Comet ISON Being Destroyed by the Sun . ... Credit Copyright: NASA , ESA , SOHO Explanation: Most comets don't survive a close encounter with the Sun. ... It is now assumed that no large fragments of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) survived. Besides the comet, the active Sun is seen to eject puffs of plasma known as coronal mass ejections. Launched in 1995, sun-orbiting SOHO has become a historic device in the discovery and tracking of comets known as sungrazers . ... NASA Official: Jay Norris. ...