Image Credit: NASA, JHU/APL, and SWRI
New Horizons Explores Ultima Thule
The first detailed images of the most distant object ever explored reveal the Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule to be a “contact binary” consisting of two connected spheres: “Ultima” the larger sphere and “Thule” the smaller. In making the discovery, New Horizons set a new bar for spacecraft navigation — never before has a spacecraft tracked down such a small body at such high speed so far away. NOAO Astronomer Tod Lauer played a critical role in the achievement.
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An unusual supernova studied by multiple telescopes, including SOAR & telescopes at CTIO & KPNO, is thought to herald the birth of a new neutron star or black hole, caught at the moment of its creation. -
A Survey Machine and a Data Trove: Dark Energy Survey’s Rich Legacy:
the six year survey has now ended, but the Dark Energy Camera and DES survey data will continue to yield new discoveries. -
Images from the New Horizons team, which includes NOAO Astronomer Tod Lauer, of the most distant object ever explored reveal the Kuiper Belt Object Ultima Thule to be a “contact binary”. -
“Far Out” Dwarf Planet Discovered: the new dwarf planet 2018 VG18 is 120 times further from the Sun than Earth. The discovery was made in part with observing time made available through NOAO. -
In preparation for its new mission as the home of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), the Kitt Peak Mayall telescope recently received its new top end. -
Using the Gaia satellite & archival data from DECam, astronomers have discovered a large, extremely diffuse galaxy companion to the Milky Way that is as big as the Large Magellanic Cloud but 10,000× fainter. -
Pluto’s terrain shows a “washboard” pattern of fine ridges. The New Horizons team, including NOAO Astronomer Tod Lauer, suggests this is evidence of an ancient nitrogen glacier.
