The Kuiper Belt object has been critically analysed since its flyby at the beginning of 2019, and astronomers are slowly understanding its nature
Solar System
Solar System
Space Exploration
New Horizons Update: Best-yet picture of Ultima Thule has been released
After the flyby of the Kuiper Belt object on the new year, astronomers have now released the finest image of Ultima Thule to date
Astronomy
Heroes of Space: Clyde Tombaugh
The amateur astronomer who discovered Pluto and visited the dwarf planet after his death
Space Exploration
New Horizons Update: Spacecraft reveals Ultima Thule as entirely new world
The Kuiper Belt Object’s remarkable appearance illuminates the processes that built the planets four and a half billion years ago
Space Exploration
New Horizons has already spotted something peculiar about Ultima Thule
The lack of a light curve when examining Ultima Thule has already caused a mystery before the target’s flyby
Space Exploration
New Horizons Update: Spacecraft takes inside course for Ultima Thule rendezvous
With no apparent hazards in its way, NASA’s mission has been given a “go” to stay on its optimal path to the Kuiper Belt Object
Space Exploration
Could there be an orbiter at Pluto in the near future?
Scientists and engineers are seriously discussing the possibility of sending an orbiter to Pluto and beyond into the Kuiper Belt
Astronomy
SPA revives its Sound of Astronomy ‘podcast’ after 50 years
A 50-year old ‘podcast’ has now returned to the airwaves with an updated twist and exciting new content
Space Exploration
NASA needs you! Help nickname New Horizons’ next flyby target
The team behind the Pluto mission is looking for your ideas on what to informally name its next flyby destination, a billion miles past the dwarf planet
Solar System
New Horizons Update: Spacecraft’s new target could be a ‘double Kuiper Belt Object’
The next flyby target for the NASA mission could actually be two targets
News
New Horizons Update: Spacecraft returns final bits of data from Pluto flyby
The NASA mission reached a major milestone this week when the last bits of science data from its flyby – arrived safely on Earth
News
New Horizons Update: Pluto found to spray paint largest moon red
“Who would have thought that Pluto is a graffiti artist?”
News
New Horizons Update: Methane snow found on Pluto’s peaks
A chain of exotic snowcapped mountains has been uncovered on the dwarf planet
News
New Horizons Update: Pluto’s moon could have had an ocean
New data suggests that Charon may have had a subsurface ocean that has long since frozen and expanded
News
New Horizons Update: Spacecraft discovers possible “icebergs” on Pluto
The nitrogen ice glaciers on Pluto appear to carry an intriguing cargo: numerous, isolated hills that may be fragments of water ice
News
New Horizons Update: Spacecraft finds more water ice on Pluto
New data points to more prevalent water ice on the dwarf planet’s surface
News
New Horizons Update: Spacecraft returns new images of possible ice volcano
Scientists have assembled the highest-resolution colour view of one of two potential cryovolcanoes
Solar System
VIDEO: New Horizons’ very best colour view of Pluto
Check out this movie, composed of the sharpest views of the dwarf planet during New Horizons flyby in July
News
New Horizons Update: Spacecraft uncovers new findings about Pluto and its moons
Five months after the spacecraft flew past Pluto, knowledge about the distant system continues to unfold
Space Exploration
Will there be other missions to Pluto?
With the success of New Horizons, will the dwarf planet be a target for more spacecraft in the future?