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Both snapshots offer a first idea of the MU69 2014 form, at a distance of about 1.9 million kilometers.
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft sent the first images of the object called "2014 MU69", located in the Kuiper Belt. The mission hopes to obtain more detailed photographs of what is also known as "Ultima Thule" when it reaches its maximum on January 1st.
Both snapshots were published on the project's official website and offer a first idea of the MU69 2014 form, at an approximate distance of 1.9 million kilometers. The first (left) is a small, detailed image of three pixels wide, each pixel having a size of 10 kilometers.
The second (right) is the product of the combination of several photographs and sharpness techniques and confirms that it is an object of "elongated" shape, a conclusion that coincides with the observations of the outline of its shadow made in Argentina in 2017 and in Senegal in 2018.
The maximum approximation of the probe will be made at 05:33 (UTC), when the New Horizons will be located at approximately 3,500 kilometers from Ultima Thule. As the probe progresses, more detailed shots will be taken and more data can be collected. Subsequently, a sample of this information will be sent to Earth in the coming days. It is estimated that it will take about 20 months to download the full set of data.
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