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yesterday

Comet MAPS Skims the Sun on Saturday With Fate Uncertain

If it holds together, evening skywatchers could see a short, bright tail next week.

A streak of white across a dark starry night sky shows a comet moving toward the bottom right of the image.
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Bright comet with long white tail against a glowing backdrop of the Milky Way with trees at the base of the image.
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Overview

  • The sungrazer reaches perihelion on Saturday, passing about 98,000 miles (158,000 km) above the sun’s surface as solar observatories such as SOHO track it in near real time.
  • James Webb observations put the nucleus near 400 meters across, a size that leaves survival in doubt because smaller sungrazers often fracture as their ices vaporize.
  • Scientists note most Kreutz-family comets disintegrate, and some experts predict MAPS could break apart over the next couple of days.
  • If the comet endures, a brief naked-eye show could start after sunset as early as April 7 with a bright tail low in the western sky, with the best chances in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • Until then, it will sit in the sun’s glare, so follow SOHO’s live images now and look to late April for a dimmer but steadier backup in C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS).