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New Images of the Distant Ultima Thule Object Have Surprised Scientists (arstechnica.com)
Iwastheone shares a report from Ars Technica: Back in early January, when scientists pulled down their first batch of data from the New Horizons spacecraft, they celebrated an odd snowman-shaped object in the outer Solar System. From this first look, it appeared as though Ultima Thule, formally named 2014 MU69, consisted of two spheres in contact with one another -- a contact binary. Now that scientists have downloaded more data from the distant spacecraft, however, our view of Ultima Thule has changed. A sequence of images captured as New Horizons moved away from the object in the Kuiper Belt at a velocity of 50,000 km/hour, taken about 10 minutes after closest approach, show a much flatter appearance. After analyzing these new images, scientists say the larger lobe more closely resembles a large pancake, and the smaller lobe looks a bit like a walnut. The new photos reveal a dramatically different object because they were taken from a different angle than the images that were downloaded first. As planetary scientist Alex Parker noted on Twitter, "The larger lobe looks to have a shape similar to some of the pancake moons of Saturn, like Atlas." However, Saturn's moons were believed to have formed near the gas giant, in the midst of its rings, rather than in deep space.
They only had one thing wrong; it wasn't the death of the sea but the unfathomable depth of space.
Doesn't one of the moons of Saturn have an equatorial mountain range, apparently caused by deposition in the plane of the equator only?
So maybe the larger lobe formed out of a disk of material which was deposited at the equator, and built the object up into this pancake shape.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
all we need now is some space twinberry (or space maple) syrup.
A walnut? I see
I knew it was a mistake trying that new walnut pancake recipe. And I probably went a bit overboard tossing it. Please accept my apologies.
Garry Knight
It has all the properties a good spacecraft should have. Therefore it is one.
Do you think /. features on his 'executive time'
Wanna buy a shirt?
https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
It's only the likes of you who instantly think about "races" and hate and sexism.
We just hear a name from a mythology, older than that of the one who raped you as a child.
Why should they change the name. To do so would only be yielding to these fringe alt-right groups and giving them legitimacy.
Bad idea to change the name. It's better dilute the Nazi connotations by ordinary use.
I'm triggered!!!!
He wore a tacky shirt! We must ruin his and his team's crowning moment and try to end his career! No wonder so many people hate you miserable dipshits.
Slashdot is given instructions by BizX to focus on certain political topics for SEO wizardry. Do a google search and look through all the nonsensical URI routing that is done now on slashdot with the bizarre aggregated pages generated. Pages that can only be found from a google search.
This is why I come to slashdot - for all of the intellectual comments.
Let me know if one is made.
A good assumption but I just know Creimette doesnt have bowel movements
According to the article: "this object, and others like it, are thought to be "pristine planetesimals" like those that served as building blocks for larger objects in the Solar System during its early days, 4.5 billion years ago."
Why that wasn't in the summary I don't know, but it made me click on the link.
Just like those snow ski racks?
Feminazis Fuck Off !
Snake on a plane.
I see it still has the Nazi name. How was this not changed? This just gives air to the alt right and other unsavory movements. Misogynist shirts were just the beginning.
Awwww, iddems poor widdle baby twiggered?
Well, my child, you need to
GROW THE FUCK UP, YOU CANDY-ASSED CRYBULLY!!!!!
Ultima Thule is Latin, with Thule borrowed from Greek. Just because a Swedish company uses the name, doesn't make it German.
Ars Technica is great.
But it is hardly the authoritative source for space news. Yet here on Slashdot we post from Ars instead of any of a couple of dozen more authoritative sources. There are astronomy sites, general science sites, planetary exploration sites, rocket science sites.... Heck, go straight to the NASA project site.
A computer tech blog isn't the last place to go for news about a NASA planetary science project, but it certainly is pretty far down the list.
Doesn't an oblate spheroid make sense (as constituent parts)?
In theory-space, particles would be pulled together (assuming zero starting motion to all particles in a cloud, all the same density, size, and frictionlessness) would form into a theoretically-perfect sphere by gravity.
But IRL these particles don't start out with zero motion....in fact the almost all have SOME motion, as well as slight attractiveness to each other and of course friction. As these all pull toward a centroid, the conservation of angular momentum causing it to spin faster and form an oblate rather than a sphere. In fact, one might be able to infer some information about the initial formation-state of the body by its oblateness, particularly if one could get a statistically useful cross-section of the materials that comprise it?
-Styopa
Donald J. Trump is a national hero.
Yes he is. The only question is "Which nation?"
Took creimer 13 months to get 50 subscribers and he picked up seven subscribers this past weekend. He's "adulting" Bill Mayer for "adulting" Stan Lee in his new video.
Thank you for validating the the parent comment is correct. By showing that no argument against it could be found, even after intense struggling.
I see it still has the Nazi name. How was this not changed?
Well, Russia pioneered space flight using their Nazi scientists, and America further advanced space flight using their Nazi scientists. So it's only fair to recognize the Nazi contribution to space.
Although it is dubious if the German space scientists were really Nazis. Most probably just joined the Nazi party to get funding for their research. Kinda sorta like what university staff do today to get funding. Claiming that your research will cure global warming or beat the Chinese is a good way to get funding from the government.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
"closely resembles a large pancake, and the smaller lobe looks a bit like a walnut."
Some scientist should have breakfast before going to work.
Although it is dubious if the German space scientists were really Nazis.
Murder Van Braun knowingly made weapons that could only be used to attack civilians, and were used that way every day. Being a Nazi or not is small potatoes in comparison, he's drenched in the blood of murdered children. This isn't like the moral quagmire around building ICBMs (which, arguably, prevented war).
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
I like the mash-up of the two. It's all about mining old volcanoes.
You need to study a bit more Greek. Ultima Thule comes from classic Greek and means, approx., "the ends of the earth". Or are you a believer in sympathetic magic?
(FWIW, I am a believer in sympathetic magic, but you complaint still seems silly...and says more about you than about what you're complaining about. Note: Because I believe in sympathetic magic I avoid ads and won't use a swastika as a solar symbol. It does work, but it works internally, and you should notice the effects and act to achieve the results that you desire. Often this means avoiding the stimulus. In *this* case, though, ... well, the appropriate counter charm is to read more Herodotus.)
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
A valid point, but the name still needs to be changed. Either that or define it's orbit as the edge of the solar system, and I prefer the Heliopause for that. "Ultima Thule" means (approx.) "The ends of the earth", and giving the body that name puts an artificial boundary in people's minds.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
Believing fools like yourself are total blithering morons. Thule was used in Nazi mythology to put a happy face on white supremacy. Naming an asteroid after it is science giving air to literal Nazis.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
Ah the MUH RUSSIA Fantasy
Ultima Thule existed long before a few mystical minded Nazis borrowed this. It's so obscure in Nazi lore that even most neo-Nazis don't know what it is.
Next up, we can't create bad paintings of mountains because that's what Hitler did.
Your ship looks like walnut and a pancake got squished together...
Han: "Hey!"
Roughly a month ago, somebody "glued" the first two semi-clear images together into an animated gif to give a rough sense of stereo, and someone noted the larger lobe appeared relatively flat. I think it was on Reddit. I couldn't find the comment itself, but here's an example of the image:
https://www.reddit.com/r/gifs/...
(The image was posted multiple times. Reddit has dupe issues too ;-)
Table-ized A.I.
Its Millenium Falcon!