You'll have to take my word for it, but the very faint smudge just a little below the center is my very own photo of Comet McNaught. This morning while perusing APOD I learned that this comet (which I'd read a bit about on APOD at an earlier date) had brightened significantly in the last few days and was now visible to the naked eye. I ran over to a good vantage point this morning to try and see it, but couldn't. Later that day I used "Your Sky" to figure out where and when I'd have to look to see the comet. I figured I would have to wait until Thursday (When a mass of bitterly cold polar air is forecast to rid the sky of clouds for two days) to get another chance. I was wrong. The sky miraculously cleared about half an our before sunset this evening (Jan 10th) and stayed clear long enough for me to watch the comet for about 20 minutes. It was awesome. I haven't seen a comet with my own two eyes since Hale-Bopp in 1997.
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