This was one of the rare comets that becomes bright enough to be visible to the unaided eye. This picture was taken on the date that the comet was closest to Earth. It had already passed its closest approach to the Sun on October 9, and finally was visible in the western sky after sunset in the northern hemisphere.
Although the comet was visible to the naked eye, it was not easy because of the bright evening twilight. From the shoreline in Madison, CT, we first spotted it in binoculars about 40 minutes after sunset. This picutre was taken about 70 minutes after sunset, when the sky had darkened enough to give a better view.
To the naked eye, a faint tail about 3 degrees long could be seen, and the coma appeared starlike, but not very bright. The views through binoculars were very nice.
Below are photos taken on the evenings of October 17 and 18, which show a narrow and pointy anti-tail (a tail pointing in the opposite direction of the main tail).
October 12: 10 exposures, each 1 second at ISO 6400, taken with a Canon T6i camera and a telephoto lens at 102 mm, f/5.6.
October 18: 29 exposures, each 2.9 seconds at ISO 12800, taken with a Canon T6i camera and a telephoto lens at 102 mm, f/5.6.
