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Birthday · May 22, 2019

Primordial Contact Binary 2014 MU69

May 22, 2019

Somewhere between the hydrogen and the starlight, between the gravity and the grace, the universe conspired to bring you into being.

Primordial Contact Binary 2014 MU69

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APOD published May 22, 2019. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

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Primordial Contact Binary 2014 MU69

Original APOD · May 22, 2019

Primordial contact binary 2014 MU69, also known as Ultima Thule, really is very red. In fact, it's the reddest outer solar system object ever visited by a spacecraft from Earth. Its reddish hue is believed to be due to organic materials on its surface. Ruddy color and tantalizing surface details seen in this composite image are based on data from the New Horizons spacecraft recorded during the January 1 flyby of the farthest world yet explored. Embedded in the smaller lobe Thule (top), the 8 kilometer wide feature nicknamed Maryland crater is the largest depression known on the surface of Ultima Thule. Transmission of data collected from the flyby continues, and will go on until the late summer 2020 as New Horizons speeds deeper into the dim and distant Kuiper Belt.

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