Key takeaways
- Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) was brightening fast: visible in binoculars before dawn, and possibly naked-eye by mid-week
- Venus blazed in the west after sunset and Jupiter sat high in Gemini: both unmissable with the naked eye
- The Lyrid meteor shower became active from 16 April, peaking on the night of 22 April with up to 18 meteors per hour forecast
- 18–19 April: a razor-thin crescent Moon paired with Venus and the Pleiades: a stunning photo opportunity
- New Moon on 17 April gave dark skies all week: perfect for comet hunting and deep-sky observing
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If you were waiting for a week with a bit of everything, comets, planets, meteors and a Moon-planet conjunction that would stop you mid-step, this was it. The skies over the UK that week were genuinely stacked, and the New Moon on Thursday 17 April meant dark skies for almost all of it.
Here is what there was to look for, night by night.
The Comet: C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) Before Dawn
This was the headline act. Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS), a long-period comet that hadn't visited the inner Solar System for roughly 170,000 years, was brightening rapidly as it fell toward its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) on 19 April.
At that point, the comet sat at around magnitude 5 to 6, which meant it was already visible in binoculars from a reasonably dark site. By mid-week it could cross the naked-eye threshold. Conservative predictions put the peak brightness at around magnitude 3, similar to the stars of the Plough, while more optimistic forecasts, boosted by a phenomenon called forward scattering (sunlight streaming through the dust tail at near-perfect geometry), suggested it could reach magnitude −0.5, rivalling Jupiter.
To find it, you needed to be up early. The place to look was east, about 60 to 90 minutes before sunrise. That week the comet was tracking through the Great Square of Pegasus, sitting roughly 15° above the eastern horizon from southern England. On the mornings of 13 to 15 April, the comet passed close to the galaxies of Pegasus: a lovely binocular sweep. A sky app like Stellarium or SkySafari helped pinpoint it.
The timing was excellent: the Moon was waning toward New on 17 April, so the predawn sky was about as dark as it gets. For anyone setting just one alarm that week, the pick was Tuesday 15 April at 04:30: dark skies, a well-placed comet, and the better part of an hour before twilight washed it out.
We published a full observing guide to this comet: read it here for finder charts, photography tips, and the full brightness forecast.
Evening Planets: Venus and Jupiter
Two planets dominated the evening sky that week, and both were unmissable.
Venus was the first thing you'd notice after sunset: a dazzling white point blazing low in the west, brighter than anything else in the sky. It was visible from about 30 minutes after the Sun set and stayed up for roughly 45 minutes before following the Sun below the horizon. Even a small telescope would show it as a thick crescent at that point.
Jupiter sat higher up in the southwest, glowing at magnitude −2.1 in the constellation Gemini, just below the twin stars Castor and Pollux. It was the second-brightest point in the evening sky after Venus, and it didn't set until the early hours. Binoculars would show you three or four of the Galilean moons lined up like tiny diamonds on either side of the disc. A small telescope at 100× or more would reveal the cloud belts crossing the planet's face: the same view that changed Galileo's understanding of the universe in 1610.
Jupiter was well past opposition by then but still rewarded observation. Our full Jupiter guide for 2026 has telescope details and moon transit times.
Pre-Dawn Planets: Saturn, Mars and Mercury
For anyone already up for the comet, there was more lower toward the east-southeast. Saturn, Mars, and Mercury were all clustered in the predawn sky that week, though they were a challenge from the UK because they didn't climb very high before twilight brightened.
Saturn (magnitude +1.0) was the easiest of the three: a steady yellowish point that doesn't twinkle. Mars (magnitude +1.4, slightly reddish) sat nearby. Mercury was the trickiest, hugging the horizon, but it was at the tail end of a decent morning apparition and worth trying for if you had a flat eastern horizon: a view over the sea or open farmland was ideal.
None of these required any equipment: they were all naked-eye objects. The challenge was simply finding a spot with a clear, unobstructed view to the east-southeast and getting out before the sky got too bright.
Getting set up before the Lyrids arrived
Kit we've tested and reviewed in full
With comets, planets and a meteor shower all on offer that week, a decent pair of binoculars earned its keep more than any other bit of kit. Here's what we'd reach for.
Ideal for tracking Jupiter's moons or sweeping past Pegasus for the comet that week, without your arms giving out halfway through.
The extra light-gathering power was exactly what you wanted for a faint pre-dawn target like PanSTARRS while it was still below naked-eye brightness.
Worth the upgrade if you're out most clear nights: the crisper optics make Jupiter's cloud belts and the Pleiades genuinely pop.
Affiliate links: you pay the same price, we earn a small commission that helps keep WatchTheStars free.
The Lyrid Meteor Shower
The Lyrid meteor shower became active from 16 April and peaked on the night of 22–23 April. This is the oldest recorded meteor shower, Chinese astronomers noted it in 687 BC, and it's produced by debris from Comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher), which last visited the inner Solar System in 1861 and won't return until 2283.
Under dark skies, the Lyrids were expected to produce around 18 meteors per hour at peak, with occasional brighter fireballs that leave persistent trains. They radiate from a point near Vega in the constellation Lyra: the brilliant blue-white star that was almost directly overhead by 2am in mid-April from the UK.
Conditions that year were good. The Moon was a waxing crescent on peak night, setting well before midnight and leaving the prime hours, midnight to 4am, entirely dark. That was a significant advantage. The previous year's Lyrids were partly washed out by moonlight.
No equipment was needed. The advice was to find a dark location, lie back, and give your eyes 20 minutes to adapt. The tip was to face generally northeast without fixating on the radiant point, because meteors can appear anywhere in the sky. A deckchair, a sleeping bag, and a flask of tea were the only essential kit.
18–19 April: Moon, Venus & the Pleiades
Those evenings were worth marking. On Friday 18 April, the place to look was west, about 30 to 40 minutes after sunset, where an impossibly thin crescent Moon, less than two days old, sat just to the right of Venus. The pair promised a striking sight against the twilight.
The following evening, Saturday 19 April, promised to be even better. The slightly thicker crescent Moon had drifted upward and sat just above the Pleiades star cluster (the Seven Sisters), with Venus glowing a few degrees below both. Moon, Pleiades, and Venus in a single binocular field: it was one of those groupings that makes you stop and stare.
This was a superb target for smartphone photography. Modern phones in night mode can capture the crescent Moon, Venus, and a hint of the Pleiades in a single frame. The approach was to use a tripod or lean your phone against something solid, point at the western horizon, and let the night mode do its work. A wider landscape composition (silhouetted trees, a church steeple, a coastline) would make the image.
Your Observing Checklist for the Week
Here is a quick summary of what there was to look for, and when:
Sunday 13 – Tuesday 15 April (predawn): Comet PanSTARRS in binoculars: east, 60–90 min before sunrise, in Pegasus. Best mornings of the week: dark skies, well-placed comet. The suggested alarm time was 04:30.
Every evening that week: Venus (west, low, dazzling) and Jupiter (southwest, high, in Gemini). Both naked-eye. Telescope on Jupiter for cloud belts and moons.
Thursday 17 April: New Moon: the darkest night of the month. Perfect for deep-sky observing, binocular sweeps, or simply enjoying the Milky Way if you were somewhere rural.
Friday 18 April (evening): Razor-thin crescent Moon beside Venus in the west after sunset. One for the camera.
Saturday 19 April (evening): Crescent Moon above the Pleiades with Venus below: the week's best photo opportunity.
From Wednesday 16 April onward: Lyrid meteors began. Peak night was 22–23 April. Best after midnight, facing northeast, no equipment needed.
Clear skies.
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Ian ClaytonAmateur astronomer and founder of WatchTheStars.co.uk, dedicated to helping others explore the wonders of our universe. Full profile →
