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Amateur astronomer Minoru Yoneto has been gazing at the stars for many years, but the comet McNaught took his breath away.
"I have never seen such a bright comet. It is very easy to see. Even in daylight you can see it with the naked eye. I was so surprised."
On Monday the Queenstown man got his first sighting of the comet that has the stargazing community abuzz, and took photographs of it that are now being viewed on the internet by astronomy buffs throughout the world.
It is already ranked the second-brightest comet on record since 1935, the brightest being Comet West in 1975. If it breaks apart, it could become the brightest seen for several centuries.
It is unclear how long it will remain visible to the naked eye, but experts believe it should be visible through binoculars for another week.
Pam Kilmartin works with powerful telescopes at the Mt John Observatory in Tekapo, in the MacKenzie Country, but she also found the best view of the comet was with the naked eye.
"After sunset [on Monday] we could see it in the evening sky, quite low in the west. Because it was low in the sky very few telescopes would get down so far," she said.
"It's a rare treat to see a comet as bright as this one, visible to the unaided eye even in full daylight. [Observatory superintendent] Alan Gilmore and I have observed many comets over the last 36 years, but this is the first we have been able to see close to the sun at 11am."
Mr Yoneto said because the comet was so close to the sun it was a strain to get a good view during the day, and he did not recommend using binoculars. It would become easier as the comet moved further away from the sun.
The best viewing time is at twilight, looking towards the southwestern horizon.
"If you have a good clear sky you should pick it up," Ms Kilmartin said.
Comet McNaught
* Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) was discovered by Australian astronomer Rob McNaught at Siding Springs Observatory on August 7, 2006.
* It has come from the Oort Cloud, a vast swarm of comets that stretches to nearly a light year from the sun. McNaught probably has an orbital period measured in millions of years.
* When first discovered, the comet was 525 million kilometres from the sun and was very faint.
* The comet continued to brighten as it approached the sun but became lost in the sun's glare during December and was not seen again until Boxing Day.
* It brightened sharply leading up to January 13, when it passed within 25 million kilometres of the sun, half the distance of the innermost planet, Mercury.
* Being so close to the sun, it is in the "sun-grazer" category and is likely to be split apart by the sun's gravitational pull.
