That comet could be a space body with the technical designation C/2026 A1. It is now approaching the Sun as part of a cluster of hairs known as the Kreutz Group of solar comets, which it will fly past on April 4. And if it doesn’t burn up in the heat of the sun, it gets extremely bright and could theoretically be visible in broad daylight.
However, predicting the behavior of comets is always quite tricky. “If the comet disintegrates, its tail could be seen,” said astronomer Miloš Tichý from the Klet observatory in southern Bohemia.
“Kreutz’s group of solar comets apparently consists of fragments of an originally giant cometary nucleus that disintegrated several thousand years ago during a flyby around the Sun. It could have been up to several tens of kilometers in diameter,” explained Jiří Dušek, director of the Brno Observatory.
Comets of the Kreutz group move along very elongated paths that bring them into close proximity to the Sun’s surface. Most of them reach the size of a few tens of meters at most, and in extreme conditions of the solar corona, they evaporate quickly. However, sometimes these objects put on an incredible show. Examples are the Great Comets of 1106, 1843 or 1965.
“Of course it will be about luck, but if he wishes us, it can be a very nice spectacle,” added Dušek. According to astronomers’ predictions, it will be worse in the northern hemisphere than in the southern, but even that can change.
Photo: Brno Observatory
Painting titled Great Comet 1680 over Rotterdam. Its technical designation is C/1680 and it was the first object of its kind observed through a telescope. She was characterized by extreme radiance.
date:2026-02-11 16:49:00
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