Comet 2026 A1  MAPS
in the evening sky
3/15/26

 

            
 This comet is
            hurtling towards the Sun at high speed for an encounter April
            4th. It is a Kreutz sungrazer, the farthest out one ever found
            and may be an incredible sight in a few weeks in the western
            sky after dusk. But it could also dissinigrate as it is going
            closer to the Sun than any has before. We will see.

            
The comet here is 10th
            magnitude, quite faint and about 10 degrees up in the southwest
            at dark. I had to travel a mile up the road to a location where
            I could see the western sky clearly and set up a portable astrograph.
            I was able to obtain 11 shots at 1 min each and stack them for
            this final image. The comet is allready showing a nice green
            color!

            
Select an image size for a larger view:

1600 x 1290
            


Lens:  Sigma 150mm f/2.8 Macro
Camera: ASI Cmos
Platform:  ZWO tracking mount
Exposure:  12m RGB
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing  5/10, Transparency 3/10
Outside Temperature:  45F
Processing Tools:  Maxim DL, Photoshop CS2
HOME   GALAXIES     EMISSION NEBS     REFLECTION NEBS   COMETS  
   GLOBULARS     OPEN CLUST     PLANETARIES     LINKS