Live updates: New Horizons’ flyby of a distant Kuiper Belt object
The spacecraft zoomed past a space rock called MU69 or Ultima Thule on New Year's Day
Editor’s note: This story was updated December 31–January 1 with dispatches from astronomy writer Lisa Grossman, who was at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., with the New Horizons team.
Updated 1:20 p.m., January 1
The last best view of Ultima Thule that New Horizons sent back before last night’s flyby gave a rough view of the object’s shape. It revealed an elongated, bowling pin–like shape, team members announced at a news conference this morning.