Comet Ison: Nasa Suggests Chunk Lives On

A streak of light seen streaming away from the Sun has given astronomers hope that a chunk of the much-anticipated "comet of the century" has survived its fiery encounter.

Telescopes tracking Comet Ison saw at least part of it emerge on the other side of the star around six hours after disappearing from view.

Experts at Nasa said the white smear seen in pictures from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory suggests at least part of Ison's icy nucleus is still intact.

However, they warned the comet appeared to have shrunk in size and may yet turn out to have disintegrated altogether, with a trail of debris being all that remains.

Ison had given a dazzling display on its way to the Sun. Pic: Nasa/MSFC

Karl Battams, an astrophysicist at the US Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC, described the comet as a "ridiculous, crazy, dynamic and unpredictable object" that continues to "amaze, astound and confuse".

"Right now it does appear that at least some small fraction of Ison has remained in one piece and is actively releasing material," he said.

"We have no idea how big this nucleus is, if there is indeed one. If there is a nucleus, it is still too soon to tell how long it will survive.

There was no sign of Ison in a Nasa space observatory picture from Thursday

"If it does survive for more than a few days, it is too soon to tell if the comet will be visible in the night sky."

Mr Battams said the remnants of Ison temporarily faded from sight after appearing on the other side of the Sun before rising from the solar corona "like an icy phoenix".

"This has unquestionably been the most extraordinary comet that I have ever witnessed," he said.

"The universe is an amazing place and it has just amazed us again."

The comet's impressive tail was photographed by Waldemar Skorupa

Comets are frozen balls of space dust left over from the formation of stars and planets more than four billion years ago.

Ison, which is officially known as Comet C/2012 S1, had been hurtling through space at speeds of 845,000mph.

It was expected to be met with temperatures of about 2,700C (4,892F) and an intense gravitational pull as it passed within 730,000 miles of the surface of the Sun.

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