New Kreutz Sungrazer C/2026 A1 (MAPS): Third Time's the Charm?

Abstract

This paper describes progress achieved in early investigations of the orbital motion and light curve of comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS), the third ground-based discovery of a Kreutz sungrazer in the 21st century. The highly unusual trait of the comet that has so far been ascertained is its extraordinarily long orbital period. The most recent orbital computations make it increasingly likely that the object is a fragment of one of the comets observed by Ammianus Marcellinus in AD 363, thereby strengthening evidence in support of the contact-binary hypothesis of the Kreutz system. In this context, the comet is the only second-generation fragment of Aristotle's comet that we are aware of to appear after the 12th century. It does not look like a major fragment, but rather like an outlying fragment of a much larger sungrazer. In 363 it apparently separated from a parent different from the lineage of comet Pereyra. The light curve of comet MAPS has so far been fairly smooth, without outbursts. To reach the brightness of comet Ikeya-Seki, the comet would have to follow an r^(-17) law in the coming weeks, which is unlikely.