More than 100 dead in outbreak of Measles in Bangladesh.

More than 100 people have died of suspected Measles in an outbreak of the disease in Bangladesh. Cases started appearing in mid-March 2026, since when more than 7500 suspected cases have been reported, with more than 4600 people hospitalised, almost all of whom are young children, with about one third of those affected being under nine months old. Over 900 cases have been laboratory-confirmed, including 16 of those who lost their lives.

A patient being treated for Measles at the Dhaka Medical College in Bangladesh. Drik Picture Library/Getty Images.

Measles is a human disease caused by a Virus in the Paramyxovirus family. The Virus infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body. It can lead to major epidemics with significant morbidity and mortality, especially among vulnerable people. Among young and malnourished children, pregnant women, and immunocompromised individuals, including those with HIV, cancer or treated with immunosuppressives, Measles can cause serious complications, including severe diarrhoea, blindness, encephalitis, pneumonia, and death.

Thin-section transmission electron micrograph revealing the ultrastructural appearance of a single Viron, of the Measles Virus. The measles Virus is a Paramyxovirus, of the genus Morbillivirus. It is 100-200 nm in diameter, with a core of single-stranded RNA, and is closely related to the Rinderpest and Canine Distemper Viruses. Two membrane envelope proteins are important in pathogenesis. They are the F (fusion) protein, which is responsible for fusion of virus and host cell membranes, viral penetration, and hemolysis, and the H (hemagglutinin) protein, which is responsible for adsorption of virus to cells. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Wikimedia Commons.

Transmission is primarily person-to-person by airborne respiratory droplets that disperse rapidly when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Transmission can also occur through direct contact with infected secretions. Transmission from asymptomatic exposed immune persons has not been demonstrated. The Virus remains contagious in the air or on contaminated surfaces for up to two hours. A patient is infectious from four days before the start of the rash to four days after its appearance. There is no specific antiviral treatment for Measles, but most people recover within 2-3 weeks.

An effective and safe vaccine is available for prevention and control. The Measles-containing-vaccine first-dose is given at the age of nine months, while the Measles-containing-vaccine second dose is given at the age of 15 months. A 95% population coverage of Measles-containing-vaccine first-dose and Measles-containing-vaccine second dose is required to stop measles circulation.

In areas with low vaccination coverage, epidemics typically occur every two to three years and usually last between two and three months. However, their duration varies according to population size, crowding, and the population’s immunity status.

The Measles outbreak in Bangladesh this year is thought to have been linked to the recent political instability in the country, as well as the Covid-19 pandemic. Bangladesh typically runs a major Measles vaccination campaign every four years. However, the 2020 campaign is thought to have been disrupted by the diverting of staff and resources to deal with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the 2024 campaign was cancelled amid the political turmoil which led to the removal of the country's president, Sheikh Hasina, and the installation of an interim government under the economist Muhammad Yunus, which made repairing the country's economic and political systems a priority.

Following elections in February 2026, a new government was sworn in, led by Tarique Rahman of the Bangladesh National Party. This new government has launched a major new Measles vaccination campaign in response to the epidemic, beginning with 30 identified hotspots in 20 of the country's 64 districts, targeting 1.2 million children between the ages of six months and five years who have not received the vaccination. 

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Ugandan farmers attempt to stop oil pipeline in UK courts.

A group of farmers from across Uganda are attempting to prevent the completion of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, which it intended to carry crude oil from western Uganda to the Indian Ocean port of Tanga in Tanzania, by bringing a court case in London against the pipeline's owner, EACOP Ltd., arguing that the construction of the pipeline contravenes Clause 39 of the Ugandan Constitution, which guarantees that 'Every Ugandan has a right to a clean and healthy environment', as well as breaching the Ugandan National Environment Act and National Climate Change Act.

The East African Crude Oil Pipeline is intended to carry oil from two oilfields, the Tilenga and Kingfisher oil fields, on the shores of Lake Albert, to the Tanzanian coast. The Tilenga Oil Field is being developed by the French multinational TotalEnergies, while the Kingfisher Oil Field is being developed by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. Between them the two companies plan to drill more than 400 wells, eight of which will lie within the Murchison Falls National Park. Because of the dense nature of the oil, the pipeline will need to be heated to 50°C along its entire 1443 km length, making it the world's largest heated pipeline, and significantly increasing the project's carbon footprint. The project was initiated in 2016 and is 78% complete, having been the subject of numerous legal challenges and protests in East Africa.

The planned route of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. TotalEnergy.

EACOP Ltd. is 62% owned by TotalEnergies, with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation owning 8%, and the Uganda National Oil Company and Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation owning 15% each. However, it is registered as a company in London, leading the Ugandan farmers to hope that bringing a case there may be effective. A number of previous cases brought in Uganda and Tanzania by farmers evicted from their lands to make way for the pipeline have been unsuccessful (according to figures provided by TotalEnergy, around 100 000 people in the two countries will have lost some land to the project, with around 5000 forced to relocate completely).

The project's leaders have asserted that the project is an essential part of the transition to carbon neutrality, and that it's footprint will be offset by a number of social and environmental projects. These include a package of US$19 million in payments plus US$22 in in-kind compensation for persons affected by the Tilinga Oil Field, and US$32 million in cash plus US$68 million in in-kind compensation for persons affected by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, training in agricultural practices and small business-development, distribution of food  items recommended by the United Nations World Food Program (e.g. rice, pulses, oil), the rebuilding of a health centre in Buliisa District, funding for 338 students from Buliisa, Nwoya Pakwach, Nebbi and Masindi districts to take O-and A-level science courses, the renovation of twelve staff housing units at Anaka General Hospital, drilling of several boreholes in Bulisa District, which will improve access to water for 4000 people and 10 000 cattle, the provision of a number of 5-day courses at Makerere University  taught by professionals or experts from TotalEnergies, as well as access to six online courses for thousands of students, the construction of a 115 MW solar park and 100 MW wind farm in Tanzania, the construction of renewable energy projects capable of producing 60mw of energy, instillation of a 15mw solar plant at the Tilenga Central Processing Facility, the potential development of a 150mw solar thermal facility at the Tilenga Central Processing Facility, restoration of 10 km² of rain forest, the protection of 100 km² of natural forest, projects to protect populations of Antelopes and Giraffes in Murchison Falls National Park, and a wetlands restoration project in the White Nile Delta.

However, the Ugandan farmers, with the support of global campaign group Avaaz, contend that the environmental impact of the pipeline significantly outweighs any potential benefits in a number of ways. 

Firstly, the project is predicted to produce greenhouse gasses equivalent to 372 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over its planned 20 year lifetime. This is equivalent to the entire greenhouse gas emissions of Uganda for 58 years, significantly contributing to global climate change, something which is already impacting Uganda, which has suffered record-breaking floods, devastating and frequent droughts and erratic rainfall patterns in recent years.

Secondly, the pipeline is proposed to run through the Lake Victoria Basin, an environment where a significant oil leak or spill could have a catastrophic impact on Lake Victoria, an important natural habitat, source of water to people in three countries, and a major source of water to the Nile.

Thirdly, the pipeline is predicted to run through several internationally important wildlife reserves and habitats, including the Murchison Falls National Park, the Taala Forest Reserve, and the Bugoma Forest Central Forest Reserve, potentially impacting a range of habitats and endangered species. 

To this end they have appointed solicitor Joe Snape of the UK law firm Leigh Day, which specialises in environmental and humans rights cases with international dimensions, to represent them in London, and hope to begin legal proceedings in May 2026. 

Snape, who has previously represented members of the Ogale and Bille communities of the Niger Delta who have been affected by the activities of oil companies, has stated that 'Our clients believe the EACOP pipeline will result in enormous damage to the global climate as well as severe damage to their local environment. Our clients are already living on the frontline of the climate crisis and argue this pipeline will only exacerbate the impact they, and other vulnerable communities around the world, experience on their lives and livelihoods. They are calling for the pipeline construction and operations to be halted to stop this damaging impact on the climate in Uganda and elsewhere around the world.'

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Twelve confirmed deaths following Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake in Afghanistan.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake at a depth of 186.4 km, roughly 35 km to the south of the town of Jurm in Badakhshan Province, northern Afghanistan, slightly after 8.40 pm local time (slightly after 4.10 pm GMT on Friday 3 April 2026. The Earthquake was felt across Afghanistan, as well as southern Tajikistan, northern Pakistan, and India as far as New Delhi. 

Twelve people have been confirmed to have been killed by the event, eight of them members of the same family who died when their house collapsed in the Gosfand Dara area of Kabul province, according to the Afghan Red Crescent Society. The only member of the family reported to have survived the collapse was a two-year-old boy, who is said to have been badly injured. The remaining four people killed were in separate incidents to the east of Kabul. Another three people have been reported to have been injured, with five houses destroyed and 33 damaged, affecting 40 families across  Kabul, Panjshir, Logar, Nangarhar, Laghman and Nuristan provinces. This pattern of causing little damage close to the epicentre but more harm in an area a considerable distance from the epicentre is typical of deep Earthquakes, the energy of which is dispersed over a wide distance before reaching the surface.

The approximate location of the 3 April 2026 Afghanistan Earthquake. USGS.

The boundary between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates runs close to northern Afghanistan. The Indian Plate is moving northward relative to the Eurasian Plate, causing folding and uplift along this boundary, which has led to the formation of the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan, the Himalayas and the other mountain ranges of Central Asia., and which makes the nations in this boundary zone prone to Earthquakes.

Plate boundaries and movements beneath southern Pakistan, Iran and the Arabian Sea. University of Southampton.

While the occurrence of Earthquakes in Afghanistan is inevitable, the situation is made far worse by the country's weak infrastructure, with few buildings having any form of Earthquake-proofing. Homes are typically made from concrete and brick in urban areas, and wood and mud brick in rural areas, with little in the way of building regulations, and neither material help nor advice available to people who might want to invest in improving the resilience of their properties. Previous natural disasters in Afghanistan have seen many people displaced internally by the loss of both homes and infrastructure as well as shortages of drinkable water, and local hospitals and medical centres struggling to cope due to shortages of medicines, equipment, and staff (in particular female staff, most of whom have been forced to leave their occupations due to the restrictive laws of the Taliban regime).

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Marine Trematosaurid Temnospondyls from the Early Triassic of Western Australia.

The Temnospondyls were an ancient group of Tetrapods, which are the sister group to the modern Lisamphibians (Frogs, Salamanders, and Caecilians), although they were in many ways more Reptile-like, with many apparently able to live completely away from water for much of their lives, while others colonised marine environments. The first Temnospondyls appeared in the Carboniferous, rapidly expanding to become one of the most diverse and abundant groups of terrestrial Vertebrates. The Temnospondyls remained a major group throughout the Permian and Triassic, but were badly affected by the End Triassic extinction from which they never recovered. A few Temnospondyl lineages persisted through the Jurassic and into the Early Cretaceous, when they finally disappeared.

The Trematosaurids were a group of Temnospondyls which migrated into marine environments in the Early Triassic, evolving to occupy a large marine predator role which had become vacant during the End Permian Extinction, and spreading throughout much of the world's environments. Trematosaurids have been described from Madagascar, Greenland, Australia, Pakistan, Spitsbergen, European Russia, the Russian Far East, Germany, and Jordan. 

To date, only a single species of Marine Trematosaurid (several others are known from clearly non-marine environments) has been described from Australia, Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis, which described in 1972 by John Cosgriff and Neil Garbutt on the basis of a composite of fragmentary cranial remains from the Early Triassic Blina Shale of the central-southern Kimberley region of far northwestern Western Australia, collected during a series of expeditions to the area in the 1960s.

The Blina Shale records a transgressive delta setting (setting where the land is extending into the sea over a delta system), which would have faced onto the East Gondwana interior rift seaway. These deposits record a mixture of saline, brackish, and freshwater environments, and have produced non-Trematosaurid Temnospondyls such as the Rhytidosteid, Deltasaurus kimberleyensis, the Capitosauroid, Warrenisuchus aliciae, and the Brachyopids, Batrachosuchus henwoodi, and Banksiops townrowi. A variety of other fossils have also been found within the Blida Shale, including the ubiquitous Triassic Saurichthyid Actinopterygian, Saurichthys, a variety of Ceolacanths, the Ptychoceratodontid Lungfish, Ptychoceratodus philippsi, the Sagenodontid Lungfish, Aphelodus anapes, the Ceratodontid Lungfish, Asiatoceratodus tiguidensis, several possible Sharks, Conodonts, Insects, Spinicaudatans and Lingulid Brachiopods, possible Pseudomonotid Bivalves, indeterminate Ammonoids, some possible Mollusc egg cases, burrow traces, palynomorphs (fossil pollen and spores), Achritarchs, Horsetails, and possible Lycopods. 

Temnospondyls from the Blina Shale are typically found in a disarticulated state, either as individual bones or accumulations, and show signs of having been transported before their final deposition, including weathering and sorting by size. This is consistent with deposition in beds with preserved ripple marks and thin cross-lamination, which is suggestive of a shallow, tidal environment. 

In a paper published in the Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology on 22 February 2026, Benjamin Kear of the Department of Palaeobiology at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Nicolás Campione of the Palaeoscience Research Centre at the University of New England, Mikael Siversson of the Western Australian Museum, and the School of Molecular and Life Sciences at Curtin University, Mohamad Bazzi of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Stanford University, and Lachlan Hart of the School of Education and Earth and Sustainability Science Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, as well as the Australian Museum Research Institute, reassess that material assigned to Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis from the Blinda Shale deposits, and draw new conclusions about the presents of Trematosaurid Temnospondyls in the Early Triassic of Western Australia.

The original material assigned to Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis included the holotype, WAM 62.1.46, two topotype specimens, WAM 71.6.22 and WAM 62.1.50, and a high-definition plaster caste of the holotype, WAM 62.1.59 (in taxonomy, a holotype is the specimen from which a species is described, any other specimen considered to belong to the same species as the holotype therefore belongs to that described species, but if the holotype is found to belong to the same species as the previously described holotype of another species, then the newer species is considered invalid; a topotype is a specimen asigned to a species which comes from the same location as the holotype). All of these specimens were placed in the collection of the Western Australian Museum, but when Kear et al. came to look for them, only WAM 62.1.50 and WAM 62.1.59 could be found, WAM 62.1.46 and WAM 71.6.22 having apparently been loaned to John Cosgriff in 1984, at which time he was working at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. 

A search of the palaeontological collection of Wayne State University could not locate these specimens, although WAM 62.1.46 was subsequently found in a search for potentially related specimens in the collection of the University of California Museum of Paleontology, where it had been identified as cf. Tertrema sp., and given the identifier UCMP 65858. The collection of the University of California Museum of Paleontology was also found to contain a second high-definition plaster caste of this specimen, listed as UCMP 65850. The University of California Museum of Paleontology has subsequenty returned WAM 62.1.46 to the Western Australian Museum. 

Also found within the collection of the University of California Museum of Paleontology was a box labelled WAM 62.1.50, however, this was found to be empty, having been 'withdrawn for study' by John Cosgriff in August 1968.

Source locality for the Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis holotype (WAM 62.1.46) and referred material (WAM 62.1.50). Map of the Noonkanbah Station area with the Great Northern Highway (1) extending southeast of Derby towards Fitzroy Crossing in northwestern Western Australia. Outcrop areas of the Lower Triassic Blina Shale are shown with the overlying Erskine Sandstone, and Middle Triassic Munkayarra Shale. Kear et al. (2026).

Specimen WAM 62.1.46, the holotype of Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis is a steinkern internal cast from the naso-frontal region of the skull and vomero-palatine section of the palate. This, along with the plaster casts WAM 62.1.59 and UCMP 65850, show Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis to have had an elongate skull with a basally constricted rostrum, dorsolaterally facing orbits that are positioned close to the lateral jaw margin, broad nasals that contact the lacrimals posterolaterally, and possibly the septo-maxilla near the external bony nasal opening, anteriorly narrow interpterygoid vacuities that are bordered by transversely broad palatines, ctopterygoids apparently lacking large palatal tusks, at least at the ectopterygoid-palatine suture, and a narrow cultriform process of the parasphenoid that divides the interpterygoid vacuities along the palatal midline, and extends to a point level with the anterior edges of the choanae.

High-definition plaster cast (WAM 62.1.59) and holotype specimen (WAM 62.1.46/UCMP 69858) of Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis from the Blina Shale. (A) Cast, and (B) original internal steinkern of the naso-frontal section of the cranium in dorsal aspect. (C) Interpretation of the cranial sutures (solid/dashed lines), openings (black fills), and broken/plaster surfaces (hatching). (D) Skull reconstruction in dorsal aspect. (E) Cast and (F) original internal steinkern of the vomero-palatine section of the cranium in ventral aspect. (G) interpretation of the cranial sutures and openings. (H) Skull reconstruction in ventral aspect. Skull outlines based on Tertrema acuta and Hyperokynodon keuperinus. Abbreviations: ch, choana; cp, cultriform process of the parasphenoid; ec, ectopterygoid; fr, frontal; ju, jugal; la, lacrimal; mx, maxilla; na, nasal; nc, nerve channel cast; or, orbit; pf, postfrontal; pl, palatine; pr, prefrontal; pv, pterygoid vacuity; sm, septomaxilla; ?tb, possible palatal tusk base; vo, vomer. Scale bars equal 50 mm. Kear et al. (2026).

Specimen WAM 62.1.50 is an external impression of the vomerine palate showing multiple dental rows and anterior margins of the choanae. This is recorded as a paratype of Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis on its Western Australia Museum label (a paratype is a specimen other than the holotype of a species which is used in the formal description of that species), but as 'cf. Aphaneramma' (refer to Aphaneramma) on the label of the empty box at the University of California Museum of Paleontology, a label which Kear et al. assume reflects Cosgriff's original thoughts on the classification of the specimen. Aphaneramma is a cosmopolitan Trematosaurid Temnospondyl also known from the Early Triassic of Pakistan, Madagascar, Russia, and Svarlbard. 

WAM 62.1.50 appears to be similar in proportions to the skull of Aphaneramma gavialimimus, a large (skull-lenght about 400 mm) species of Aphaneramma described from Madagascar in 2017. It also has fine longitudinal bone ridges, which have previously been observed in members of the genera Aphaneramma, Wantzosaurus, and Cosgriffius. The choanae of WAM 62.1.50 are longitudinally offset, such that the left opening would have been displaced anteriorly relative to the right, something which has also been recorded in other specimens of Aphaneramma. In their 1972 description of Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis, Cosgriff and Garbutt identify this as being the result of displacement of the right choanae, which they believe was 'compressed and pushed forward from its original position', but which Kear et al. consider may be a diagnostic feature of the genus. Notably, WAM 62.1.50 shows several rows of vomerine teeth (teeth on the roof of the mouth), which are absent in WAM 62.1.46, suggesting the two do not belong to the same species. Vonerine teeth are found in Aphaneramma, as well as some other genera of Trematosaurid Temnospondyls, although the size and arrangement of those of WAM 62.1.50 do not appear to exactly match any previously described taxa. For this reason, Kear et al. return WAM 62.1.50 to the designation cf. Aphaneramma. 

Referred material (WAM 62.1.50) of cf Aphaneramma sp. from the Blina Shale. (A) Palate impression in ventral aspect (coated with ammonium chloride sublimate). (B) Interpretation of the palatal sutures, dentition (solid/dashed lines), and openings (black fills). Skull outline based on Aphaneramma gavialimimus. (C) Skull reconstruction in ventral aspect. Skull outline based on Aphaneramma gavialimimus. Abbreviations: ch, choana; mx, maxilla; tr, tooth row; vo, vomer. Scale bar equals 30 mm in (A) and (B); and 50 mm in (C). Kear et al. (2026).

Cosgriff and Garbutt apparently viewed the additional specimens assigned to Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis, WAM 71.6.22 and WAM 62.1.50, as developmental stages of the species, noting that they were smaller than the holotype, WAM 62.1.46. As WAM 71.6.22 could not be located, this assessment could not be evaluated for this specimen, but Kear et al.'s study clearly shows that the smaller size of WAM 62.1.50 only relates to its fragmentary nature, and that it was clearly derived from quite a large animal. Furthermore, it differs significantly in morphology to WAM 62.1.46, and cannot be assigned to the same species.

This expands the diversity of Temnospondyls known from the Blina Shale, and expands our knowledge of how that assemblage relates to wider Temnospondyl faunal distributions in the Early Triassic. This includes widespread Australian species such as Deltasaurus kimberleyensis, Warrenisuchus aliciae, and Banksiops townrowi, taxa also known from South Africa, such as the genus Batrachosuchus, species not found anywhere else, such as Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis, and now an example of the globally distributed genus Aphaneramma. This also increases the distribution of these marine Temnospondyls, raising the possibility that their distribution was not just due to expansion along the continuous coastal Tethyan periphery of the Pangean supercontinent, but may also have involved longer distance, ocean-crossing dispersals between Laurasia and Gondwana across the Tethys Ocean.

Early Triassic (about 250 million years ago) paleobiogeographic distributions of Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis (star) and Aphaneramma in Australia (star), Madagascar (circle), Pakistan (square), Svalbard (polygon); and Russia (triangle). Kear et al. (2026).

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Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) approaches perihelion.

Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) will reach its perihelion (the closest point on its orbit to the Sun) on Saturday 4 April 2026, when it will be approximately 0.006 AU from the Sun (i.e. 0.6% of the distance from the Sun to the planet Earth, which is about 852 700 km, or a little over twice the distance between the Earth and the Moon). At this time the comet will be 1.05 AU from the Earth, in the constellation of Pisces, but it will not be visible due to its extreme closeness to the Sun.

The orbit and position of C/2026 A1 (MAPS) and the planets of the Inner Solar System on 4 April 2026.  JPL Small Body Database.

Should the comet survive this close encounter (which is not guaranteed), then it will reach apogee (the closest point on its orbit to the Earth) two days later, on 6 April 2026. At this point it will be 0.96 AU from us (i.e. 96% of the distance between the Earth and the Sun, or 143 614 000 km), still in the constellation of Pisces and still not visible. 

Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) was discovered on 13 January 2026 by the 0.28 m f/2.2 Schmidt telescope at the AMACS1 Observatory at San Pedro de Atacama. The name C/2026 A1 implies that it is a comet (C/) that it was discovered in the first two weeks of 2026 (period 2026 A), and that it was the first comet discovered in this period (1). The designation (MAPS) derives from the initials of the team which discovered it, Alain Maury, Georges Attard, Daniel Parrott, and Florian Signoret.

Discovery imagery for Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS). Alain Maury/AMACS1 Observatory.

Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) is calculated to have an orbital period of 1900 years and a highly eccentric orbit tilted at an angle of 149° to the plain of the Solar System, or 59° to the plain of the Solar System but orbiting in a retrograde direction, the opposite direction to the planets and the majority of smaller bodies. This orbit brings it to 0.006 AU from the Sun at closest perihelion (0.6% of the distance between the Earth and the Sun) and out to 307 AU from the Sun at aphelion (307 times as far from the Sun as the Earth or about 10 times as far from the Sun as the planet Neptune, and considerably outside the Kuiper Belt). As a comet with a period of more than 200 years, C/2026 A1 (MAPS) is considered to be a non-Periodic Comet, since it is unlikely that it would be identified as the same body on another visit to the Inner Solar System. As a comet which comes within 0.01 AU of the Sun, C/2026 A1 (MAPS) is also considered to be a Kreutz Sungrazer Comet.

The Kreutz Sungrazer Comets, a group named after the nineteenth century German astronomer Heinrich Kreutz, have been shown to share a number of other properties, notably an orbital inclination which tends to be close to 144° relative to the plain of the Solar System, and an orbit which takes them to beyond 100 AU from the Sun. In 1967 the British astronomer Brian Marsden calculated that these comets could be subdivided into two groups, which clustered around the orbits of Comet Ikeya–Seki (which visited the Inner Solar System in 1965), and the 'Great Comet' of 1882. 

From this he calculated that these comets were all remnants of a single large comet, which had first broken into two halves during a close encounter with the Sun, then smaller pieces with each subsequent pass. He further calculated that the orbit of Ikeya–Seki appeared to be very similar to that of the 'Great Comet' of 1106, which was documented by observers across Europe, North Africa, and East Asia, and suggested that this might have been the parent body for the whole family. Subsequent researchers have suggested that there are more subgroups within this family, and that the Great Comet of 1106 was itself a fragment of an earlier body, which some of the other subgroups are derived separately from.

Calculations based upon the initial observations of C/2026 A1 (MAPS) led to the conclusion that the nucleus of this comet was about 2.4 km in diameter. However, subsequent observations by the James Webb Space Telescope have led to the conclusion that it is much smaller at about 400 m in diameter. This makes it one of the smallest known comets, as well as the first Kreutz Sungrazer to have had its nucleus directly measured, giving scientists a particular interest in whether it will survive its close encounter with the Sun.

An image of C/2026 A1 (MAPS) captured by the James Webb Space Telescope on 7 February 2026. Melina Thévenot/NASA/European Space Agency/Canadian Space Agency/James Webb Space Telescope/MIRI/Qicheng Zhang/Wikimedia Commons.

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