Stargazers gather to see special comet

WE'VE had a view of it in Huddersfield - now stargazers are gathering in Alaska to get a glimpse of the brightest comet seen in decades.

There has not been a lot of buzz about Comet McNaught, discovered just last year.

A stunning photo of it high in the skies above Kirkburton - taken by reader Gain Lee - was published in the Examiner yesterday.

Now, as the comet gets closer to the Sun, it is brightening and the word is spreading - this comet is special.

Comet McNaught, discovered last year by Australian astronomer RH McNaught, is expected to remain visible throughout the Northern Hemisphere today.

It will come to within 16m miles of the Sun and be obscured by its glare.

After that, it will eventually emerge over the Southern Hemisphere.

Comet McNaught is the brightest comet visible from Earth in 30 years.

It is six times brighter than Hale-Bopp in 1997 and 100 times brighter than Halley's Comet's in 1986.