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Now visible on the C2 coronagraph.
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It is currently behind the occulter in C2 but we should get an indication about whether it has survived in few hours.
https://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/c2/
You can make a movie using this page:
C/2026 A1 (MAPS) is no more, it has ceased to be. Bereft of life it rests in pieces. It is an ex-comet.
https://ccor.nrl.navy.mil/ccor_realtime/CCOR1_realtime_MinBckgnd.mp4 for a video of its demise.
Yes, it broke up prior to perihelion and nothing came out at the expected position so there will be no headless wonder in the evening sky. That’s a shame but it was always a significant possibility given the small size of the nucleus.
Some of the dust released ahead of the breakup did appear to survive, and is visible in the coronagraph images, as a dust cloud on the “wrong” side of the Sun. This could possibly be detectable as a very low surface brightness feature in the morning sky. Highly unlikely, particularly since the Moon will interfere, but imagers are a resourceful bunch.
We’ll see.
Here is an animation of its final hours taken from LASCO C2:
https://britastro.org/observations/observation.php?id=20260405_091544_fe658e5ddc7bfd61
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