NASA (unofficial)

2019-01-03 17:12:18

#UltimaThule is the first primordial contact-binary ever explored up-close by a spacecraft, meaning it was once two separate objects that are now bound together. It is a pristine specimen, preserved as it was formed. Other similarly shaped objects have been modified over time due to their closer proximity to the Sun. Learn more about this distant object explored by our New Horizons spacecraft: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20190102

#UltimaThule is the first primordial contact-binary ever explored up-close by a spacecraft, meaning it was once two separate objects that are now bound together. It is a pristine specimen, preserved as it was formed. Other similarly shaped objects have been modified over time due to their closer proximity to the Sun. Learn more about this distant object explored by our New Horizons spacecraft: