Name: Ultima Thule is Surprisingly Flat
Uploaded: undefined
Duration: undefined

NOVA

In the first images released of Ultima Thule, the object looked like two spheres — kind of like a snowman. The latest photo shows a very different perspective.

This discovery could have a big effect on how scientists think about planet formation.

Ultima Thule is Surprisingly Flat

Carlisle Companies

Viking

NOVA Science Trust Logo

In the first images released of Ultima Thule, the object looked like two spheres — kind of like a snowman. The latest photo shows a very different perspective.

This discovery could have a big effect on how scientists think about planet formation.

Space & Flight

Ultima Thule is Surprisingly FlatPublished: February 13, 2019Onscreen: New images of Ultima Thule reveal a surprising twist ... it’s flat.Anne Verbiscer: The spacecraft actually had to fly past the target and look back, almost towards the sun.The only way you’d still be seeing stars in some of those places was if it was flat.Onscreen: On New Year’s Day, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft flew by Ultima Thule, 4 billion miles from Earth.In the first images, the object looked like two spheres – kind of like a snowman.But the latest photos show a completely different perspective.Verbiscer: It is "M&amp;M's." Only you don't see the side of the "M&amp;M."John Spencer: We always love it when we’re wrong and we see something that we don’t expect. We’re seeing something that is so strange and wonderful.Onscreen: The discovery could have a big impact on how scientists think about planet formationVerbiscer: Why would something accumulate material preferentially in one direction to make it flat?It’s a great puzzle to solve. Now we have to figure out, “how does this happen?”Onscreen: It will be several months before all the data collected by New Horizons gets to EarthSpencer: It's very early days yet. We've really only convinced ourselves that this was real in the last couple of weeks. We’re still piecing together all the clues about the shape.

United States

Northern Mariana Islands

Puerto Rico

American Samoa

Guam

U.S. Virgin Islands

U.S. Minor Outlying Islands

US & Territories

Colossal explosions shake a remote corner of the Siberian tundra, leaving behind massive craters. In Alaska, a huge lake erupts with bubbles of inflammable gas. Scientists are discovering that these mystifying phenomena add up to a ticking time bomb, as long-frozen permafrost melts and releases vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. What are the implications of these dramatic developments in the Arctic? Scientists and local communities alike are struggling to grasp the scale of the methane threat and what it means for our climate future. (Premiered February 2, 2022)

In the Arctic, enormous releases of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, threaten the climate.

Arctic Sinkholes

The top half of Jupiter in blue and green against a night sky

A composite image of Jupiter using images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy Schmidt.

Explore the cosmos, delve into ancient history, and follow an extreme rescue with NOVA’s most-watched documentaries released in 2022.

NOVA’s most popular science documentaries of 2022

Four bright orange loops brand off of a dark blue blob

A transmission electron micrograph of HIV-1 virus particles (orange) replicating from the plasma membrane of an infected H9 T cell. Credit: NIAID, Flickr

Scientists have cured a handful of people of HIV by piggybacking on treatments they received for blood cancer. But does that bring a widespread cure any closer?

Ultima Thule is Surprisingly Flat

Support Provided By

Explore More

Just in Time for the New Year, Ultima Thule Shows A Kiss Between Two Rocky Red Lobes

Pluto and Beyond

So long, snowman: Ultima Thule is flatter than we thought

Transcript

Credits

Support Provided By

Explore More

Just in Time for the New Year, Ultima Thule Shows A Kiss Between Two Rocky Red Lobes

Pluto and Beyond

So long, snowman: Ultima Thule is flatter than we thought