It was a journey 5.5 million years in the making, but comet ISON’s trip appears to have been cut short by the Sun.

Scientists, who have been tracking its path since last year, saw it pass 1.2 million kilometres from the Sun where it then disappeared without a trace. At that distance, the comet would have reached temperatures of 2,760 degrees Celsius, hot enough to vaporise it.

If any fragments survived the close encounter, they would be visible to the naked eye within a week or two from Earth.