Search For McNaught Part 1

It happened that when I rolled over to look at the clock this morning, it was 4:00 AM.  I nearly fell back asleep when I recalled that Comet McNaught was in the sky.  I grabbed my binoculars and crept downstairs.  As I was stepping out onto the deck, I spied something at the end of the house. One quick look through the binoculars revealed a snooping skunk.  I decided I'd stand behind the glass door and look for McNaught from there. 

The first thing I noticed as I gazed up was that the sky was quite cloudy - at least ENE.  I glanced at the moon, and then noticed Jupiter sitting just to the right.  A consolation prize perhaps to steal a view of Jupiter.  Through my binoculars I could make out very faint banding, and a single moon (not sure which moon).  After Jupiter, I noticed I could then see Cassiopeia.  Great! But I still couldn't make out Andromeda.  No matter, the clouds were moving away.  I spotted M31, the last time I saw the Andromeda Galaxy was in mid January. 

The clouds never did fully break away, but most of Andromeda was visible. I look around for McNaught until the sun chased the stars away, but never caught a glimpse of it.  The clouds made it difficult anyway, but after returning to my map just before bed, I realized I wasn't looking around the right star.  Turns out I was looking at Mirach, not Almaak - oops.  Perhaps tomorrow morning - before work even.  Stay tuned for Part 2, lol.