ISON seems to have survived close call with sun
Conflicting reports of comet's fate come in hours after flyby
Comet ISON seems to have emerged from its brush with the sun diminished but intact. The comet’s closest approach, known as perihelion, occurred during the afternoon of Thanksgiving Day.
Several solar telescopes were watching for the comet (SN Online: 11/27/13). NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory did not capture ISON emerging from behind the sun, leading to initial reports that the comet had fizzled. But in the hours after perihelion, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, run by NASA and the European Space Agency, observed an object that researchers think is the comet’s nucleus, according to NASA’s latest updates.