As seen from Kingston Park, Adelaide.
15th January, 2007, 9:06 pm CDST.
Konica Minolta 7D, 200 mm, 1/30 sec., f5.6.
Comet McNaught, is a non-periodic comet discovered on August 7, 2006 in Australia by Robert McNaught. Perihelion (closest approach to the sun) was January 12, 2007 at a distance of 2.5 million km from the surface of the sun. Its peak brightness has been reported as magnitude -5.5 or -6.0. For comparison the maximum brightness reached by Venus is -4.7. On the night this was taken Perth Observatory estimated an apparent magnitude of -4.0. The twilight and a thick layer of haze near the horizon dimmed the spectacle at Kingston Park, never the less the tail is clearly visible.
Others took much more spectacular images over the next week or two, but this was taken three days after it came out from behind the sun and although it was very bright the beautiful detail of the tail is mostly lost in the haze and bright sky. I viewed the comet from Skye on the previous night. Then the sky was bright blue and the camera recorded just the faintest white smudge on a blue background.
