{"id":413220,"date":"2026-02-07T17:04:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T17:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/413220\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T17:04:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T17:04:15","slug":"a-new-comet-was-just-discovered-will-it-be-visible-in-broad-daylight-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/413220\/","title":{"rendered":"A new comet was just discovered. Will it be visible in broad\u00a0daylight?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The Great Comet of 1680 over Rotterdam as painted by Lieve Verschuier. Credit: Lieve Verschuier, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

A newly discovered comet has astronomers excited, with the potential to be a spectacular sight in early April.<\/p>\n

C\/2026 A1 (MAPS) was\u00a0spotted by a team of four amateur astronomers<\/a>\u00a0with a remotely operated telescope in the Atacama desert on January 13.<\/p>\n

It quickly became apparent the newly discovered object was a member of a group called the\u00a0Kreutz sungrazing comets<\/a>. These include many of the brightest and most spectacular comets ever seen.<\/p>\n

Comet MAPS is moving on an\u00a0extreme, highly elongated orbit<\/a>\u00a0around the Sun, and is diving towards a fiery date with our star. In early April the comet will pass within just 120,000km of the Sun\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n

If the comet survives, it could become a spectacular sight in the evening sky in early April. It may even become visible in broad daylight as it swings closest to the Sun \u2013 unless it falls apart before then.<\/p>\n

So what makes these sungrazers so exciting, and what can we expect?<\/p>\n

Fragments of a mega-comet<\/p>\n

Over the past 2,000 years, a\u00a0series of spectacular comets<\/a>\u00a0have graced our skies. Without fanfare, they appear seemingly from nowhere, shining remarkably close to the Sun in the sky. Some even become bright enough to be visible in broad daylight.<\/p>\n

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\t\tComet Ikeya-Seki, captured on October 29, 1965. Credit:\u00a0Roger Lynds\/NOIRLab\/NSF\/AURA<\/a>,\u00a0CC BY 4.0<\/a><\/p>\n

Historically, the brightest comets often become known as \u201cGreat Comets\u201d. The Great Comet of 1965 \u2013\u00a0C\/1965 S1 (Ikeya-Seki)<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 was the brightest comet of the 20th century. Discovered just one month before its closest approach to the Sun, it got as bright as the full Moon, and was easily visible with the naked eye during the day.<\/p>\n

The Great Comet of 1882,\u00a0C\/1882 R1<\/a>, was even more impressive. At its brightest, it was a hundred times brighter than the full Moon, dazzling in the sky for several months.<\/p>\n

We now know that all these bright comets from the last two millennia \u2013 the Kreutz sungrazing family \u2013 share a common origin. At some point in the past (potentially in the 3rd or 4th century BCE), a giant cometary nucleus, more than 100km in diameter, came perilously close to the Sun\u2019s surface. Some time after that close approach, far from the Sun,\u00a0that comet split into two major fragments<\/a>\u00a0and shed lots of smaller pieces.<\/p>\n

A few hundred years later, in the 3rd century CE, those pieces returned as they journeyed on their long orbit around the Sun.\u00a0Reports from 363 CE<\/a>\u00a0suggest there may even have been\u00a0multiple comets visible with the naked eye in broad daylight<\/a>\u00a0at the same time. Those returning pieces again fragmented.<\/p>\n

In the eleventh century, the two largest remaining pieces of the ancient mega-comet swung by again, becoming the\u00a0Great Comets of 1106 and 1138<\/a>. Once again, the pieces fragmented \u2013 and the products of those fragmentations have been seen as a series of comets through the past two centuries.<\/p>\n

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\t\tThe Great Comet of 1882, as seen from South Africa. Credit:\u00a0Sir David Gill, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been due for a big one<\/p>\n

Today, the Kreutz sungrazing family contains a vast number of smaller comets which fall apart en-route towards the Sun, as well as larger pieces that can put on a fantastic show.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory,\u00a0SOHO<\/a>, has spotted\u00a0thousands of Kreutz fragments over the years<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 tiny icebergs just metres or tens of metres across. Larger fragments swing by more rarely.<\/p>\n

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\t\tComet Lovejoy seen from the International Space Station, December 22 2011.\u00a0Credit: NASA<\/a><\/p>\n

The most recent larger Kreutz sungrazer was visible in 2011. Discovered by\u00a0Queensland astronomer Terry Lovejoy<\/a>, the comet barely survived its close approach to the Sun,\u00a0becoming as bright as the planet Venus in late December 2011<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the predictions of Czech-American astronomer\u00a0Zden\u011bk Sekanina<\/a>, we could potentially see two large, show-stopping sungrazers in the coming decades,\u00a0with one potentially arriving in the next couple of years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That comet would be a sibling to the Great Comets of 1965 and 1882, and a fragment of the Great Comet seen by Chinese observers in 1138.<\/p>\n

Enter comet MAPS<\/p>\n

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\t\tThe technical discovery image of comet MAPS. Credit:\u00a0Copyright MAPS 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Which all brings us to the newly discovered comet C\/2026 A1 (MAPS)<\/a>. It\u2019s moving on an orbit typical of Kreutz sungrazing comets, and already holds one record. At the time of its discovery, comet MAPS was farther from the Sun than any previous newly discovered sungrazer.<\/p>\n

That suggests it might be a larger-than-usual fragment \u2013 perhaps.<\/p>\n

The previous holder of this record was comet Ikeya-Seki in 1965, which proved to be the brightest of the 20th century. However, technology has moved on significantly in the past 70 years, and it seems very unlikely the nucleus of comet MAPS is as large as that of Ikeya-Seki. In turn, that makes it unlikely comet MAPS will be as bright.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the fact we\u2019ve caught it so early means it\u2019s either a reasonably large Kreutz fragment, or it\u2019s currently in outburst \u2013 already falling apart. Fortunately, recent observations have shown it steadily brightening, which points to the former theory.<\/p>\n

What can we expect from the new comet?<\/p>\n

Overall, it\u2019s too soon to tell. If \u2013 and that\u2019s a big if \u2013 the comet survives its closest approach to the Sun (known as perihelion), it could put on a great show in early to mid-April.<\/p>\n

If it holds together, it might get bright enough to be visible in broad daylight. Even if that doesn\u2019t happen, the SOHO spacecraft\u00a0will provide great images<\/a>\u00a0of the comet.<\/p>\n

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\t\tComet MAPS is en route to graze our Sun. Credit:\u00a0NASA JPL Small-Body Orbit Viewer<\/a><\/p>\n

In the days following perihelion, the comet will move into the evening sky. Thanks to its orbit, like all Kreutz comets it will be far easier to see from the southern hemisphere.<\/p>\n

If the comet survives until perihelion, then fragments as it passes the Sun, it could brighten suddenly and unexpectedly. A late break-up might therefore be the best-case scenario for a dazzling show.<\/p>\n

For now, we watch and wait.<\/p>\n

Jonti Horner<\/a> does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.<\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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