C/2026 A1 (MAPS)

For other comets discovered by Alain Maury, see Comet Maury (disambiguation).
C/2026 A1 (MAPS)
Comet MAPS as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope on 7 February 2026
Discovery[1][2]
Discovered byMAP Observation Program
  • Alain Maury
  • Georges Attard
  • Daniel Parrott
  • Florian Signoret
Discovery siteAMACS1, Chile (W94)
Discovery date13 January 2026
Designations
6AC4721, CK26A010
Orbital characteristics[6]
Epoch20 January 2026
(JD 2461060.5)
Observation arc20 days (short arc)
Earliest precovery date18 December 2025[3]
Number of
observations		281[7]
Orbit typeKreutz sungrazer
Pe subgroup
Aphelion306±18 AU
Perihelion0.00571 AU (1.23 R☉)[a]
Semi-major axis153±9 AU
Eccentricity0.99996
Orbital period1893±170 years
1687 years (inbound)[4]
Max. orbital speed557 km/s
Inclination144.49°
7.88°
Argument of
periapsis		86.3°
Mean anomaly359.96°
Next perihelion4 April 2026[5]
TJupiter–0.042
Earth MOID0.5560 AU
Jupiter MOID2.987 AU
Physical characteristics[6]
Mean radius
< 1.2 km (0.75 mi)[b]
Comet total
magnitude (M1)		17.2
14.5
(mid-Feb 2026)[10]

C/2026 A1 (MAPS), formerly known by its temporary designation as 6AC4721, is a Kreutz sungrazer comet discovered on 13 January 2026 from the AMACS1 Observatory in the Atacama Desert. This comet was discovered through the MAPS program, which were led by Alain Maury, Georges Attard, Daniel Parrott and Florian Signoret.[c] On 4 April 2026, it will pass about 160,000 km (99,000 mi) from the surface of the Sun.[a] When near the Sun, the forward scattering of light could make the comet significantly brighter,[11] but hard to see against the glare of the Sun.[d] How bright the comet will get is largely unknown as the comet may not survive the perihelion approach.

Observational history

C/2026 A1 imaged by Alain Maury and Georges Attard on 17 January 2026

The object was discovered from the AMACS1 Observatory at San Pedro de Atacama, using a 0.28 m (11 in) f/2.2 Schmidt telescope with a CCD camera.[1] It was discovered at a distance of 2.056 AU (307.6 million km; 191.1 million mi) from the Sun, making it the furthest Kreutz sungrazer ever discovered,[12] surpassing the record previously held by Comet Ikeya–Seki,[e] allowing a lead time of observations for approximately 81 days before perihelion.[14]

The comet was 17.8 magnitude at the moment of discovery and was located in the constellation Columba.[1]

Earliest precovery date is December 2025, when it was about magnitude 20.[3] Its discovery was officially announced on 20 January 2026.[1][2] It is expected to become visible in 8 to 10-inch telescopes by late March, a few days before perihelion.[9] It will cross the celestial equator on 30 March 2026.[15] Due to its relatively low declination in the sky relative to the Sun, it will become more favorable to view from the Southern hemisphere than in the north.[9]

Orbit

C/2026 A1 is a Kreutz group comet, belonging to the Pe subgroup, a subgroup of the Kreutz Sungrazers closely associated with subgroup I, which all fragmented from the Great Comet of 1106.[16] Other bright members of the subgroup include the Great Comet of 1843 and C/1963 R1 (Pereyra).[17][f]

It will pass through the solar corona and reach perihelion on 4 April 2026 when it will be 0.00571 AU (1.23 R☉) from the center of the Sun[5] or about 160,000 km from the surface of the Sun.[a]

With a short observation arc of 20 days, the comet's inbound orbital period (calculated at epoch 1800, which is before entering the planetary region of the Solar System) suggests it last reached perihelion around 1700 years ago.[4]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c The comet will pass 0.00571 AU (1.23 R☉) from the center of the Sun[5] which is (0.23 solar radii * 695700 km) = 160,000 km (99,000 mi) from the surface of the Sun.
  2. ^ Preliminary upper limit, assuming that the bare nucleus is seen, uncontaminated by its coma.[8][9]
  3. ^ C/2026 A1 is the third comet discovered by the program after C/2025 L2 (MAPS) and C/2025 O2 (MAPS).
  4. ^ Observing a comet when it is very close to the Sun can be dangerous.
  5. ^ Comet Ikeya–Seki was first discovered at a distance of 1.11 AU (166 million km) from the Sun on 18 September 1965,[13] which gave astronomers approximately 33 days to observe the comet inbound.[14]
  6. ^ The Great Comet of 1843 passed 132000 km from the surface of the Sun and C/1963 R1 (Pereyra) passed 56000 km from the surface of the Sun. With a short observation arc of 8 days, the Kreutz Great Southern Comet of 1887 is believed to have passed about 27000 km from the surface of the Sun. Sun-plunger (with a sun-striking trajectory and non-Kreutz member) C/2007 M5 (SOHO), if it did not get vaporized by the extreme solar radiation and tidal forces, would have tried to impact the Sun at 0.0011 AU (160 thousand km; 100 thousand mi) from the Sun's center.

References

  1. ^ a b c d A. Maury; S. Deen; M. Masek; et al. (20 January 2026). D. W. Green (ed.). "Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS)" (TXT). Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. 5658.
  2. ^ a b D. Parrott; G. Attard; A. Maury; F. Signoret; et al. (20 January 2026). "Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS)". Minor Planet Electronic Circulars. 2026-B129. Bibcode:2026MPEC....B..129P. doi:10.48377/MPEC/2026-B129.
  3. ^ a b E. Baldwin-Fiebrich; E. Norman (16 January 2026). "Potentially bright 'sungrazing' comet discovered". Astronomy Now. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
  4. ^ a b Horizons output. "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for C/2026 A1 (MAPS)". Retrieved 14 February 2026. (Solution using the Solar System's barycenter (Sun+Jupiter). Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)
    Inbound period (PR) = 6.16E+05 / 365.25 days = 1687 years
  5. ^ a b c "Horizons Batch for C/2026 A1 (MAPS) on 2026-Apr-04" (Perihelion occurs when rdot flips from negative to positive). JPL Horizons. Archived from the original on 9 February 2026. Retrieved 13 February 2026. (JPL #3 / Soln.date: 2026-Feb-13)
  6. ^ a b "C/2026 A1 (MAPS) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Archived from the original on 9 February 2026. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  7. ^ "C/2026 A1 (MAPS) Orbit". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
  8. ^ E. Irizarry (24 January 2026). "New sungrazing comet might get bright. See maps here!". EarthSky.org. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  9. ^ a b c B. King (4 February 2026). "New Kreutz Comet C/2026 A1 may Dazzle". Sky & Telescope. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
  10. ^ "COBS Observation list: C/2026 A1". Crni Vrh Observatory. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  11. ^ D. Dickinson (11 February 2026). "New Sungrazer Comet A1 MAPS Could Be Bright in Early April If It Survives Perihelion". Universe Today. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  12. ^ Jure Atanackov [@JAtanackov] (15 January 2026). "The newly discovered Kreutz comet, provisionally designated 6AC4721, is outstanding in at least one aspect: this is by far the earliest (before the perihelion) a Kreutz comet has ever been discovered. In other words, a Kreutz comet has never before been discovered with so much lead time - 3 months!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  13. ^ K. Ikeya; T. Seki; H. Hirose (20 September 1965). O. Gingerich (ed.). "Comet Ikeya–Seki (1965f)". IAU Circular. 1921 (1).
  14. ^ a b J. Rao (5 February 2026). "Will a bright comet adorn our early spring sky? Why astronomers are getting excited about Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS)". Space.com. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  15. ^ "Crossing the celestial equator at declination 0". JPL Horizons. Retrieved 13 February 2026.
  16. ^ Z. Sekanina (2021). "New Model for the Kreutz Sungrazer System: Contact-Binary Parent and Upgraded Classification of Discrete Fragment Populations". arXiv:2109.01297 [astro-ph.EP].
  17. ^ E. Irizarry. "The best comets of 2026: Here's what to watch for". EarthSky.org. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
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