Comet ISON is an ex-comet. Again. The "Comet of the Century" disappeared after it approached the sun on Thanksgiving Day. Scientists declared Comet ISON dead. Then they reported that fragments of the comet were still hurdling through space. Some reports said that Comet ISON was growing. Other reports said it was fading. It looks like Comet ISON is now officially dead.

Remnants from Comet ISON were approaching the viewing field for the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory's LASCO C3 ultraviolet detector. Glare from the sun blocked it from view before it re-emerged. As remnants the "comet of the century" passed the observatory, it grew dimmer and dimmer.

In a Twitter update on Satuday, Karl Battams, an astrophysicist at the Naval Research Laboratory who has been studying ISON for months, wrote "I do think that something emerged from the sun, but probably a very small nucleus or 'rubble pile.' and I fear that may have now dissolved."

Solar Dynamics Observatory declared Comet ISON dead when it disappeared from view as it was about pass within 730,000 miles of the sun.

Hours later, Comet ISON was spotted by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Observers reported a bright spot with what looked like a fan-shaped tail that was following Comet Ison's expected orbit. The bright spot was also caught by NASA's sun-watching STEREO satellites.

Skywatchers were heartened because they believed the images might offer a glimpse of the comet of the century by early next week. The fading glow seems to show that Comet ISON is a dissipating cloud of cosmic dust in the solar wind. Remnants of Comet ISON will not be visible to the naked eye.

In his blog, Battams wrote "Over the past year, we've amassed what we believe to be the largest single cometary dataset in history from one of - if not the most - successful coordinated observing campaigns in history. That data is going to tell us a lot, but is going to take a seriously long time to sort through. We've had a crazy year, an even crazier past few months, and a truly insane couple of days. But everything we get out of this will make it more than worth it, and for me it's just a privilege to have played a part in this unprecedented and extraordinary event."