NASA finds snowman-like object in space beyond Pluto
- 5 years ago
LAUREL, MARYLAND — NASA has discovered a celestial object beyond Pluto and it looks like a snowman.
According to the Associated Press, the objects are called "Ultima Thule." This translates roughly to '"beyond the known world. It consists of two fused spheres with one being larger than the other. It is around 21 miles in length.
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft sent back images of the mysterious space snowman on New Year's Day.
"Ultima Thule" is said to be reddish in color. Scientists placed a high resolution image on top of the photo its spacecraft grabbed to recreate what they believe it looks like.
A NASA scientist told the AP that the spheres were formed in space billions of years ago and that the icy pieces fused together. Its exterior is believed to be a mix of water, methane and nitrogen.
The scientists involved are calling the snowman-like object "a primordial planetesimal." That's essentially a small celestial object that isn't an asteroid, or a comet.
According to the Associated Press, the objects are called "Ultima Thule." This translates roughly to '"beyond the known world. It consists of two fused spheres with one being larger than the other. It is around 21 miles in length.
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft sent back images of the mysterious space snowman on New Year's Day.
"Ultima Thule" is said to be reddish in color. Scientists placed a high resolution image on top of the photo its spacecraft grabbed to recreate what they believe it looks like.
A NASA scientist told the AP that the spheres were formed in space billions of years ago and that the icy pieces fused together. Its exterior is believed to be a mix of water, methane and nitrogen.
The scientists involved are calling the snowman-like object "a primordial planetesimal." That's essentially a small celestial object that isn't an asteroid, or a comet.