask for anything, but please RT and pray

Eurovision final in Vienna on May 16? Here’s your refuge…I'll conduct an Opera Gala with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and five outstanding young singers. Tickets (€20 for anyone under 30) → konzerthaus.at/en/program-and…

マップス彗星C/2026 A1（MAPS）、中央を大きく外してしまいましたが、何とか写野内に居ました。拡大すると淡い尾が左（東）の恒星方向にあるようです。 2026/03/23 19h20m（JST）～30sec×9 ISO3200 16cmF4.8ニュートン直焦点 PENTAX KF

短焦点で春は撮る物が無いので、高度30度に満たない北アメリカ星雲を撮影。 低空なのに良く写った。 SV555/SC571CC/3分×9枚

4月に明るくなると期待されているMAPS彗星（C/2026 A1）、ここにきて明らかに光度の伸びが悪い。彗星は既に金星よりも太陽に近く、本来なら指数関数的に明るさが増していなければならないところ。それが直線状にしか増えていないというのは、物質の噴出が早い段階で限界量に達してしまったか……？

This month on March 25th 1996 great comet Hyakutake put on a tremendous show. Closest to Earth not far from Polaris & visible for much of the night. Coma approx 2 degrees wide and naked eye gas tail 80 to 100 degrees long, blue in colour. Discovered using 6" binoculars.

Facebookで50 and 30 yrs ago !と言う投稿を見たので、私もこの素晴らしき大彗星をアップしておきます。West彗星は１９７６年３月４日、百武彗星は１９９６年３月２５日です。初めて見た大彗星West彗星と、天を二つに割る長い尾を見せた百武彗星は、私の記憶の中でも特別です。

C/2025 R3（PANSTARRS）パンスターズ彗星ですが、24日朝のは失敗と思っていたのが、勘違いがあり救えました。ピントはやはり甘いです。拡大すると尾が2本。　2026/03/24 04h24m（JST）～30sec×39 ISO3200 16cmF4.8ニュートン直焦点 PENTAX KF

That rock fell from space on Saturday, burst through roof & ceiling, bounced hard enough off the floor to hit the ceiling again, and finally rattled to a stop. It sure surpised the family - thankfully, no one was hurt. Earth gets hit by about 50 tons of meteors EVERY DAY. Luckily 2/3rds of our planet's surface is water, so mostly they splash into the sea. But not always ... details: khou.com/article/news/l… photo: Ponderosa Fire Department

The Islamic regime has confirmed the death-sentence of 18 year old Melika Azizi was carried earlier today. Melika was arrested in January 2026 during nation-wide protests and charged with "moharebeh" (waging war against god for allegedly burning Islamic regime symbols. In court, Melika told the judge: "You let so many young people bleed. How can I remain silent? I don't care just kill me" She was a brave young lady!

Newly released, never-before-seen images of Armstrong & Scott have just been given to the museum. Learn more about the photos, their story, and the photographer who took them. armstrongmuseum.org/newly-released…

🇯🇵 En noviembre del año pasado pude ver en el Museo de la Ciudad de Toyota, en Aichi, Japón, un modelo a escala del Lunar Cruiser, el rover lunar presurizado de JAXA y Toyota, dentro de la exposición Deep Space: To the Moon and Beyond.

Fireball (confirmed), magnitude -2 from 19 March 2026. AllSky Camera now fully aligned.

The 35% waxing crescent after sunset.

BREAKING A Minnesota election judge plead guilty to allowing 11 unregistered people to vote in November 2024. This is the same state that allows 1 registered voter to vouch for up to 8 persons without an ID. Pass the SAVE America Act!

Update on comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS): the comet refuses to brighten. The latest reported brightness estimates by experienced observers and imagers seems to be in the magnitude 9.3-9.5 range. There has been no significant brightening in the past several days. The comet's distance from the Sun has dropped from 0.68 to 0.56 AU. It is now inside of the orbit of Venus and should be brightening rapidly, by several tenths of a magnitude per day. The brightening should be very clear. The lack of brightening means the comet is not producing more gas and dust, despite rapidly approaching the Sun. A hypothesis has been proposed by comet expert Qicheng Zhang: the comet's nucleus is very small, as suggested by observations with the JWST, and is already active over its entire surface. It cannot produce more outgassing than it already is. We will see what further observations show, but the comet's very small nucleus size is most likely the underlying reason for its unusual brightness behavior. Current observations also show that the comet so far has not disintegrated. At least not fully (I will be posting a case of a small comet disintegration later). The coma diameter remains small, though a shrinking coma is expected as the comet approaches the Sun. The coma also remains condensed (the reported DC is in the 5-6 range), which indicates the nucleus is likely still at least partly (or fully) intact. We would have seen the degree of condensation rapidly drop if the nucleus had fully disrupted/disintegrated. The comet's gas tail seems also to have become shorter, though that may be the effect of different instruments and settings used to acquire the images. If it truly is shorter, it likely indicates a drop in the outgassing rate. So the good news is that the comet seems to still be more or less intact, for the time being. The bad news is it is not brightening as it rapidly approaches the sun. This sort of brightness behaviour is never a good sign and often results in future outbursts and terminal disintegrations. If this was not a Kreutz comet, I'd be quite certain it will completely fizzle in the coming days and certainly pre-perihelion. Being a Kreutz comet it has likely undergone previous very intense heating (assuming it did not originate from deep within the parent comet) and may be somewhat more resilient. My bet would still be on pre-perihelion disintegration.