Space and Astronomy Atlas

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Celestial Objects

Comet ISON

Comets

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Comet ISON, formally designated C/2012 S1, was a sungrazing comet originating from the Oort cloud, discovered on 21 September 2012 by the Belarusian and Russian astronomers Vitaly Nevsky and Artyom Novichonok using the International Scientific Optical Network. It was widely watched as it approached the Sun in late 2013, but it disintegrated as it passed through perihelion, breaking apart under the heat and gravitational stress of its extremely close approach and never returning as an intact body.

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