Enhanced-Color Composite Image of Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth (2014 MU69)

reddish, cratered object with two attached lobes
CreditNASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Roman Tkachenko
Historical DateJanuary 1, 2019
Language
  • english

Update November 2019: 2014 MU69 has been officially named Arrokoth.

This composite image of the primordial contact binary Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69 (nicknamed Ultima Thule) – featured on the cover of the May 17 issue of the journal Science – was compiled from data obtained by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft as it flew by the object on Jan. 1, 2019.

The image combines enhanced color data (close to what the human eye would see) with detailed high-resolution panchromatic pictures.