Initial results from the New Horizons exploration of 2014 MU 69 , a small Kuiper Belt object
Science2019Vol. 364(6441)
Citations Over TimeTop 1% of 2019 papers
S. A. Stern, H. A. Weaver, J. R. Spencer, C. B. Olkin, G. R. Gladstone, W. M. Grundy, J. M. Moore, D. P. Cruikshank, H. A. Elliott, W. B. McKinnon, J. W. Parker, A. Verbiscer, L. A. Young, David Aguilar, Joshua Albers, T. Andert, John P. Andrews, F. Bagenal, M. E. Banks, Brian Bauer, Jeremy Bauman, Katie Bechtold, C. B. Beddingfield, Neda Behrooz, K. Beißer, Susan Benecchi, E. Bernardoni, R. A. Beyer, S. Bhaskaran, C. J. Bierson, Richard P. Binzel, Emma Birath, M. K. Bird, Dylan Boone, Alice Bowman, V. J. Bray, D. T. Britt, L. E. Brown, Matthew R. Buckley, M. W. Buie, B. J. Buratti, Laura M. Burke, Stewart Bushman, B. Carcich, A. Chaikin, Carrie L. Chavez, A. F. Cheng, Edwin Colwell, Steven J. Conard, M. P. Conner, C. A. Conrad, J. C. Cook, Stanley B. Cooper, O. S. Custodio, C. M. Dalle Ore, Christopher C. DeBoy, Priya Dharmavaram, Rajani D. Dhingra, G. Dunn, A. M. Earle, A. F. Egan, J. Eisig, M. R. El‐Maarry, Carl Engelbrecht, B. L. Enke, Carl J. Ercol, E. Fattig, Chelsea L. Ferrell, T. Finley, J. Firer, Joel T. Fischetti, W. M. Folkner, M. N. Fosbury, Glen H. Fountain, J. M. Freeze, Leila Gabasova, L. S. Glaze, James Green, Gabrielle Griffith, Yanping Guo, M. Hahn, D. W. Hals, Douglas P. Hamilton, Sarah A. Hamilton, J. Hanley, A. Harch, Kristen Harmon, H. M. Hart, J. R. Hayes, Christopher B. Hersman, M. E. Hill, Tracy A. Hill, Jason D. Hofgartner, Mark E. Holdridge, M. Horányi, A. Hosadurga, A. D. Howard, Carly Howett, S. Jaskulek, Donald E. Jennings, J.R. Jensen, Melissa R. Jones, H. K. Kang, D. J. Katz, D. E. Kaufmann, J. J. Kavelaars, J. T. Keane, G. P. Keleher, M. J. Kinczyk, M. C. Kochte, P. Kollmann, S. M. Krimigis, Gerhard Kruizinga, David Y. Kusnierkiewicz, M. S. Lahr, Tod R. Lauer, George Lawrence, J. E. Lee, Erik J. Lessac‐Chenen, I. R. Linscott, C. M. Lisse, Allen Lunsford, Declan Mages, V. A. Mallder, N. Martin, B. May, D. J. McComas, R. L. McNutt, Doug Mehoke, Thomas Mehoke, Derek Nelson, Hien D. Nguyen, Jorge I. Núñez, A. Ocampo, W. M. Owen, G. K. Oxton, A. H. Parker, M. Pätzold, John Pelgrift, F. Pelletier, Jon P. Pineau, M. Piquette, Simon B. Porter, Silvia Protopapa, É. Quirico, J. Redfern, Alysen Regiec, H. J. Reitsema, Dennis C. Reuter, D. C. Richardson, Joseph E. Riedel, M. A. Ritterbush, S. J. Robbins, D. J. Rodgers, Gabe Rogers, D. Rose, Paul E. Rosendall, Kirby Runyon, M. G. Ryschkewitsch, Magda Saina, Michael J. Salinas, P. Schenk, J. Scherrer, Wayne Schlei, B. Schmitt, Daniel Schultz, D. C. Schurr, F. Scipioni, Rebecca Sepan, Richard Shelton, M. R. Showalter, M. Simon, K. N. Singer, E. W. Stahlheber, Dale Stanbridge, John Stansberry, A. J. Steffl, D. F. Strobel, M. M. Stothoff, T. Stryk, Jeffrey Stuart, M. E. Summers, Mark B. Tapley, Anthony H. Taylor, H. W. Taylor, R. M. Tedford, H. B. Throop, L. S. Turner, O. M. Umurhan, J. Van Eck, D. Velez, M. H. Versteeg, Michael A. Vincent, R. Webbert, S. Weidner, Gerald Weigle, Johan Wendel, O. L. White, Karl Whittenburg, B. G. Williams, Kenneth E. Williams, Stephen Williams, Helene Winters, A. M. Zangari, T. H. Zurbuchen
Abstract
The Kuiper Belt is a distant region of the outer Solar System. On 1 January 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew close to (486958) 2014 MU69, a cold classical Kuiper Belt object approximately 30 kilometers in diameter. Such objects have never been substantially heated by the Sun and are therefore well preserved since their formation. We describe initial results from these encounter observations. MU69 is a bilobed contact binary with a flattened shape, discrete geological units, and noticeable albedo heterogeneity. However, there is little surface color or compositional heterogeneity. No evidence for satellites, rings or other dust structures, a gas coma, or solar wind interactions was detected. MU69's origin appears consistent with pebble cloud collapse followed by a low-velocity merger of its two lobes.
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