[Outbackmanyep]

Isn't it great to be still talking about this comet almost 12 months on!?
My first sighting was on 17th January, only briefly because a huge thunderhead was staring down at me, everywhere else was clear except the west and south-west....i saw it in binoculars.....WOW! This is AWESOME! Then the clouds covered it.....i couldn't wait till tomorrow!

I know i'll NEVER EVER forget it! 18th January, 2007.....
The thrill of the hunt, dodging clouds, the excitement of getting my gear together after work, all bundled in the Landcruiser, race out to the hunting property to drive across creeks, and opening about half a dozen gates (and closing them of course)....get up near a trig station, set up my gear on the side of the hill, warm wind blowing, David Gilmour quietly playing on the CD player......just waiting for the sun to set and then it was on.......roughly aligned my eq. fork for the 8" SCT, then i scanned for Venus, find it!, set my setting circles, read the ephemeris, wide angle eyepiece in, adjust to approx position....visually scan for that faint bluish blob of fuzz.....i remember sighting it at 8:15pm! Twilight about 30 mins from ending......my old man spotted it in binoculars and his excitement said it all! "HOLY @!$T....look at the SIZE of it!!!"
It appeared through my scope, and it looked like a small fuzz, but as the sky got darker it glowed with a golden hue.....and the extensions of the tail got more and more....i scurried to get my Minolta 7000 all hooked up to Prime focus, i had another Minolta 7000 on a tripod ready to take wide angle shots.......then click....click.....click....800 ISO film in, 5 sec exp, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 1 minute.......got to 5 mins, then camera onto piggyback mount.....same deal.....5 sec, 15 secs....none of my images went longer than 5 mins. I wanted to cover everything!
Had to make sure the focus was right......and sharp, even to the extent i had the focus motor on when taking prime focus shots to help lock the focusser down......10 rolls of film between 2 cameras throughout the first 3 weeks of its apparition, the following day was the same routine......the moon light gifted me an opportunity to get some good moonlit foreground shots....

I'll never forget P1 McNaught!
the scans look grainy and a little smeary because the underside of my HP scanner is foggy and i can't do nothing about it, the actual images look pristine!
I might have a Beez Neez now to remember it by!

Anyways...heres some shots guys!