Astronomy Picture of the Day
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
professional astronomer.
2019 January 29
[2]
Ultima Thule from New Horizons
Image Credit: NASA [3] , JHU's APL [4] , SwRI [5] ; Color Processing: Thomas
AppΘrΘ [6]
Explanation: How do distant asteroids differ from those near the Sun? To help
find out, NASA sent the robotic New Horizons [7] spacecraft past the
classical Kuiper belt [8] object 2014 MU69 [9] , nicknamed Ultima Thule, the
farthest asteroid yet visited by a human spacecraft. Zooming past the 30-km
long space rock on January 1, the featured [10] image [11] is the highest
resolution picture of Ultima Thule's surface beamed back so far. Utima Thuli
[12] does look different than imaged [13] asteroids [14] of the inner Solar
System, as it shows unusual surface texture, relatively few obvious craters,
and nearly spherical lobes. Its shape is hypothesized to have formed from the
coalescence of early Solar System rubble [15] in into two objects -- Ultima
and Thule [16] -- which then spiraled together and stuck. Research will
continue into understanding the origin [17] of different surface regions on
Ultima Thule, whether it has a thin atmosphere, how it obtained its red color,
and what this new knowledge of the ancient Solar System [18] tells us about
the formation of our Earth [19] .
Tomorrow's picture: strands of sun
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[25] | RSS [26] | Education [27] | About APOD [28] | Discuss [29] | > [30]
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [31] (MTU [32] ) & Jerry Bonnell [33]
(UMCP [34] )
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [35] .
NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [36]
A service of: ASD [37] at NASA [38] / GSFC [39]
& Michigan Tech. U. [40]
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Site notes:
[1] archivepix.html
[2] image/1901/UltimaThule_NewHorizonsAppere_1000.jpg
[3] https://www.nasa.gov/
[4] https://www.jhuapl.edu/
[5] https://www.swri.org/
[6] https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasappere/
[7] https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizon...
[8] https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/kui...
[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(486958)_2014_M...
[10]
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Galleries/Featured-Im...
image.php?page=1&gallery_id=2&image_id=586
[11] https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasappere/46...
[12] https://youtu.be/AhO8LJ5jtRs
[13] ap160202.html
[14] ap100726.html
[15] https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1080544785780...
[16] ap190103.html
[17] https://youtu.be/ZdoKNHb7aqw
[18]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formation_and_e...
[19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Eart...
[20] ap190128.html
[21] archivepix.html
[22] lib/apsubmit2015.html
[23] lib/aptree.html
[24] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apo...
[25] calendar/allyears.html
[26] /apod.rss
[27] lib/edlinks.html
[28] lib/about_apod.html
[29] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?dat...
[30] ap190130.html
[31] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
[32] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
[33] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnel...
[34] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
[35] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
[36] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Priv...
[37] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
[38] https://www.nasa.gov/
[39] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
[40] http://www.mtu.edu/
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