Astonishing photos show Neowise comet flying over Edinburgh Castle

A recently-discovered comet has been photographed in the night sky over Edinburgh.

The Comet NEOWISE was only found by astronomers in late March, and is bright enough to be visible with the naked eye.

Stunning images of the comet above Edinburgh Castle were captured by Graham Gaw, a school teacher, early on Tuesday morning from his vantage point on the Bruntsfield Links.

The 41-year-old stayed up until 12:20am to take the photos, using a variety of apps to check the comet’s position and the risk of cloud cover.

The keen amateur photographer said they were “a real challenge to take”, explaining that conditions were “too light for astro-photography and too dark for landscape photography.”

“I had previously been up Blackford Hill and got some nice shots but wanted a better foreground subject,” he explained, “and what better than our castle?”

“I try no to do too much post-editing as I prefer the challenge of trying to get it right on the camera,” Graham said.

He said he was “thrilled” to capture clear images of the comet, “because I wasn't sure how they'd come out. There was so much ambient light and I was getting light flares from the street lights.

“The images looked great on the back of the camera, but even better when I got home and looked on the laptop.

“I was excited to see that I'd captured noctilucent clouds in some photos and a passing aeroplane in another,” Graham added.

The comet, which will be visible throughout July, has travelled around the sun and is now heading out of the Milky Way.

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