A dramatic photo shows the extremely unlikely moment when a blazing fireball meteor photobombed a contender for the "Great Comet of 2026" as it shone in the night sky over a 500-year-old European castle.
Photographers Petr Horálek and Josef Kujal snapped the cosmic coincidence on April 18 in the skies over the ruins of the 15th-century Kunětická Hora Castle, in the central Czech Republic, at around 4:15 a.m. local time. They were initially attempting to capture the lengthy tail of Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) when a bright streak of light flew across the sky in front of their target.
Reports from the European Fireball Network later confirmed that the streaking light was a fireball meteor that resulted from an asteroid exploding over Poland shortly after entering Earth's atmosphere, Horálek told Live Science. It is currently unclear how large the space rock was, how fast it was traveling or how long it shone in the sky.
"What are the odds," Horálek wrote in an Instagram post. By combining his photos with Kujal's, Horálek created a time-lapse image to "show the whole lucky moment," he added.
The photo is even more incredible considering that this was the "last chance to capture the comet from mid-Europe," due to adverse weather conditions the following nights, Horálek wrote on his personal website. If the incident had occurred just 15 minutes later, light from the rising sun likely would have obscured the comet's tail, he added.
A similarly unlikely photo was captured last October, when the tail of Comet Lemmon appeared to be entwined with a smoke trail left by a "shooting star." However, in this case, the photographer was able to intentionally align the comet with the smoke trail, which lingered in the air after the meteor burned up, making the newest photo arguably more impressive.
The Great Comet of 2026?
Comet PanSTARRS is a long-period comet, meaning it likely takes more than 200 years to orbit the sun. It probably originates from the Oort cloud, a giant reservoir of comets and other icy objects near the edge of the solar system.
The comet passed its closest point to the sun, or perihelion, Sunday (April 19). It was clearly visible with a decent telescope or pair of stargazing binoculars beginning April 13. However, it has now largely disappeared from view.
The comet was first spotted in September 2025, and some experts later suggested that it could become the most easily visible comet of 2026. So far, this prediction has held true, especially after its main competitor — the sungrazer comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) — ripped apart during its superclose approach to the sun earlier this month, before it got a chance to shine properly.
However, there is always a chance that a previously unknown comet could emerge to steal the show, much like the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, which was discovered last July and went on to become one of the biggest space news stories of the year.
"Fireball season"
Fireball meteors occur when falling space rocks suddenly split apart due to strain on their surfaces caused by friction with the atmosphere. This releases energy in the form of bright light, which can shine in many potential colors depending on the meteor's chemical composition.
Fireballs are most likely between February and April, also known as "fireball season," when the number of exploding space rocks can rise by between 10% and 30% compared with the rest of the year, according to NASA. This is likely due to Earth's position relative to the sun and the rest of the solar system. However, experts are still not entirely sure why.
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This fireball season has been particularly eventful, especially March, when there were at least 10 major fireballs visible in the U.S. — the highest total for that month since 2012, according to AccuWeather.com. This included a cannonball-size meteor crashing through the roof of a house in Texas and a rare daytime explosion that triggered a powerful sonic boom over Ohio.
A bright fireball also exploded over Europe last month and showered a German town with meteorites, one of which also punched a football-size hole through the roof of a house. And just last week, on April 13, a bright-green fireball exploded over the North Sea and was spectacularly snapped streaking above Lindisfarne Castle in northeast England.