Comet McNaught has swung by our sun last week and now it's appearing on southern hemisphere skies. When it was close to the sun, it was visible in broad daylight. Now it appears at sunset, visible to the naked eye even from brightly-lit cities.

Comet McNaught's huge tail ribbons out and stretches so far that it actually leads all the way back to the northern hemisphere. The multiple synchronic bands it left behind look like a colourless aurora from mid-northern latitudes.

According to the International Comet Quarterly at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Comet McNaught is now considered to be the brightest comet in 40 years

This shot was taken at Mudgee Observatory by Grahame Kelaher in Australia.

:: Comet McNaught Gallery