Comet ISON sweeps near sun, shows signs of "life"- Alix Kast

The comet ISON, or a portion of it, is now thought to have survived its close encounter with the sun. Scientists say that it is throwing off dust and (supposedly) gas. But they're not sure how long it will last. It went 730,000 miles over the sun on Thursday. Comets are made up of frozen gases, rocks, and dust, and can be up to several miles wide. When they are warmed, they develop tails of gas and dirt. Comets are not typically in our part of the solar system. Scientists take opportunities such as this one to study comets, hopefully finding clues about how our solar system formed. ISON was discovered last year with a telescope in Russia. Scientists hoped it would survive its encounter with the sun and give off an even larger dust trail than usual. Earlier on Thursday, NASA had practically declared it dead, but other scientists refused to give up hope. The discovery that it had apparently survived led many to nickname it "the zombie comet".

I find it fascinating that the comet survived the intense heat of the sun. It makes me wonder what exactly it consisted of. ISON is a type of comet called a "Sungrazing comet", since it traveled so close to the sun. Scientists will probably be able to learn a lot from this unusual event. We'll have to wait and see what further things they discover about it. It may actually reach a point where it becomes so bright that it can be seen with the naked eye. Hearing about things like this makes me want to grab a telescope and see if I can catch a glimpse of it- although I doubt anything I have access to would be powerful enough to spot it in its current state.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/29/us/ison-comet/index.html?hpt=us_c2

More information about ISON: http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/07/us/comet-ison-5-things/index.html