In mid-April this year, people may have an opportunity to observe the extremely bright Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS). The body was only discovered in January by French amateur astronomers using a remote-controlled telescope in the Chilean Atacama desert.
“We discovered that the object belongs to the so-called Kreutz system, which consists of comets formed from the breakup of a giant hairy comet that did not survive a close flyby in 362 BC Sun,“ introduced scientists. A number of other bodies of ice, dust and gases with very bright luminosity also came from this group in the past.
C/2026 A1 (MAPS) may be the same. It will approach the Sun at the beginning of April at a distance of only about 120 thousand kilometers. “When it doesn’t break down, it can emit so much light that people can see it during the day,” he told the magazine The Conversation astrophysicist Jonti Horner of the University of Southern Queensland, who was not involved in the discovery.
Image of comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) discovered only this January:
The comet already set a record shortly after its discovery. At the time it was first noted by observers, it was further from the Sun than any other newly discovered star-approaching dwarf. Therefore, scientists believe that this is a larger fragment. “However, the explosion of the body can also explain the early detection. This means that it is already disintegrating,” added Horner.
According to experts, it is still too early to draw conclusions. The best-case scenario for observers will be if the comet survives its approach to the star and disintegrates later as it recedes. Thanks to this, people – especially in the southern hemisphere Country – might see an unusual light show.
Bright comets of the Kreutz system
Flying debris from a long-disintegrated comet has created a spectacular spectacle over the past two thousand years. Very bright bodies from Kreutzer systems are called by experts as so-called large comets.
What are comets from the Kreutzer system:
The biggest show, according to Horner, was the comet C/1882 R1 of 1882. At its brightest, it was said to be a hundred times brighter than the full moon. People observed her in the sky for several months.
What is a comet?
- A body composed primarily of ice and dust that orbits mostly in an eccentric elliptical trajectory around the Sun.
- It is more dangerous than an asteroid because it is unpredictable and very fast. But the risks of collisions with the Earth are very small.
Source: NASA
The brightest comet of the 20th century was C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki). Astronomers discovered it in 1965 just one month before its closest approach to the Sun. Subsequently, it reached the brightness of a full moon and observers could see it even in daylight.
So far, the last bright comet from the Kreutzer system was recorded by experts in 2011. It was captured by Australian astronomer Terry Lovejoy. The object barely survived the approach to the star Solar systemsthen reached a brightness comparable to that of a planet Venus.
Czech-American astronomer Zdeněk Sekanina – one of the world’s most cited cometary physicists – then predicted that at least two large comets heading towards the Sun would appear in the sky in the coming decades.
Recent flybys of bright comets
Several close flybys of comets have been observed from the Czech Republic in recent months. It came closest to Earth in December interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS. In November it was possible to observe the golden comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) which later exploded.
Comets were clearly visible in October C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) and also C/2025 F2 (SWAN). January was under the sign of a comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS). In October 2024, a comet also graced the sky C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS.
date:2026-02-07 04:20:00
Worth a look