Overview
- C/2026 A1 (MAPS) was discovered on January 13 by four amateur astronomers using a remotely operated telescope in Chile’s Atacama desert.
- The comet is projected to pass about 120,000 km from the Sun in early April, and astronomers say its survival through perihelion remains uncertain.
- It was detected farther from the Sun than previously newly found sungrazers and has brightened steadily since, indicating a relatively sizable fragment rather than a transient outburst.
- If it holds together—or breaks up late near perihelion—it could become extremely bright and then appear in the evening sky, with easier viewing from the southern hemisphere.
- NASA’s SOHO spacecraft will capture close-range imagery regardless of ground visibility, and larger Kreutz visitors are rare, with the last notable example occurring in 2011.