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> Asteroid Ultima Thule

Asteroid Ultima Thule

author: Nasa/JHAPL/novapix

reference: a-sys10-96001

Image Size 300 DPI: 15 * 12 cm

The most detailed images of Ultima Thule -- obtained just minutes before the New Horizons spacecraft's closest approach at 12:33 a.m. EST on Jan. 1 -- have a resolution of about 110 feet (33 meters) per pixel. This processed, composite picture combines nine individual images taken with the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), each with an exposure time of 0.025 seconds, just 6 ½ minutes before the spacecraft's closest approach to Ultima Thule (officially named 2014 MU69). The image was taken at 5:26 UT (12:26 a.m. EST) on Jan. 1, 2019, when the spacecraft was 4,109 miles (6,628 kilometers) from Ultima Thule and 4.1 billion miles (6.6 billion kilometers) from Earth.

Keywords for this photo:

2014 MU69 - 2019 - ARROKOTH - KBO - KUIPER - KUIPER OBJECT - NEW HORIZONS - SPACE - TNO - TRANSNEPTUNIAN OBJECT - ULTIMA THULE -