JWST Unexpectedly Finds a Small Asteroid During 'Failed' Observations

While astronomers and engineers were trying to calibrate one of the James Webb Space Telescope's instruments last summer, they serendipitously found a previously unknown small 100-200-meter (300-600 ft) asteroid in the main asteroid belt. Originally, the astronomers deemed the calibrations as a failed attempt because of technical glitches. But they noticed the asteroid while going …