Skip to content
Vatican Observatory
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Tours
    • Castel Gandolfo
    • U.S.
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
  • Shop
  • Calendar
    • View our Event Calendar
  • Donate
    • Donate Now
    • Smart Ways to Give
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
    • VO in the News
    • Press Kit
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact
  • About
    • Overview
    • Team
    • FAQ
  • Telescopes
    • Overview
    • Telescope Images
  • Tours
    • Castel Gandolfo
    • U.S.
  • Latest
    • Overview
    • Resources
    • Press
    • Audio
    • Video
    • Research
    • Authors
      • FAQs
    • Newsletter
    • Tucson Meteor Cameras
  • Podcast
  • Education
    • Overview
    • Resource Center
    • Image Gallery
    • Summer School
    • Books
    • Software
    • Additional Resources
    • ACME
  • Shop
  • Calendar
    • View our Event Calendar
  • Donate
    • Donate Now
    • Smart Ways to Give
    • Sacred Space Astronomy
      • View Content
    • Bequests / Trusts
    • The Foundation
      • Newsletters
      • Annual Reports
  • Press
    • VO in the News
    • Press Kit
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
    • Contact

NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft Encounter with Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69

By Robert Trembley  |  3 Jan 2019

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email
2014 MU69

The New Horizons spacecraft flew-by Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 on New Year’s day 2019. Nicknamed “Ultima Thule” by the mission team, the icy body is the farthest object in the solar system that humans have yet encountered.

2014 MU69 Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69, “Ultma Thule” imaged by the New Horizons spacecraft on Jan. 1, 2019. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

It was known that 2014 MU69 was elongated or lobe-shaped from star occultation observations made from Earth – the flyby confirmed that the object is a “contact binary” consisting of two connected spheres.

2014 MU69 The colored lines mark the path of a star as seen from different telescopes on each day; the blank spaces on those lines indicate the few seconds when MU69 blocked the light from the star. Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI / James Tuttle Keane

The team says that the two spheres likely joined as early as 99 percent of the way back to the formation of the solar system, colliding no faster than two cars in a fender-bender.

Much higher resolution images are yet to come, as data from the spacecraft continues to arrive over the next several weeks.

I got to wondering what would happen to 2014 MU69 if it orbited much closer to the Sun – would it end up looking like comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko?

 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko Bilobed comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Images taken by Rosetta spacecraft on August 12, 2015. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

So, I asked on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/BalrogsLair/status/1080756058036031488

Other Interesting Tweets:

Preliminary geology – albedo variations, no obvious craters yet, hills & ridges (?)… much better data will eventually be downloaded. pic.twitter.com/BJlshLisxK

— Dr Heidi B. Hammel (@hbhammel) January 2, 2019

Graduate student and New Horizons team member Mallory Kinczyk holding the model of Ultima Thule she made this morning — remarkable! #UltimaThule #UltimaFlyby #NewHorizons pic.twitter.com/sL76na88qx

— David Eicher (@deicherstar) January 2, 2019

Read More:
NASA’s New Horizons Mission Reveals Entirely New Kind of World

Share:
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email

Sacred Space Astronomy

The Vatican Observatory’s official digital community and online magazine.

Become a Member

Recent Posts

ⓜ Full Moon-th Meetup with Dr. Almudena Alonso Herrero – June 10, 2025

By Robert Trembley  |  8 Jun 2025  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

An Historic Observatory in Guadalajara, Mexico

By Mr. Christopher Graney  |  7 Jun 2025  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Remembering Pope Francis

By Robert Trembley  |  4 Jun 2025  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Astronomy & Space Science Education & Public Outreach Newsletter – June 2025, Part 1

By Dr. Larry Lebofsky  |  4 Jun 2025  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Archives

      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • October
      • September
      • August
      • July
      • June
      • May
      • April
      • March
      • February
      • January
      • December
      • November
      • August
      • June
      • March
      • January
      • November
      • October
      • December
      • November
      • April
      • May
      • January
      • December
      • September
      • May
      • March
      • December
      • November
      • February

More Posts by
Robert Trembley

ⓜ Full Moon-th Meetup with Dr. Almudena Alonso Herrero – June 10, 2025

By Robert Trembley  |  8 Jun 2025  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Remembering Pope Francis

By Robert Trembley  |  4 Jun 2025  |  Sacred Space Astronomy

Specola Vaticana, al via la scuola estiva per giovani astronomi da tutto il mondo

Vatican News  |  4 Jun 2025  |  Press

Pope Leo XIV makes day trip to Castel Gandolfo

Aleteia — Catholic Spirituality, Lifestyle, World News, and Culture  |  4 Jun 2025  |  Press

Nuns Helped Map Close To Half A Million Stars In The Early 20th Century After The Vatican Recruited Them

Chip Chick  |  20 May 2025  |  Press

Visit of Br. Guy Consolmagno S.J.

Pluscarden Abbey  |  19 May 2025  |  Press

View More

Newsletter

Upcoming astronomical events, scientific breakthroughs, philosophical reflections… just a few reasons to subscribe to our newsletter!

Vatican Observatory
  • About
  • Telescopes
  • Tours
  • Latest
  • Podcast
  • Education
  • Shop
  • Calendar
  • Donate
  • Press
  • Specola Vaticana
  • Contact
Privacy Policy  |   Cookie Policy  |   Disclosure Statement  |   This website is supported by the Vatican Observatory Foundation

Podcast:

  • Apple Podcasts Listen onApple Podcasts
  • Spotify Listen onSpotify
  • Google Podcasts Listen onGoogle Podcasts
  • Stitcher Listen onStitcher
  • Amazon Alexa Listen onAmazon Alexa
  • TuneIn Listen onTuneIn
Made by Longbeard