The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope, designed to map distant galaxies, accidentally discovered a new long-period comet while searching for deep-space images.
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01Summary
- 01The comet, named C/2026 S1 (Euclid), was discovered by Mikko Pöntinen of the University of Helsinki using software he wrote to identify moving objects.
- 02Euclid was pointed away from the elliptical plane to avoid cosmic dust, allowing it to capture clear images of deep space, where the comet zipped through.
- 03The comet is located about 1.3 billion kilometers from Earth, between Jupiter and Saturn, and is a long-period comet likely from the Oort Cloud.
- 04The discovery was confirmed by ground-based astronomers via the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center.
- 05C/2026 S1 (Euclid) is expected to reach perihelion in 2027 and will not return for thousands of years.
02Why it matters
This accidental find shows that even telescopes not built for comet hunting can reveal new solar system objects, highlighting the potential for unexpected discoveries in space missions.
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