NASA ’s New Horizons is en path to Ultima Thule , a journeying that will see the NASA spacecraft whiz past this secret Kuiper Belt object on New Year ’s Day . But as the probe nears , mission specialists are already having to deal with a rather strange notice — an anomaly in the way Ultima Thule is reflecting incoming light .
New Horizons willzoom past Ultima Thuleat 12:33am ET on January 1 , 2019 , at speeds in excess of 31,500 miles per hour ( 50,700 kilometer per hour ) and at a distance of around 2,200 mile ( 3,500 kilometers ) . We ’ll be capable to see the object in dainty item , but until then , undertaking scientists are having to compete with an unexpected mystery . By psychoanalyze the hundred of photos take of the physical object by New Horizons thus far , project scientists have been attempt to measure its luminance — but they ’ve failed to find occasional changes in Ultima ’s luminosity as it rotates .
Ultima Thule , as we already know , is not spherically shaped . Back in 2017,observations made from telescope in Argentinasuggested it was ovular or cigar - shaped , or perchance even two aim that are in super snug law of proximity to each other ( a binary pair ) or possibly even affecting ( a contact binary star ) . That ’s all cool , as we ’ve seen objects such as these before ( here , hereandhere ) . What ’s weird in this case , however , is that Ultima is not demonstrate duplicate variations in luminousness — the kind of thing you ’d bear from a rotating object as its surface ponder incoming lighter from the Sun . These periodical pulsations of idle — or light bender , in the idiom of astronomer — is all but paltry in Ultima Thule .
“ It ’s really a puzzler , ” said New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan Stern in astatement . “ I call this Ultima ’s first puzzle — why does it have such a tiny light curve that we ca n’t even detect it ? I expect the detailed flyby images coming shortly to give us many more mysteries , but I did not expect this , and so soon . ”
So why is this distant Kuiper Belt object devoid of a noticeable light curve ?
Marc Buie , a missionary post scientist from the Southwest Research Institute , said it ’s possible that Ultima Thule ’s rotation pole is point directly toward New Horizons as it set about . So from the spacecraft ’s perspective , Ultima Thule is spinning , but the ballistic capsule is only able-bodied to see the same reflective side — hence the absence seizure of a light curve . It would be like watching a merry - go - round from directly above . It ’s a good , and perchance the most plausible , account , but it requires that New Horizons just happens to obtain itself locked in this peculiar orientation with Ultima Thule .
“ Another explanation , ” said Mark Showalter from the SETI Institute , “ is that Ultima may be surrounded by a swarm of detritus that obscures its lite curve , much the way a comet ’s comatoseness often overwhelms the visible radiation reflected by its primal [ core ] . ”
It ’s another comme il faut explanation , but as Showalter admit , a heat source would be required to produce a coma of this order of magnitude . The Sun is 4 billion mile away from Ultima , and its rays are probable too debile to produce such an effect .
Anne Verbiscer , a researcher at the University of Virginia and a New Horizons assistant project scientist , said Ultima Thule may be surrounded by many acrobatics Moon . In this multiple - moonlet scenario , each moon would produce its own light bend , but collectively , these curves would appear , the words of Verbiscer , as a “ hugger-mugger superposition of light-colored curve . ” From the perspective of New Horizons , it would calculate like a unmarried , small-scale sluttish curved shape . The hassle with this hypothesis is that we ’ve never actually envision anything like this in the Solar System , so if it ’s true , it would symbolise a new form of astronomical phenomenon .
It ’s a peachy closed book , but the conundrum should be resolve in the coming day as New Horizons gets closer to its target . My hope is that it ’s an extraterrestrial telecommunications array pointed directly at Earth , but woefully , it ’s probably just a sinister , dead rock with a rather peculiar spin .
[ NASA New Horizons ]
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