NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft took a series of images between 3 p.m. EST (8 p.m. GMT) on December 31, 2018, and 12:01 a.m. EST (5:01 a.m. GMT) on January 1, 2019, that were later linked together to make a movie showing the propeller-like rotation of the Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule (also known as 2014 MU69).
New Horizons had a close encounter with Ultima Thule at 12:33 a.m. EST (5:33 a.m. GMT) January 1, 2019, closing to a distance of about 2,200 miles (3,500 km) from the object.
The spacecraft downlinked two high-resolution images of the Kuiper Belt object immediately after the flyby.
The photos show that Ultima Thule measures 19 miles (31 km) in length and consists of two connected spheres.
They also show that the object has no rings or satellites larger than one mile in diameter, and lacks an atmosphere.
These raw images were used to create an animation demonstrating the propeller-like rotation of Ultima Thule in the seven hours between 3 p.m. EST (8 p.m. GMT) on December 31, 2018, and 12:01 a.m. EST (5:01 a.m. GMT) on January 1, 2019, as seen by New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI). Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.
The more distant images of Ultima Thule were sent home on January 12-14, after a week when New Horizons was too close to the Sun — from Earth’s point of view — for reliable communications.
The probe will continue to transmit images — including its closest views of Ultima Thule — and data for the next many months.
The New Horizons science team will use them to help determine the 3D shape of the object, in order to better understand its nature and origin.
