A ball of ice meets a ball of fire - AND THE FIRE WINS! OR DOES IT?

UPDATE 3: It's dead. Ison made it around the Sun but a few hours later it broke up and disappeared. You know what they say... it's better to burn out than to fade away.

UPDATE 2: Cancel the funeral. It looks like Ison might have made it after all. New pictures show the comet or what is left of it rounding the sun. As Ison gets further from the Sun we'll be able to work out what kind of condition the comet is in, but for now, ISON LIVES!

UPDATE 1: I am sorry to report that Ison didn't make it. All that appears to be left is a trail of rocks, dust and gas. The Bad Astronomy blog has all the details.

A large comet is approaching the Sun and scientists don't know if it will survive.

Comet Ison will tonight pass 1.2 million kilometres from the Sun. This seems like a long way, but it really isn't when you compare it to the Earth, which is 150 million kilometres from the Sun, or even Mercury, which is 58 million kilometres away, or the Sun itself, which is a massive 1.4 million kilometres wide.

This video from NASA shows the path of Comet Ison.

Comets are made from ice, and the Sun is rather hot. This is not a great combination for the comet. The heat from the Sun hits the surface of the comet and blasts off gasses and bits of ice and rock. This is the tail. As the comet gets closer to the Sun, the tail gets bigger, but if it gets too close to the Sun, the comet will break up and be destroyed.

Will it survive?

Find out tomorrow.

Icy links:

• Did you know that comets have two tails? Find out why from Caltech.
• Will you be able to see the comet? If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, probably not. The Sydney Observatory has the details.