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NRaleighLiberal

(60,014 posts)
Sun Jan 27, 2019, 10:47 AM Jan 2019

Newest, clearest pic of Ultima Thule - lots more detail - see Glamrock's post below for the pic

click the link below for the pic - can't get it to load

http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20190124

The wonders – and mysteries – of Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 continue to multiply as NASA's New Horizons spacecraft beams home new images of its New Year's Day 2019 flyby target.

This image, taken during the historic Jan. 1 flyby of what's informally known as Ultima Thule, is the clearest view yet of this remarkable, ancient object in the far reaches of the solar system – and the first small "KBO" ever explored by a spacecraft.

Obtained with the wide-angle Multicolor Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC) component of New Horizons' Ralph instrument, this image was taken when the KBO was 4,200 miles (6,700 kilometers) from the spacecraft, at 05:26 UT (12:26 a.m. EST) on Jan. 1 – just seven minutes before closest approach. With an original resolution of 440 feet (135 meters) per pixel, the image was stored in the spacecraft's data memory and transmitted to Earth on Jan. 18-19. Scientists then sharpened the image to enhance fine detail. (This process – known as deconvolution – also amplifies the graininess of the image when viewed at high contrast.)

The oblique lighting of this image reveals new topographic details along the day/night boundary, or terminator, near the top. These details include numerous small pits up to about 0.4 miles (0.7 kilometers) in diameter. The large circular feature, about 4 miles (7 kilometers) across, on the smaller of the two lobes, also appears to be a deep depression. Not clear is whether these pits are impact craters or features resulting from other processes, such as "collapse pits" or the ancient venting of volatile materials.

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Newest, clearest pic of Ultima Thule - lots more detail - see Glamrock's post below for the pic (Original Post) NRaleighLiberal Jan 2019 OP
Here ya go N Glamrock Jan 2019 #1
Great - thanks! NRaleighLiberal Jan 2019 #3
Now I know where baby asteroids come from😀 marylandblue Jan 2019 #2
There is thought this is also a comet in the making. NRaleighLiberal Jan 2019 #4
So unexpected! It probably thought no one could see it and let itself go! n/t Judi Lynn Jan 2019 #5
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