Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) did not survive its close approach to the Sun and completely disintegrated.
Comet MAPS, a Kreutz sungrazer discovered on January 13, 2026, passed extremely close to the Sun on April 4, 2026, at a distance of approximately 161,000 km from the solar surface, traveling at speeds up to 557 km/s. Despite initial hopes that it might survive and become a bright naked-eye comet, the intense solar heat and tidal forces caused the comet to completely break apart during perihelion.
Observations from space-based instruments, including SOHO's LASCO coronagraphs and CCOR-1, confirmed the comet's disintegration. The debris plume was visible exiting the occulting disks of these instruments, showing a rarefied cloud rather than a condensed nucleus, similar to the fate of Comet ISON in 2013. Unlike some previous sungrazers, such as Comet Lovejoy (C/2011 W3), MAPS did not leave behind a “headless wonder” tail that remained prominent after perihelion.
The comet's nucleus was relatively small, estimated at about 0.4 km in diameter, which contributed to its inability to withstand the extreme conditions near the Sun. While it brightened significantly before perihelion, reaching apparent magnitudes that suggested potential visibility from Earth, the disintegration meant that no intact nucleus survived to continue along its orbit.
In summary, Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) perished during its solar encounter, providing astronomers with valuable observational data on the behavior and fragility of small Kreutz sungrazing comets.