TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A new comet approaching the sun has caught the attention of astronomers, especially due to its lineage. It appears to be part of the group of comets that, in some cases, have become "outstandingly" bright objects.
This new comet is cataloged as C/2026 A1 (MAPS) and was discovered on January 13 at the AMACS1 observatory in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, according to a report by Space. The acronym 'MAPS' evolved from the initials of the four surnames of astronomers Alain Maury, Georges Attard, Daniel Parrott, and Florian Signoret.
This new object was discovered using an 11-inch (0.28 meters) f/2.2 Schmidt telescope with a CCD camera. When first seen, the comet was located at a distance of 191 million miles (308 million km) from the sun; shining in the Columba constellation with a magnitude of +17.8, which means very faint.
After a considerable amount of observations were collected, including pre-discovery images taken in December 2025, an orbit was determined indicating that the MAPS Comet is a member of the Kreutz comet family.
Interestingly, there has never been a Kreutz comet that approached the sun and was found so far from the sun, with such a long travel time—11.5 weeks—before reaching its closest point to the sun (perihelion). The previous record was held by the bright comet C/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki) only 33 days before perihelion.
Comet Fragments
The source of this group of comets is believed to be the Great Comet of 371 BC, which was described by the Greek historians Ephorus, Aristotle, and Seneca. This comet appears to have approached the sun and possibly even fragmented into two pieces.
In February 1106, a very bright comet appeared, described in many Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and European chronicles. This comet may be related to the comet of 371 BC and is believed to have broken into many fragments. It now seems very likely that these fragments themselves have broken repeatedly while orbiting the sun, producing orbital periods ranging from about 500 to 900 years or more.
The German astronomer Heinrich Carl Friedrich Kreutz (1854-1907) studied many comets that approached the sun and noted that some comets had very similar orbits, which appeared to have been produced, in his opinion, when a large comet approaching the sun broke up hundreds of years earlier. In honor of his extensive work, the members of this group are called the "Kreutz sungrazers."
Two comets that grazed near the sun (in 1843 and 1882) not only developed very long tails but also achieved the rare distinction of becoming bright enough to be seen in broad daylight with the naked eye.
Years later, Dr. Brian G. Marsden (1937-2010), a highly respected specialist in celestial mechanics and astrometry, considered that almost all comets included in the Kreutz group separated from one of the two comets that appeared around 1100 AD. One of them may have been the comet of 1106.
Comets included in the Kreutz group include the Great Comets of 1668, 1843, 1882, and Ikeya-Seki in 1965. All of them are very bright objects, sporting long tails. They all have relatively large nuclei, possibly several miles or more in diameter.
How Bright?
The MAPS Comet is expected to reach perihelion in early April, passing only 99,600 miles (160,200 km) above the surface of the sun (photosphere). To survive such a close approach, the comet needs to travel the equivalent of a hairpin turn around the sun at speeds of over 2 million miles (3 million km) per hour.
The most likely scenario is that this is a medium-sized Kreutz comet, possibly larger than the Lovejoy Comet, and may survive past perihelion or even the entire return journey, producing a bright comet that can be seen with the naked eye, potentially with or without a distinct head.
It seems we will need a few more weeks to determine whether the MAPS Comet develops into a potentially bright object or will remain small and faint. By early March, we should have a much better idea of its performance. If indeed it develops into an attention-grabbing comet visible to the naked eye, it will adorn our night sky during the second week of April, low in the west shortly after sunset.
Read: Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Glows Green as It Approaches Earth
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