Tag: New Horizons
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Year In Review 2017 (Part 4): One year to New Horizons’ flyby of MU69
As science teams and researchers spent 2017 pouring through the wealth of data returned by the New Horizons spacecraft during its historic flyby of the dwarf planet Pluto in July 2015, the spacecraft’s controllers spent the year busily preparing the craft for its anticipated flyby of Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69 – a flyby event…
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Help NASA and New Horizons nickname the icy world they’re targeting after Pluto
An artist’s conception shows the New Horizons spacecraft flying past 2014 MU69, which scientists say could be a binary orbiting pair of bodies with diameters in the range of 11 to 12 miles. (NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI Illustration) 2014 MU69 just won’t cut it, so NASA and the folks behind the New Horizons mission…
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Scientists firm up flyby plan for New Horizons’s next destination
Artist’s illustration of the New Horizons spacecraft communicating with Earth. Credit: NASA Now more than two years outbound from its historic encounter with Pluto, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is on target for a fleeting flyby less than 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) from 2014 MU69, an icy, city-sized world set to become the most distant object…
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New Horizons might get more flyby targets; Pluto features get official names
More than two years after New Horizons flew past Pluto, becoming the first human-made object to visit the dwarf planet, numerous surface features discovered and explored by the craft now have official names as recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Meanwhile, New Horizons itself is preparing for its 1 January 2019 encounter with 2014 MU69,…
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New Horizons might get more flyby targets; Pluto features get official names
More than two years after New Horizons flew past Pluto, becoming the first human-made object to visit the dwarf planet, numerous surface features discovered and explored by the craft now have official names as recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Meanwhile, New Horizons itself is preparing for its 1 January 2019 encounter with 2014 MU69,…
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Astronomers give their official blessing to the first batch of place names on Pluto
Pluto’s first official surface-feature names are marked on this map, compiled from images and data gathered by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its flight through the Pluto system in 2015. (IAU Map) Some of the best-known places on Pluto, including the heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio, have finally gone legit. But lots of other places, such as…
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Astronomers give their official blessing to the first batch of place names on Pluto
Pluto’s first official surface-feature names are marked on this map, compiled from images and data gathered by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during its flight through the Pluto system in 2015. (IAU Map) Some of the best-known places on Pluto, including the heart-shaped Tombaugh Regio, have finally gone legit. But lots of other places, such as…
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New Horizons’ next target might be a binary pair
One artist’s concept of Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69, the next flyby target for NASA’s New Horizons mission. This binary concept is based on telescope observations made at Patagonia, Argentina, on July 17, 2017, when MU69 passed in front of a star. New Horizons theorize that it could be a single body with a large…
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New Horizons’ target a “science bonanza”, potential close or contact binary
In preparation for New Horizons’ flyby of its next Kuiper Belt target, 2014 MU69, the spacecraft’s team has conducted a series of ground, airborne, and space-based telescopic examinations of 2014 MU69 during a series of occultation events in June and July. The observation campaign has yielded tantalizing new information on the Kuiper Belt Object, revealing…
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IAU and New Horizons science team make peace over the names on Pluto’s map
A composite image shows enhanced-color views of Pluto (lower right) and Charon (upper left). Credit: NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI It’s taken a year and a half, but the International Astronomical Union and the science team behind NASA’s New Horizons mission have finally struck a deal for naming the features on Pluto and its moons.…