He tracked its location over several nights. It has been identified as a periodic comet, which has orbital period 6 years, and will be named P/2008 Q2 Ory.
The Jura Observatory said it was the only periodic comet to have been discovered this year by an amateur astronomer.
Ory, a physics teacher, said that he had received congratulatory messages from around the world. He does astronomy as a hobby and has discovered around 178 asteroids (50 labeled) in the past.
The comet will be most visible during October and November.
Around 2000 comets have been discovered. 200 are periodic comets, the first being Halley's.
Orbit prediction for the new comet P/2008 Q2 Ory:
