By JOHN STOWERS
The next comet to pass by the sun might just be the brightest comet we’ve seen since 2011.
On Saturday, April 4, 2026, C/2026 A1 (MAPS) will be reaching its perihelion, the closest point to the sun in its orbit.
The comet will be passing by the sun at roughly 0.0057 astronomical units (AU), or less than 530,000 miles, above the surface of the sun.
The last comet to pass this close to the sun was C/2011 W3, also known as the Lovejoy comet, which reached its perihelion at only 0.001 AU, or 87,000 miles, above the sun’s surface. Because the C/2026 A1 (MAPS) comet is passing this close to the sun, it has been given a special designation: a Kreutz sungrazer.
Out of this family of comets has come some of the most famous comets ever documented, such as C/1965 S1, also known as Ikeya-Seki and the aforementioned Lovejoy.
The reason for this classification’s fame has to do with the close proximity of its members to the sun.
A comet is made up of 4 essential parts: the nucleus, the coma, the ion trail and the dust trail.
When a comet passes that close to the sun, the nucleus — which is primarily made up of ice and dust — undergoes a process called sublimation, which means that the solid ice changes forms directly into gas without becoming liquid.
The gas from this process creates the coma, which can extend thousands of miles into space.
The gas, along with dust from the nucleus, then get ionized and pushed back by solar winds, which create the dust and ion tails that we see here on Earth.
When a comet gets closer to the sun, it has the potential to get even brighter.
Because of its orbit, C/2026 A1 is rather faint in March, but could brighten rapidly leading up to its solar encounter in early April, Star Walk, a news site and star tracking app that covers astronomical events claims.
If it survives, observers in the Southern Hemisphere will get the best views in mid to late April, especially during evening twilight.
These comets also have a high chance of fragmenting or outright disintegrating.
Only around 1% of all known Kreutz sungrazers survived perihelion with even fewer of them remaining intact through their journey around the sun.
The Ikeya-Seki comet was one of the comets that fragmented after perihelion, but it was still visible during daylight for almost a month, and visible by the aided eye for almost 4 months afterward, so even if C/2026 A1 (MAPS) fragments, it still might put on quite the spectacle in the night sky.
If C/2026 A1 survives its close encounter with the Sun, it could join the small and informal group of comets often referred to as “great comets” — objects that become exceptionally bright, develop enormous tails, and leave a lasting mark in astronomical history, Star Walk reports.
The other aspect of this comet that makes it so special is the fact that it was discovered quite early. C/2026 A1 (MAPS) was discovered at 2.056 AU, or almost 200 million miles, away from the sun, making it the furthest inbound Kreutz sungrazer ever discovered.
It also has a particularly long orbital period of about 1900 years, which is uncharacteristic of Kreutz sungrazers, which usually have a short orbital period and a short lifespan.
The comet was discovered on January 13, 2026, by 4 amateur astronomers, Alain Maury, Georges Attard, Daniel Parrott and Florian Signoret — hence the name MAPS — from the AMACS1 observatory in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
For the best viewing in the northern hemisphere before the April 4 perihelion, go to a clear area where you can see the horizon, and away from any lights.
The comet will be hard to see and will be low in the sky in the direction of the sun, toward the east at dawn and toward the west at dusk.
Viewing after perihelion remains uncertain so be sure to keep watch of the sky after April 4.