Images taken by New Horizons as it was moving away suggest that Ultima Thule might not be the two spheres that it originally appeared to be. It might be something more like two circular pancakes fused edge to edge. While the previous shape would be relatively easy to explain, formation wise, the newer shape is more of a head-scratcher.
JHUAPL says: "We had an impression of Ultima Thule based on the limited number of images returned in the days around the flyby, but seeing more data has significantly changed our view," Stern said. "It would be closer to reality to say Ultima Thule's shape is flatter, like a pancake. But more importantly, the new images are creating scientific puzzles about how such an object could even be formed. We've never seen something like this orbiting the Sun."
When I first read the name 'Ultima Thule' in the titling of the thread, for some reason I read it 'Uma Thurman'. Whether that was my misinterpretation from fuzzy eyesight or the hallmarks of the over-corrective predictive text systems that exist in today's applications I don't fully know. However the problem is that now I've heard it that way, I can't call it by it's proper name.
Feb 9, 2019 05:02 AM
![[Image: DraftShapeModelGraphic_001-master.jpg]](http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Galleries/Featured-Images/pics800wide/DraftShapeModelGraphic_001-master.jpg)
