On the night of January 30th, 1996, Yuji Hyakutake was gazing through powerful binoculars (25x150's), trying to find any new comets that might be lurking around the solar system. Just two months before, he had found his first. That night, he would find his second. While the first comet would prove to be nothing spectacular, his second comet would light up the sky and the curiosity of millions of people around the world. The brightest comet in 20 years, Comet Hyakutake (also known as C/1996 B2) passed just 9.5 million miles from the earth on its trip around the sun. From dark sites, the tail of the comet could be seen spanning over 35 degrees of sky. To take this image, a Tokina 80-200mm f/2.8 zoom lens was set at the 80mm focal length and mounted on a Losmandy G-11 equatorial mount. The exposure was 20 minutes at f/4 on unhypered Fujicolor 400. Due to the comet's proximity to the earth, it appeared to move the diameter of a full moon every 40 minutes. Because of this high rate of motion, the camera had to be guided on the comet rather than the stars, as is normal in astrophotography. Guiding was accomplished by making almost constant corrections in declination while viewing through a Vixen 90mm guide scope. This is why the background stars appear trailed.