It turns out that Starry Night's tail length is close to what is showing up in astro images. Amateurs with larger scopes and dark skies are reporting that they can make out a faint tail and a hint of colour. Amateurs with bino's are not seeing a tail yet, instead it looks a little like a diffuse globular cluster with a bright core.
As Suzy has been encouraging beginners to do; if you are new to Astronomy get out there and bag your first comet.
Edit: Dodgy spelling , but i've already being quoted.
grama, grammer, grammar.....