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Astro Bob Blog: Ultima Thule looks like a frozen peanut

During a press conference this morning, the New Horizons team unveiled a new photo of the Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule (ull-tee-muh THOO-lee) that clearly shows the Kuiper Belt object's shape, described as bi-lobate or having two lobes like a ...

4720851+Ultima-FEA.jpg — It’s still a pixelated blob in this photo, but it’s the best image we’ll see today. New Horizons snapped the photo from a half million miles away, close enough to show the object’s peanut or bowling pin shape. The asteroid measures 22 miles long by 9 miles wide (35 x 15 km) NASA / JHUAPL

By Bob King, for the News Tribune

January 01, 2019 01:32 PM

During a press conference this morning, the New Horizons team unveiled a new photo of the Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule (ull-tee-muh THOO-lee) that clearly shows the Kuiper Belt object’s shape, described as bi-lobate or having two lobes like a peanut in its shell.