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| Comet Ison battered in Sun encounter | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Comet Ison was severely battered in its encounter with the Sun, and largely destroyed, it would seem. | |
| Telescopes saw the giant ball of ice and dust disappear behind the star, but only a dull streamer emerge. | |
| Astronomers continue to search for the object, but it is almost certain the much vaunted "Comet of the Century" has gone out with a whimper. | Astronomers continue to search for the object, but it is almost certain the much vaunted "Comet of the Century" has gone out with a whimper. |
| Despite its great size, Ison was probably torn apart in the immense heat and tidal forces so close to the Sun. | Despite its great size, Ison was probably torn apart in the immense heat and tidal forces so close to the Sun. |
| Prof Tim O'Brien, associate director of Jodrell Bank, UK, said: "The nucleus has gone very faint, which you wouldn't expect. | Prof Tim O'Brien, associate director of Jodrell Bank, UK, said: "The nucleus has gone very faint, which you wouldn't expect. |
| "We can't be sure - but it's not looking good. We'll have to keep watching." | "We can't be sure - but it's not looking good. We'll have to keep watching." |
| Ison had captivated skywatchers with its promise all year. | Ison had captivated skywatchers with its promise all year. |
| A "fresh" object flung in towards the inner Solar System from its home far beyond the outer planet Neptune, it was hoped it might produce a brilliant tail that would arc across the night sky, perhaps for weeks. | A "fresh" object flung in towards the inner Solar System from its home far beyond the outer planet Neptune, it was hoped it might produce a brilliant tail that would arc across the night sky, perhaps for weeks. |
| And, as it got closer and closer to the Sun, its ices did indeed begin to vaporise, releasing dust that shimmered in a distinctive trailing stream. | And, as it got closer and closer to the Sun, its ices did indeed begin to vaporise, releasing dust that shimmered in a distinctive trailing stream. |
| But from early on, it was clear Ison was unlikely to be spectacular; it was just not brightening in the way people had hoped. | But from early on, it was clear Ison was unlikely to be spectacular; it was just not brightening in the way people had hoped. |
| This led scientists to fear for its survival when it eventually grazed past the star at a distance of just 1.2 million km at 18:35 GMT on Thursday. | This led scientists to fear for its survival when it eventually grazed past the star at a distance of just 1.2 million km at 18:35 GMT on Thursday. |
| The European and and US space agencies' Sun-watching Soho satellite observed Ison approach, and sweep, behind the Sun, but then fail to come back around as a coherent blip on the imagery. An streak in pictures was interpreted by some as the last fizzling of debris. | |
| Other telescopes such as Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory could detect no obvious sign of the comet's nucleus, either. | |
| Passing close to the Sun, Ison would have been subjected to temperatures up to abut 2,000C. And the immense gravity of the star would also have pulled and squeezed on the object as it tumbled end over end. | |
| All the evidence suggests Ison's nucleus was largely torn apart, in the same way that Comet Lovejoy - a previous hopeful in 2011 - was disrupted. | |
| Comets will stay in the news, however. Next year, in October, Comet Siding Spring will breeze past Mars at a distance of little more than 100,000km. And then in November, the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission will attempt to place a probe on the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. |