This picture of Comet McNaught was taken at 16.46 GMT on Thursday 11th January 2007 from Edinburgh, Scotland and was seen against a bright twilight sky about 30 minutes after sunset in the WSW.

The above picture was taken with a Fuji S2 Pro digital camera with a Sigma APO 70-200mm EX lens at 200mm. 1/125s at f/2.8, ISO 400. The original image has been cropped and the contrast enhanced in Photoshop.

This comet really has exceeded expectations as it is currently (14th January) about magnitude -4 to -5 and can be seen in daytime! I missed the best opportunity to observe it in the evening when we had clear, calm conditions on the 10th January and, instead, braved the high winds and showers on the evening of the 11th.

I arrived on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, at about 4.15pm when the sun was due to set and I sheltered behind the southern bulk of Observatory House as the raging wind was coming from the north west. The main problem was the continuing series of squally showers that were obscuring the western horizon and it took a while before I spotted the comet against the bright twilight sky. Having seen it briefly, I subsequently lost it again behind cloud but at 4.46pm it re-emerged long enough to get one picture taken. I did continue to wait until 5.30pm for another opportunity but, by the time the sky had cleared sufficiently, the comet had already been lost in the murk.

The wind and weather was appalling and at times I was nearly blown off my feet by the strength of the wind. Fortunately, I had company of another amateur who had seen the comet on previous nights and was encouraging me to hang on for a better view!

To get a better idea of where the comet was in the sky and how bright it was, below is the full frame of the image I took. The top of the clock tower of the Balmoral Hotel can be seen and to the left of this, near the centre of the photo, is the comet.