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Comet McNaught over Gympie City :

After many nights of playing "catch me if you can" with stargazers while dodging behind clouds, mist and rain, the latest of the "Great Comets" finally decided to grace the sky in Gympie on Sunday night.
Labelled the Great Comet of 2007, Comet McNaught is thought to be the brightest comet visible from Earth for at least 40 years. The comet, discovered last year by Australian astronomer Robert McNaught, is an estimated 124 million kilometres from earth. The tail is six degrees long, the equivalent of 15 million kilometres.

By 7.45pm, Venus was clearly visible, but the Comet McNaught - named after the Australian astronomer who discovered it from Siding Spring on August 7 last year when it was still 200 000 times too faint to see with the unaided eye - remained elusive, then for the next 30 minutes or so the star-speckly tail increased in intensity and length and appeared to develop a slight curve as the comet "dropped" towards the horizon. I was quite amazed that this comet would still be able to be viewed at such a late date, as it was originally predicted to disappear on Friday.

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