Kreutz sungrazer C/2026 A1 (MAPS) has continued to brighten, but that appears to be at least partially due to some degree of nucleus fragmentation. The shape of its gas coma has started to show a bar aligned perpendicularly with the Sun (sometimes called "coma wings") likely caused by the collision of gas from the nucleus and from one or more icy fragments trailing behind it on the antisunward side, which squeezes the combined gas out to the sides.