Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Optical navigation images from New Horizons' approach to 2014 MU69

Optical navigation images from New Horizons' approach to 2014 MU69
Optical navigation images from New Horizons' approach to 2014 MU69 Four images taken on 31 December 2018 document the rotation and increasing apparent size of 2014 MU69 (informally nicknamed "Ultima Thule") to New Horizons. The top row shows the images as returned from the spacecraft. In the bottom row, the images have been "deconvolved," processed to correct for the known properties of the camera optics to reveal more detail. In all the images, the little world's binary shape, bright neck region, and mottled surface are clearly visible. NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI