The ESA’s Euclid Telescope Discovered a New Comet Completely by Accident - CNET
Approximately 40 to 70 new comets are discovered every year, most of which are found by astronomers actively looking for comets or at least new celestial bodies in general. But at least one comet discovered in 2026 doesn’t have that distinction. It was discovered entirely by accident by a telescope that was not actively looking for comets.
Say hello to C/2026 S1 (Euclid), a brand new comet that was just discovered by the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope. The comet is located about 1.3 billion kilometers away from Earth, which is roughly the distance between the sun and the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. It was discovered by Mikko Pöntinen of the University of Helsinki, together with the Solar System Objects Science Working Group, who were using the Euclid telescope at the time of discovery.
What makes this one weird, among the thousands of other comets humans have...
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