Ultima Thule
The new horizon is a NASA quest to analyze the planet Pluto, which is commonly termed the dwarf planet, its moons, and any other object found within the Kuiper belt. It discovered the Ultima Thule on the New Year’s Eve while it was flying within 2200miles. However, the information recorded by the spacecraft gives minimal insight into the early days of the solar system. The discovery showed that the ultima Thule appeared ice-covered in the Kuiper belt, a past Neptune zone and which is made up of remains from the early days of the solar system. The discovery showed that the Kuiper belt is about four (4) billion miles away from the sun, making it hardly heated by the sun. The scientists termed the Ultima Thule a binary object since it was made up of two lobes made through the gathering of gas and dust particles. The larger portion was nicknamed “Ultima,” whereas the smaller portion was termed “Thule.”
The New horizon scientists also insist that they are not convinced why the two lobes collided at such a slow speed without any form of destruction. The objects that appeared in the same region of the Kuiper belt, where the Ultima Thule was appeared to be accompanied by satellites, whereas ultima Thule appeared to be flying solo and had no rings. The surfaces of the Ultima Thule also were covered by bits of brightness, which included: Oval spots, straight or curved lanes, and broad regions. It also pointed out that the brightness was at the object (“Seven things we’ve learned about ultima Thule, the farthest place visited by humans,” 2019). The ultima is also flatter and broader than Thule and Hal Weaver; New horizons project scientist explains that the flatness might have been due to what he termed “natural variability.”
However, the ultima Thule was renamed to Arrokoth, meaning the “sky,” according to the Algonquian dialects. The rock’s initial nickname is 2014 MU69, and it is the new horizon team that named it Ultima Thule. NASA presided over the naming on the November 12 and was grounded on local indigenous American culture in Maryland, which hosted the New Horizons mission control Centre (“NASA gave ultima Thule a new official name,” 2019). The Arrokoth had a weird shape comparable to pairs of pancaked stumped together, and this confirms that the two collided gently. It appeared shielded with methane or nitrogen ice, and this gave it a red color. The scientists believe that the Arrokoth were the materials that formed the solar system, and researchers anticipate that studying them would provide insights into how the planets were formed.
Below is a picture showing the reddish color of ultima Thule
In conclusion, it is worth noting that the new horizons spacecraft mission has provided essential and desirable information and history about the solar system. The scientists were motivated by the fact that ground-based investigations and analysis did not provide answers to all their concerns. As a result of this, they flew through Pluto and the Kuiper belt to get a closer and detailed study. From the flyby, it is clear that the ultima Thule has an irregular shape and is also much smaller than Pluto, and it also takes approximately 300years for it to orbit around the sun. Therefore, the more we learn about the solar system and the objects around it, the more we gain knowledge of the solar system. Thus, the mission was a breakthrough into understanding the Kuiper belt and objects around it like the ultima Thule.
References
NASA gave ultima Thule a new official name. (2019, December 23). Science News. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/nasa-gave-ultima-thule-mu69-new-official-name-arrokoth
Seven things we’ve learned about ultima Thule, the farthest place visited by humans. (2019, May 21). Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-ultima-thule-nasa-new-horizons-discoveries-20190517-story.html