Emily Lakdawalla • Jan 15, 2019
A few new images of MU69
New Horizons is back in action after going quiet for a period of solar conjunction following the 1 January flyby of 2014 MU69 (informally nicknamed "Ultima Thule"). The spacecraft is returning new data, as exemplified by these images, shared this morning in a tweet by principal investigator Alan Stern. The pictures were taken before closest approach and don't add anything much in the way of news about the world, but: new images, woohoo!!!
![Optical navigation images from New Horizons' approach to 2014 MU69](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_1200x599_crop_center-center_82_line/2014mu69-opnavs-stern-tweet-20190115.jpg 1200w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x383_crop_center-center_60_line/2014mu69-opnavs-stern-tweet-20190115.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x287_crop_center-center_60_line/2014mu69-opnavs-stern-tweet-20190115.jpg 576w)
A few hours later, the mission formally released an approach animation showing about half a rotation of 2014 MU69. I'm laughing about the fact that MU69's pole pointed nearly directly at New Horizons, giving it a near side and a far side. The far side of this little world will be forever mysterious to us.
![Approaching 2014 MU69](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/loop_noscale_cap.gif)
The images should shortly be available on the New Horizons raw images website; when they are, I'll add them in to the montage below and update this post.
![Raw images of the New Horizons MU69 encounter](https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_768x418_crop_center-center_60_line/111993/20190104_NH-encounter_20190103.jpg 768w, https://planetary.s3.amazonaws.com/web/assets/pictures/_576x313_crop_center-center_60_line/111993/20190104_NH-encounter_20190103.jpg 576w)
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