after further review, it may not be the case. here is jenny harrison. >> reporter: they say comets are like cats, they have tails and they do exactly what they want. this, of course, is pretty much what comet ison has been doing. the last 24 hours, they are wondering, did it survive when it encountered the heat from the sun. it looks as if it might have done that. when it was spotted, it was september 2012. two russian amateur astronomers found i way up there, 585 million miles away from the earth. the last few days, the whole world of astronomy has been w h watching it get close to the sun. the comet literally encounters the intense heat from the sun. it looks as if it might have done that. this cross, you can see here, this is where they were looking to see it come out the other side from actually the activity