Most people have New Years goals of going to the gym more or spending more time with their family. The New Horizons team had a New Years goal to capture a clear image of Ultima Thule, the furthest known Kuiper belt object at that time, on a New Years flyby. Most people will look at a picture of Ultima Thule and think that it is just two rocks conjoined together. To astronomers, being able to capture this picture was a historic moment in history.
Ultima Thule’s appearance didn’t resemble any of the other Kuiper belt objects. Once the pictures made it back to Earth, it was classified as a contact binary that consists of two spheres that are connected. The larger sphere is called Ultima, while the smaller sphere is called Thule. What makes Ultima Thule so special is that it shows a snapshot of the beginning of planetary formation. By studying Ultima Thule, astronomers have been able to gain valuable insight into how planets form in both our own solar system and other distant ones.
Myles' Astronomy Blog!!! 