C/2021 O3 (PanSTARRS) is an Oort cloud comet, discovered on 26 July 2021 by the Pan-STARRS sky survey. It will come to perihelion (closest approach to the sun) on 21 April 2022 at 0.287 AU (26.6 million miles) from the Sun.
As far as calculations go right now it appears that it might reach apparent magnitude 5 by late April 2022, but will only be 15 degrees from the Sun, low in the western sky. Binoculars will be needed to see it in the bright dusk sky. C/2021 O3 will make its closest approach to Earth on 8 May 2022 at a distance of 0.60 AU (56 million miles). As a dynamically new comet from the Oort cloud there is a high risk that this comet may disintegrate after passing perihelion as comet ISON did back in November 2013.
Gideon van Buitenen has a web page with some really detailed information (as well as a great animated orbit plot) of C/2021 O3. Worth a look. I'll be keeping a close account of this comet in the weeks to come. Stay tuned.
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