NASA: New Horizons Camera Captures Wandering Kuiper Belt Object

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has captured one of the closest images of a distant Kuiper Belt object, moving against a background of stars, according to a news release. The moving image is revealing New Horizons' ability to carry out numerous observations of such bodies over another several years if NASA approves an extended mission into the Kuiper Belt.

Researchers identified the object as 1994 JR1, which is a 90-mile (150-kilometer) wide ancient body. 1994 JR1 is a minor planet that circles the sun in an orbit that is situated far beyond Neptune and it is the first object that was classified as an quasi-satellite of Pluto.

Researchers captured the four framed image using the New Horizon's Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), where they saw the object moving against a background of stars. When the images were created, 1994 JR1 was about 3.3 billion miles (5.3 billion miles) away from the sun, however, it was approximately 170 million miles (280 million kilometers) away from New Horizons.

This is a record breakthrough for one of the closest picture of a small body in the Kuiper Belt, according to the mission researchers. The researchers intend to use the images to study additional ancient Kuiper Belt objects from New Horizons if an extended mission is approved.

New Horizons is planning for another close flyby of another Kuiper Belt object, 2014 MU69, on Jan. 1, 2019.

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