Initial results from the New Horizons exploration of 2014 MU69, a small Kuiper Belt object

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 Wm Parker; A J Verbiscer; L A Young; D A Aguilar; J M Albers; T Andert; J P Andrews; F Bagenal; M E Banks; B A Bauer; J A Bauman; K E Bechtold; C B Beddingfield; N Behrooz; K B Beisser; S D Benecchi; E Bernardoni; R A Beyer; S Bhaskaran; C J Bierson; R P Binzel; E M Birath; M K Bird; D R Boone; A F Bowman; V J Bray; D T Britt; L E Brown; M R Buckley; M W Buie; B J Buratti; L M Burke; S S Bushman; B Carcich; A L Chaikin; C L Chavez; A F Cheng; E J Colwell; S J Conard; M P Conner; C A Conrad; J C Cook; S B Cooper; O S Custodio; C M Dalle Ore; C C Deboy; P Dharmavaram; R D Dhingra; G F Dunn; A M Earle; A F Egan; J Eisig; M R El-Maarry; C Engelbrecht; B L Enke; C J Ercol; E D Fattig; C L Ferrell; T J Finley; J Firer; J Fischetti; W M Folkner; M N Fosbury; G H Fountain; J M Freeze; L Gabasova; L S Glaze; J L Green; G A Griffith; Y Guo; M Hahn; D W Hals; D P Hamilton; S A Hamilton; J J Hanley; A Harch; K A Harmon; H M Hart; J Hayes; C B Hersman; M E Hill; T A Hill; J D Hofgartner; M E Holdridge; M Horányi; A Hosadurga; A D Howard; C J A Howett; S E Jaskulek; D E Jennings; J R Jensen; M R Jones; H K Kang; D J Katz; D E Kaufmann; J J Kavelaars; J T Keane; G P Keleher; M Kinczyk; M C Kochte; P Kollmann; S M Krimigis; G L Kruizinga; D Y Kusnierkiewicz; M S Lahr; T R Lauer; G B Lawrence; J E Lee; E J Lessac-Chenen; I R Linscott; C M Lisse; A W Lunsford; D M Mages; V A Mallder; N P Martin; B H May; D J McComas; R L McNutt Jr; D S Mehoke; T S Mehoke; D S Nelson; H D Nguyen; J I Núñez; A C Ocampo; W M Owen; G K Oxton; A H Parker; M Pätzold; J Y Pelgrift; F J Pelletier; J P Pineau; M R Piquette; S B Porter; S Protopapa; E Quirico; J A Redfern; A L Regiec; H J Reitsema; D C Reuter; D C Richardson; J E Riedel; M A Ritterbush; S J Robbins; D J Rodgers; G D Rogers; D M Rose; P E Rosendall; K D Runyon; M G Ryschkewitsch; M M Saina; M J Salinas; P M Schenk; J R Scherrer; W R Schlei; B Schmitt; D J Schultz; D C Schurr; F Scipioni; R L Sepan; R G Shelton; M R Showalter; M Simon; K N Singer; E W Stahlheber; D R Stanbridge; J A Stansberry; A J Steffl; D F Strobel; M M Stothoff; T Stryk; J R Stuart; M E Summers; M B Tapley; A Taylor; H W Taylor; R M Tedford; H B Throop; L S Turner; O M Umurhan; J Van Eck; D Velez; M H Versteeg; M A Vincent; R W Webbert; S E Weidner; G E Weigle 2nd; J R Wendel; O L White; K E Whittenburg; B G Williams; K E Williams; S P Williams; H L Winters; A M Zangari; T H Zurbuchen

doi:10.1126/science.aaw9771

Initial results from the New Horizons exploration of 2014 MU₆₉, a small Kuiper Belt object

Science. 2019 May 17;364(6441):eaaw9771. doi: 10.1126/science.aaw9771.

Authors

S A Stern¹, H A Weaver², J R Spencer³, C B Olkin³, G R Gladstone⁴, W M Grundy⁵, J M Moore⁶, D P Cruikshank⁶, H A Elliott^{4

7}, W B McKinnon⁸, J Wm Parker³, A J Verbiscer⁹, L A Young³, D A Aguilar¹⁰, J M Albers², T Andert¹¹, J P Andrews³, F Bagenal¹², M E Banks¹³, B A Bauer², J A Bauman¹⁴, K E Bechtold², C B Beddingfield^{6

15}, N Behrooz², K B Beisser², S D Benecchi¹⁶, E Bernardoni¹², R A Beyer^{6

15}, S Bhaskaran¹⁷, C J Bierson¹⁸, R P Binzel¹⁹, E M Birath³, M K Bird^{20

21}, D R Boone¹⁷, A F Bowman², V J Bray²², D T Britt²³, L E Brown², M R Buckley², M W Buie³, B J Buratti¹⁷, L M Burke², S S Bushman², B Carcich^{2

24}, A L Chaikin²⁵, C L Chavez^{6

15}, A F Cheng², E J Colwell², S J Conard², M P Conner², C A Conrad³, J C Cook²⁶, S B Cooper², O S Custodio², C M Dalle Ore^{6

15}, C C Deboy², P Dharmavaram², R D Dhingra²⁷, G F Dunn⁴, A M Earle¹⁹, A F Egan³, J Eisig², M R El-Maarry²⁸, C Engelbrecht², B L Enke³, C J Ercol², E D Fattig⁴, C L Ferrell³, T J Finley³, J Firer², J Fischetti¹⁴, W M Folkner¹⁷, M N Fosbury², G H Fountain², J M Freeze², L Gabasova²⁹, L S Glaze³⁰, J L Green³⁰, G A Griffith², Y Guo², M Hahn²¹, D W Hals², D P Hamilton³¹, S A Hamilton², J J Hanley⁴, A Harch²⁴, K A Harmon¹⁷, H M Hart², J Hayes², C B Hersman², M E Hill², T A Hill², J D Hofgartner¹⁷, M E Holdridge², M Horányi¹², A Hosadurga², A D Howard³², C J A Howett³, S E Jaskulek², D E Jennings¹³, J R Jensen², M R Jones², H K Kang², D J Katz², D E Kaufmann³, J J Kavelaars³³, J T Keane³⁴, G P Keleher², M Kinczyk³⁵, M C Kochte², P Kollmann², S M Krimigis², G L Kruizinga¹⁷, D Y Kusnierkiewicz², M S Lahr², T R Lauer³⁶, G B Lawrence², J E Lee³⁷, E J Lessac-Chenen¹⁴, I R Linscott³⁸, C M Lisse², A W Lunsford¹³, D M Mages¹⁷, V A Mallder², N P Martin³⁹, B H May⁴⁰, D J McComas^{4

41}, R L McNutt Jr², D S Mehoke², T S Mehoke², D S Nelson¹⁴, H D Nguyen², J I Núñez², A C Ocampo³⁰, W M Owen¹⁷, G K Oxton², A H Parker³, M Pätzold²¹, J Y Pelgrift¹⁴, F J Pelletier¹⁴, J P Pineau⁴², M R Piquette¹², S B Porter³, S Protopapa³, E Quirico²⁹, J A Redfern³, A L Regiec², H J Reitsema⁴³, D C Reuter¹³, D C Richardson³¹, J E Riedel¹⁷, M A Ritterbush¹⁷, S J Robbins³, D J Rodgers², G D Rogers², D M Rose³, P E Rosendall², K D Runyon², M G Ryschkewitsch², M M Saina², M J Salinas¹⁴, P M Schenk⁴⁴, J R Scherrer⁴, W R Schlei², B Schmitt²⁹, D J Schultz², D C Schurr³⁰, F Scipioni^{6

15}, R L Sepan², R G Shelton², M R Showalter¹⁵, M Simon², K N Singer³, E W Stahlheber², D R Stanbridge¹⁴, J A Stansberry⁴⁵, A J Steffl³, D F Strobel⁴⁶, M M Stothoff⁴, T Stryk⁴⁷, J R Stuart¹⁷, M E Summers⁴⁸, M B Tapley⁴, A Taylor¹⁴, H W Taylor², R M Tedford³, H B Throop¹⁶, L S Turner², O M Umurhan^{6

15}, J Van Eck², D Velez¹⁷, M H Versteeg⁴, M A Vincent³, R W Webbert², S E Weidner⁴¹, G E Weigle 2nd⁴⁹, J R Wendel³⁰, O L White^{6

15}, K E Whittenburg², B G Williams¹⁴, K E Williams¹⁴, S P Williams², H L Winters², A M Zangari³, T H Zurbuchen³⁰

Affiliations

¹ Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA. astern@boulder.swri.edu.
² Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA.
³ Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
⁴ Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA.
⁵ Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.
⁶ NASA Ames Research Center, Space Science Division, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
⁷ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA.
⁸ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
⁹ Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
¹⁰ Independent consultant, Carbondale, CO 81623, USA.
¹¹ Universität der Bundeswehr München, Neubiberg 85577, Germany.
¹² Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80303, USA.
¹³ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
¹⁴ KinetX Aerospace, Tempe, AZ 85284, USA.
¹⁵ SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
¹⁶ Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA.
¹⁷ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
¹⁸ Earth and Planetary Science Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
¹⁹ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
²⁰ Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, University of Bonn, Bonn D-53121, Germany.
²¹ Rheinisches Institut für Umweltforschung, Universität zu Köln, Cologne 50931, Germany.
²² Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
²³ Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA.
²⁴ Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
²⁵ Independent science writer, Arlington, VT 05250, USA.
²⁶ Pinhead Institute, Telluride, CO 81435, USA.
²⁷ University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA.
²⁸ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London WC1E 7HX, UK.
²⁹ University Grenoble Alpes, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, 38000 Grenoble, France.
³⁰ NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546, USA.
³¹ Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
³² Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA.
³³ National Research Council of Canada, Victoria, BC V9E 2E7, Canada.
³⁴ Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
³⁵ Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
³⁶ National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Tucson, AZ 26732, USA.
³⁷ NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812, USA.
³⁸ Independent consultant, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
³⁹ Independent consultant, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USA.
⁴⁰ Independent collaborator, Windlesham GU20 6YW, UK.
⁴¹ Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
⁴² Stellar Solutions, Palo Alto, CA 94306, USA.
⁴³ Independent consultant, Holland, MI 49424, USA.
⁴⁴ Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
⁴⁵ Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
⁴⁶ Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
⁴⁷ Roane State Community College, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA.
⁴⁸ George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA.
⁴⁹ Independent consultant, Burden, KS 67019, USA.

PMID: 31097641
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw9771

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.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Associated data

figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.7940630