New sungrazing comet might get bright. See maps here!
New sungrazing comet might get bright!
Sky watchers are buzzing about a new comet headed into the inner solar system. It looks big. We know that because the new-found object was shining at around 18th magnitude when it was still twice Earth’s distance from the sun. Magnitude 18 is much too faint to see with the eye. But it’s bright for a comet at that distance.
In fact, it might be the farthest from the sun astronomers have seen a comet like this one, whose orbit suggests it is a Kreutz sungrazer, one of a family of comets that sweep extremely close to the sun. This comet – now officially labeled C/2026 A1 (MAPS) is on its way to perihelion, its closest point to the sun, on April 4-5, 2026. Seeing it this early suggests it should be decent-sized. So it might get bright! Bright enough to see well in our skies?
Preliminary observations suggest the newly found comet’s nucleus might have a diameter of up to 1.5 miles (2.4 km) across.
The MAPS program, run by a group of French amateur astronomers using telescopes in Chile, discovered the comet on January 13, 2026. They used an 11-inch (0.28 meter) diameter telescope at San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Their observation program, MAPS, is an acronym that stands for their last names: Maury, Attard, Parrott and Signoret.
Can this sungrazing comet survive?
How close will Comet C/2026 A1 MAPS get to the sun? Preliminary estimates indicate it will pass just 487,088 miles (783,892 km) from the sun’s surface. That’s scorchingly close. The diameter of the sun itself spans 865,370 miles (139,2678 km).
Comets that get this close to the sun can disintegrate. The intense heat can force outgassing in the comet that rips it apart. Plus, the pull of the sun’s gravity can also cause it to fragment. On the other hand, if it does survive the intense heat of the sun, and continue on its journey (outward now in its solar orbit), the comet might become very bright in earthly skies. We would see it at dusk shortly after its closest approach to the sun, during the first week of April.
And there is reason to hope the comet will survive! Other comets have passed even closer to the sun and survived. They’ve even become bright beacons in the night sky. For example, C/1965 S1 (Ikeya–Seki) came within 280,000 miles (450,000 km) of the sun. It ended up shining at magnitude -10. Observers called it the Great Comet of 1965. Then, more recently, C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) came within 87,000 miles (140,000 km) of the sun in 2011. Ultimately, it shone at around magnitude -3 or -4, about as bright as Venus.
These kinds of comets do not occur often. So this will be a rare opportunity for scientists to learn more about sungrazing comets.
What does the sungrazing comet look like now?
C/2026 A1 is already showing a small tail and diffuse green coma. The coloring suggest the emission of diatomic carbon (C2), a gas commonly seen in comets.
The comet is currently between the constellations Columba the Dove and Eridanus the River.
Finder charts
In the beginning of 2026, views of Comet C/2026 A1 will remain the territory of powerful telescopes. If you have a large telescope, you can use the March finder maps below to spot the comet. And anyone can start looking for the comet in April, when it could be bright enough to see with your eye alone.
A possible fragment from a larger comet
Astronomer Piero Sicoli from the Sormano Astronomical Observatory in Italy found this object has an orbit quite similar to comet C/1963 R1 (Pereyra). So it might be a fragment of it or of another comet with a very similar trajectory, of a type called Kreutz comets. These comets are named in honor of German astronomer Heinrich Kreutz.
Kreutz comets are a family of sungrazing comets. They pass extremely close to the sun. Scientists think they might be big fragments of a huge comet that broke apart centuries ago.
Bottom line: A new sungrazing comet – now officially named C/2026 A1 (MAPS) – will swing around the sun in early April. There’s a chance it could emerge as a bright comet in our skies. See maps here.
Read more: The best comets of 2026: Here’s what to watch for
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