Comet McNaught

Comet McNaught, also known as the Great Comet of 2007 and given the designation C/2006 P1, is a non-periodic comet discovered on August 7, 2006 by Robert H. McNaught. It made perihelion on January 12, 2007, and became easily visible to the naked eye for observers in the Southern hemisphere.
On 12 January, McNaught became the brightest comet in more than 40 years, being the brightest comet seen since Comet Ikeya-Seki in 1965. The comet has been dubbed the Great Comet of 2007. On January 13 and 14, 2007, the comet attained an estimated maximum apparent magnitude of -6.0 in the Northern hemisphere. Perigee (closest approach to the Earth) was 15 January 2007, at a distance of 0.82 AU.
After passing the sun, Comet McNaught became visible in the Southern hemisphere. In Australia, according to Siding Spring Observatory at Coonabarabran, where the comet was discovered, the comet was to have reached its theoretical peak in brightness on Sunday, 14 January 2007 just after sunset, when it would have been visible for 23 minutes after sunset. On 15 January 2007 the comet was observed at Perth Observatory with an estimated apparent magnitude of -4.0.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_McNaught