Comet McNaught

The front page of the newspaper the other day had a little story about Comet McNaught. It is apparently the brightest comet in 30 years, and may end up being the brightest comet ever once it's finished its trek across the sky. The article said it would be visible from 4:50 to 5:15 PM last night, so I set my alarm on my cell phone. At 4:50 PM, I went outside in the freezing night and scanned the western sky. The comet was supposed to be right of Venus in the sky, and a little lower than Venus. I saw Venus right away. No comet. I looked for it for twenty-five minutes. Nothing. I figured the mountains to the west must have obstructed my view, but today I found all sorts of photos of the comet taken from all over the place. I can't believe that I couldn't see this comet given what the photos depict. It's bright, and has a really long tail. Several of the photos show mountains or hills every bit as high as those to my west, with the comet well above those hills. I might be able to see it tonight, and if not the entire comet, I should be able to see the tail. I'm setting my alarm again. The photo above was taken from Great Falls, MT. Those of you in the southern hemisphere should get quite a show over the next few days. Keep your eyes peeled!