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NASA’s New Horizons Mission Releases Snowman-like Picture of Ultima Thule | NASA’s New Horizons Mission Releases Snowman-like Picture of Ultima Thule |
(35 minutes later) | |
LAUREL, Md. — Ultima Thule, an icy world 4 billion miles from the sun, looks like a big snowman. | LAUREL, Md. — Ultima Thule, an icy world 4 billion miles from the sun, looks like a big snowman. |
At a news conference on Wednesday, scientists working with NASA’s New Horizons mission released several images that the spacecraft took as it flew by on Jan. 1. | At a news conference on Wednesday, scientists working with NASA’s New Horizons mission released several images that the spacecraft took as it flew by on Jan. 1. |
The scientists now say with confidence that Ultima Thule long ago was two bodies that got stuck together, what they call a “contact binary.” | The scientists now say with confidence that Ultima Thule long ago was two bodies that got stuck together, what they call a “contact binary.” |
“Two completely separate objects that are now joined together,” said S. Alan Stern, the principal investigator for the mission. | |
[Sign up to get reminders for space and astronomy events on your calendar.] | [Sign up to get reminders for space and astronomy events on your calendar.] |
It also looks pristine, almost unchanged since it formed out of a disk of dust and gas that orbited the sun more than 4.5 billion years ago. Studying it could offer insights to how Earth and the other planets formed. | It also looks pristine, almost unchanged since it formed out of a disk of dust and gas that orbited the sun more than 4.5 billion years ago. Studying it could offer insights to how Earth and the other planets formed. |
A day ago, scientists released a blurry picture of the small body also known by its official designation 2014 MU69 taken from a distance of half a million miles, taken before the flyby. | A day ago, scientists released a blurry picture of the small body also known by its official designation 2014 MU69 taken from a distance of half a million miles, taken before the flyby. |
The object looked sort of looked like a fuzzy bowling pin. | The object looked sort of looked like a fuzzy bowling pin. |
The first batch of science data from the flyby arrived on Earth on Tuesday afternoon. More than 100 scientists, including Heidi B. Hammel, a planetary scientist and a media liaison for the science team, gathered at 8 p.m. for a look. | The first batch of science data from the flyby arrived on Earth on Tuesday afternoon. More than 100 scientists, including Heidi B. Hammel, a planetary scientist and a media liaison for the science team, gathered at 8 p.m. for a look. |
“Everybody was there,” Dr. Hammel said. “They all wanted to see it. The picture goes up and everybody applauds and cheers. Immediately, the chatter starts.” | “Everybody was there,” Dr. Hammel said. “They all wanted to see it. The picture goes up and everybody applauds and cheers. Immediately, the chatter starts.” |
A second shift of scientists worked on the data overnight, presenting more detailed analysis during a science team meeting on Wednesday morning. | A second shift of scientists worked on the data overnight, presenting more detailed analysis during a science team meeting on Wednesday morning. |
Planetary scientists have never before seen a close-up of an object like Ultima Thule. It is likely an icy fragment that coalesced more than 4.5 billion years ago and which has remained in a deep freeze of the solar system’s Kuiper belt ever since, some 4 billion miles from the sun. | Planetary scientists have never before seen a close-up of an object like Ultima Thule. It is likely an icy fragment that coalesced more than 4.5 billion years ago and which has remained in a deep freeze of the solar system’s Kuiper belt ever since, some 4 billion miles from the sun. |
If it is indeed a pristine planetesimal, a building block of the planets, studying it will offer clues to how our planet and its neighbors formed. | If it is indeed a pristine planetesimal, a building block of the planets, studying it will offer clues to how our planet and its neighbors formed. |
Even clearer pictures are arriving on Earth in another transmission. The full set of data will be a long time coming — trickling across the solar system over the next 20 months. | Even clearer pictures are arriving on Earth in another transmission. The full set of data will be a long time coming — trickling across the solar system over the next 20 months. |