How Arrokoth Shocked NASA Scientists

Almost everything you could want to know about New Horizon's visit to Arrokoth.
CuriosityStream, only $14.99 for a whole year if you use this link: curiositystream.com/Astrum and use the code 'Astrum' at checkout.
Astrum merch now available! Apparel: teespring.com/stores/astrum-s... Metal Posters: displate.com/promo/astrum?art...
SUBSCRIBE for more videos about our other planets.
Subscribe! goo.gl/WX4iMN
Facebook! goo.gl/uaOlWW
Twitter! goo.gl/VCfejs
Astrum Spanish: bit.ly/2KmkssR
Astrum Portuguese: / @astrumbrasil
Donate!
Patreon: goo.gl/GGA5xT
Ethereum Wallet: 0x5F8cf793962ae8Df4Cba017E7A6159a104744038
Become a Patron today and support my channel! Donate link above. I can't do it without you. Thanks to those who have supported so far!
Image Credits: NASA/ESO/ESA
Music Credit: Adrian Chifu - Eternal Traveler

[@adamnixon2886]

I'll never feel upset about slow download speeds again

[@NLwino]

Speed? wait until you learn about the ping!

[@knopfir]

@Troll Hole wholesome

[@randellacuram7137]

Yo that's the coolest profile pic ever. 💯🙌

[@h8GW]

@NLwino A ping of 32 million isn't too bad in wireless communications.

[@alanhyt79]

New Horizons is one of those rare machines that functions better and longer than anyone expected. It continues to provide data that adds to our understanding of this solar system and, presumably, other solar systems like ours. The craft operates in cold too bitter to imagine, and has a connection to earth that's slower than my first dial-up internet, but the range of analyses it can make on objects and the high res photos it can take is sophisticated and most impressive. What an amazing project!

[@matthewyabsley]

One day kids will be launching these things out as toys. :-)

[@sacriligiousstick]

Its amazing that thats about every project nasa ever releases. Pretty much all of their craft last way longer than nasa ever predicts. Just naming a few, theres the voyagers(still going), cassini(10 years), oppurtunity(14 years), and that mission to mercury I can't remember that managed to obit the planet for 4 years and took 200,000 photos(it was only supposed to be able to last one year and take 1000 photos max.) Great job nasa!

[@randybaumery5090]

I love the images and data these probes sent back to us.

[@alanhyt79]

@@sacriligiousstick NASA's over-engineered projects are impressive. Their choice of O-rings, some relatively inexpensive part of a rocket, destroyed the lives of great people on one occasion. Saying "every project" isn't exactly accurate or true. Some projects have failed and NASA uses those as learning experiences in order to prevent catastrophes in the future, thus getting some kind of good out of something tragic.

[@mrgreatauk]

Gives me hope that one day, humanity will be able to build household appliances that last longer than 5 years

[@DeathbyProxy]

That last fly-by 'video' of Arrokoth, it looks so raw, so real. With all the high quality, digitally retouched, press-ready photos of celestial objects it's easy to get caught up in the beauty of them and view them like works of art, but seeing those low quality shots of an asteroid moving about, it really puts it into perspective that these are real things floating about up there, moving, spinning, orbiting. It's the same with photos taken on the surface of planets, moons, and asteroids, these are real places where we could stand. And I find that more beautiful than the photos you see in the newspaper articles.

[@jsg240]

I really love how with videos and images Alex puts a description like "new horizons launch" , "not true colour image" , "artist impression of..." Etc. It really helps to give a much better understanding of what I'm looking at. I don't like how in documentaries they expect you to know whether it's an artist impression or not and you get false ideas of what you're looking at. Thank you for doing this and for making these videos!

[@wyattchiordi5132]

Blows my mind how they can intercept something so tiny and far away. Especially with the communication lag between the craft and earth

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

All comes down to planning and calculations

[@hannahkimble6080]

Arrokoth is a name that sounds straight out of Sci-Fi, I love it. Reminds me of Dune’s Arrakis.

[@Arterexius]

I agree. Although I got H. P. Lovecraft vibes from that name

[@jackalope2302]

@@Arterexius me too. Yog Sothoth's pet rock.

[@rayduwann]

Sounded to me like some place in Middle Earth

[@SandsOfArrakis]

More like a place you would find in Mordor :)

[@georgetaylor4719]

@@Arterexius Arrakoth might be related to Azat-Thoth...😳

[@robertgrosser3359]

The white ring around its neck is from wearing a collar, so it is obviously someone's pet rock that has been lost.

[@Prof_Tickles92]

I knew arrokoth was a sub!

[@WesleyDeGrooteAalst]

Looks like a balsack to me

[@robertgreen3702]

😄😄😄

[@shelliepoitras2473]

😁🥰🙏

[@genericname6669]

Ha ha ha ha.

[@_rlb]

Who else thinks that, in the thumbnail, Arrakoth looks like an orange snowman with a sad face and some buttons down his body? So cold and lonely...

[@kudzukid12]

It’s impossible to not see that now! 😂 haha

[@_rlb]

@@kudzukid12 sorry 🤣

[@10aDowningStreet]

We need to move Oumuamua into position as the snowmans nose

[@_rlb]

@@10aDowningStreet Best idea ever. You can dream, right? It's a bit far away and moving quite fast though...

[@Able_Cylon]

I saw that right away too, but as a frowning Charlie Brown with a rather large boo boo on his forehead...

[@CarthagoMike]

An Astrum video a day keeps the braincells from degrading away.

[@simonmultiverse6349]

As long as the scriptwriter hasn't written something idiotic, like "the spacecraft is now heading out of the galaxy", as other videos have said.

[@Sa-fd7ih]

As long as they don’t use idiotic click bait titles like they have started doing recently.

[@OG-NASA]

an astrum youtube video a day keeps the brain cells from having barz that'll jail u.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

Arrokoth...sounds like a name taken from a Tolkien novel

[@aljawisa]

Ashteroth

[@jedimasterlex13]

Akatosh. -Elder Scrolls

[@georgeb.wolffsohn30]

It's from the Powhatan language.

[@frankenstein6677]

Ashteroid*

[@Mp57navy]

More like a Diablo 2 fallen one.

[@juandiegoprado]

That's gotta be the smoothest transition I've ever seen to a Curiosity Stream ad

[@lewsdiod]

Gotta say, I remain on the fence even after.

[@lunaeek9130]

Actually got me thinking of getting it

[@THIS---GUY]

Vsauce last ad got me so good lol the ball one

[@wolfrunner6462]

My favorite transition to a curiosity stream ad is in matt lowne's munship video

[@danieljohnmorris]

is that a good thing?

[@TatteredBeanie]

It looks humanoid. 2 dots for a nose and a slit for mouth below depression on smaller chunk. Awesome

[@stevetobias4890]

Almost looks like a statue in it's early phases, notice the sad face. Probably from being seen before it's ready, lol.

[@carlsaganlives6086]

Surprise visitor coming in at 50,000 mph.

[@bob19611000]

its the 2001 StarChild

[@OldNavajoTricks]

Did ancient technologically advanced aliens yoink Arrokoth out of an airlock type system in an attempt to find the imposter aboard their 'Among us' star craft countless millenia ago? Ancient Alien theorists think they did!

[@joshsaunders7971]

Yeah I noticed the face too. And at 5:44 you can see in photo B. It looks like the pixelated picture of it made a more detailed version of the face for some reason. Like it’s smiling or something. Interesting.

[@rp7159]

Idolatry is forbidden

[@inourhands7551]

For the history books, it was on our second Argentina deployment -- not Senegal, as described in the graphics and narration -- that we discovered the binary shape of 2014MU69 (Arrokoth). The Senegal deployment had fewer data chords, as most observation teams were clouded out or faced instrumentation issues. Having an additional data set from Senegal helped to confirm the objects could indeed be very close together, rather than one being simply eclipsed by the other, as New Horizons later confirmed upon flyby. So glad to see this mission still getting such extraordinary coverage!

[@mollcustominstruments9712]

Arrokoth looks like an eroded sculpture of a humanoid from the waist up... Is anyone else seeing this or, have I completely lost it?

[@sentence2sentience835]

Yes.... And yes! (About the second I jest!) Lol. :)

[@mollcustominstruments9712]

@@sentence2sentience835 Oh, I KNOW I've lost my mind... Actually, I haven't lost it, just temporarily misplaced it! :-D

[@sentence2sentience835]

@@mollcustominstruments9712 haha lol

[@einienj3281]

I thought the thumbnail pic looks like an alien fetus.. 😐

[@bjgreene3]

I thought I was the only one thank God you saw that too 😳😳

[@Ignazio_Avulso]

It's incredible as each of Astrum's short videos is packed with information no less than an academic lecture.

[@effen_aey_man]

I was sitting here thinking "What is Arrokoth?" Then I realized it's the new name scientist gave to Ultima Thule

[@vaclavzdich29]

Why is there a new name?

[@effen_aey_man]

@@vaclavzdich29 Nazis

[@Markle2k]

@@vaclavzdich29 Some people will cede everything to Nazis to avoid the taint, regardless of how nebulous the Nazi connection is. On the hard front, humanity lost a symbol used across continents for over 10,000 years because the Nazis put it on a flag for less than twenty years. I had to explain to ignorant Euro-origin neighbors that my Indian neighbors were not Nazis when they brought back their new car from their temple from being blessed for luck with a (very small, 10 cm) swastika on the hood. Swastikas are so old, they pre-date known writing systems. They were found in cultures from Australian aborigines, to prehistoric peoples in the Americas, to Europeans. Ultima Thule is not as old, just going back a couple, to a few thousand years. But it did not indicate a master race or anything of the sort. Just a land that was far away in the North. It is a modern tragedy that we could allow such a malignant evil to co-opt symbols and names that pre-date them by centuries and millenia. It grants them too much cultural power.

[@Auxodium]

yeah they hot the panic button because of Nazis lol.

[@oofcloof]

@@Markle2k exactly. Even though we beat the Nazis out of Europe, they never left our system of symbolism, and that makes me kind of annoyed.

[@honodle7219]

They found out it's a rock. It's a cold rock. It's an odd shaped, cold, distant rock. It's an odd colored rock with few impact craters so not a lot of rocks hit it.

[@celathianaaron6057]

There are roughly 1000 Pluto sized objects near Pluto

[@thenasadude6878]

This rock is also rotating, so its very rock n roll

[@sonetagu1337]

This is definitely one of the rocks of all time. It is in a solid state, and has a cold color. Graham's Number/sqrt (3)+e^2 - (e + pi^5)

[@triplebog]

"they predicted it's shape exactly", "... Well they knew it would be a long shape" I think 'exactly' has different meaning to us

[@ahamay2012]

"They knew it would be an Elon-gated object"

[@eddierayvanlynch6133]

Musk we engage in punnery?

[@ahamay2012]

Yes, we can.

[@EpreTroll]

Man I've missed like your last 10 videos. Never got recommended to me damnit

[@a-a-ronbrowser1486]

Same here, even with the notifications on 🤨

[@freddan6fly]

Unsubscribe and Subscribe again. Should fix it. Maybe there is a limit to number of channels you can subscribe to.

[@CyndaYT]

KZbin logic

[@lukey666lukey]

@@CyndaYT more than likely due to spam bots or just a weird oversight

[@brabhamfreaman166]

Better late than never?

[@ekimozturk1964]

Why knowing more about arrokoth make me feel better as a human being? I mean it is just a random piece of rock, wandering in the empty abbys and i feel better knowing more about it… It is truly magnificent to see a picture of something from that far away.

[@kd7fkd]

Astrum is by far my favorite astronomy channel. You don't output as often as some other channels but your soothing British accent and stellar production values at 1080p are super worth the wait. I could listen to you read Parliamentary committee transcripts. I eagerly await the next.

[@SirFaceFone]

I honestly thought he had a German accent or something.

[@TheIrieman15]

@@SirFaceFone Welsh actually

[@kd7fkd]

@@TheIrieman15 Cool

[@azyjmexcuseokstop924]

Thats kinda gay

[@kd7fkd]

@@azyjmexcuseokstop924 Thank you!

[@GuiAntonioli]

I love how these videos have "shocked scientists" all the time, imagine when (if) we find out proof of intelligent life out there, the scientists are going to implode.

[@captaincrooked9051]

finding life, especially within our solar system, is going to be terrible. It would imply life as being somewhat common, and, the implications with the fermi paradox and the great filter may not be a good sign for us as a species.

[@huawafabe]

@@captaincrooked9051 if there's life in the solar system outside of earth, it likely has common history, so that wouldn't influence the fermi paradox much.

[@lepotato135]

Idk why, but I feel like life has already started in at least one of Saturn's moons. There's just so many possibilities lmao. (Basic life I mean) But honestly, I don't think I'd have the same reaction as the scientists. I feel like a lot of the public are already used to the idea of extraterrestrial life by now, even if they're similar to us. Then again I can't speak for others. Maybe the main excitement comes with being able to interact with them, and I just wouldn't be excited if it was just reserved for the scientists. They'll definitely implode though like you said. 😂

[@lepotato135]

@@captaincrooked9051 Yeah it definitely sounds scary. I've always had this story idea of different intelligent life helping one another figure out a way to escape the great filter. It would be wholesome at least, if we got to make friends with an extraterrestrial species lol. Either way I wish the best for humanity.

[@dorkle9085]

What an incredible achievement

[@gth042]

It was. Packing that much cool and professional stuff into ten minutes of presentation took a lot of work! :D

[@JEMA333]

@@JohnnyAngel8 lol

[@scummymummy2548]

Oh toilet paper where were u back in April of 2020? Why does everyone love u so? ??? Great Name friend!👍👍👍👍😍💗

[@dorkle9085]

@@scummymummy2548 ty

[@DNAofDoggie]

How we get here

[@CrankyPantss]

Your knowledge and never ending sense of wonder makes this channel one of the best on KZbin. It’s clearly the best on all things space. Thanks for another beautifully done video.

[@occamsrayzor]

I was beginning to lose hope for another in-depth Astrum video! Thank you for this excellent report on Arrokoth, Alex.

[@contentconsumer86]

Alex you have such refreshing voice. It's a treat to listen to you explaining things about the cosmos in such detail. Thanks and keep up the good work!

[@PhiltheMoko]

That segue into curiosity stream was so smooth I didn't even clock it as an add for about thirty seconds.

[@_rlb]

Watching this while wearing my black Astrum hoodie.

[@astrumspace]

You are a champ!

[@_rlb]

@@astrumspace thanks! My kids have some Astrum clothing as well. They have no clue what it means :P

[@DoctaOsiris]

@@_rlb I wish I could afford that 😔 me so poor... 😔

[@josedomingovegaviera2371]

@@DoctaOsiris u r not alone my friend, keep on trying!

[@DoctaOsiris]

@@josedomingovegaviera2371 🤗

[@rabidspatula1013]

Can we all give an appreciative round of applause for Alex's excellent music selections for his videos? I know I have added many to my music playlists thanks to Astrum :D

[@docbailey3265]

Quite right. Quite right.

[@CodeLeeCarter]

Been waiting for updated images,... Thank you.

[@lofej]

Loved it! thank you for making these videos. Absolutely can tell how much love in these. Thank you again.

[@antonioaluz]

YEAH! FINALLY! I was anxiously waiting for this video Alex!

[@furiusstiles3214]

I can’t wait til Arrokoth shows up on an episode of Ancient Aliens. “Is it a rare celestial body, or could it be the head and body of a statue created by an advanced alien nation?”

[@KertaDrake]

No doubt blasted into space by the nukes that destroyed Atlantis!

[@brandonwilson5937]

That approach time lapse was incredible thanks for including it in this video

[@birdynumnum6262]

That is wonderful, thank you for doing a video on this. So glad I subbed, as I knew nothing about Arrokoth until I watched your channel.

[@TheDirge69]

In Australia we are envious of your 1k download speeds....

[@luisalmeida1391]

What a great doc. So informative and clearly explained. Thank you. Loved it!

[@LegendofLaw]

"Scientists found a new object...." Object thats 14 billion years old: 👁👄👁

[@cluelessarn]

lmao, tho the asteroid must not be from the beginning stages of the universe as heavier elements were not present back then and were formed later.

[@jeffreylemal7432]

The solar system is 4.6 billion years old.

[@LegendofLaw]

@@jeffreylemal7432 its older than that

[@goognamgoognw6637]

everything is the age of the universe, period. All this talk about age is nonsense except for reproducing things.

[@LegendofLaw]

@@goognamgoognw6637 technically, even then everything is recycled.

[@THIS---GUY]

Awesome content. You are one of my fav channels in regards to space 😊 I have watched a lot and will binge the rest soon lol honestly above the quality of regular television. Cheers my friend! For those itching for more, Some of my other favs are (and my suggestion to start) : David Butler - (especially "how far away is it" & "how old is it" playlists) SEA - ("great attractor" & "the cosmic scale" videos were amazing) Anton Petrov - (daily space and sciences) Destiny - (space, science & military) SpaceRip - ("seeing inside the sun" or "real images from our solar system" ) Kosmo - (interesting video on Stephenson 2-18) PBS Spacetime

[@bigsarge2085]

Great video, I scramble for any bit of information on Arrokoth (2014 MU69)! Fascinating, thank you.

[@almightytallestred]

It's our Solar System's largest pawn chess piece ♟

[@zac-oros]

You seriously make the best astronomy videos on KZbin

[@scottd9448]

Thank you for offering more information. I was very interested in this object from the beginning.

[@josephthomasjr.6551]

Utterly fascinating! The older I get, the more I stand in awe of science.

[@filippofranzato8481]

Amazing video like always! Theese videos are full of quality and class,and I like your way to explane space things. This is a very good channel in my opinion! Keep it up!

[@GulpingHaterade]

Thank you for all that you do for this community I love your videos ❤️❤️

[@dr.jamesolack8504]

It amazes me that NewHorizons is able to adjust its trajectory to intercept Arrokoth when in wasn't in the original plan. And snap great shots AND send them back? Simply fascinating! What an incredible story. Thank you so much for the top-notch upload! ✨💫

[@pan4909]

2:43 I got to say, that is one hell of a timelapse. It is an absolutely insane perspective, quite beutiful.

[@astrumspace]

100% agreed

[@zuckerhut8707]

I agree, incredible perspective

[@rgerber]

you want to say this is all real, not animated?

[@eldorado3523]

@@rgerber uh... the video is just a collection of photographs shown in a quick sequence. I can consider it a stop-motion timelapse. They can keep the probe pointed at a target, that's why the asteroid is always centered on the screen.

[@DerMuffin9101]

The SpaceEngine music in the background gives me so much nostalgia...

[@astrumspace]

I do love that song

[@DanielVerberne]

Isn't 'nostalgia' for experiences from our youth or at very least, a large number of years past? I only just started SpaceEngine, so maybe it's me being late to the party.

[@Involent]

Fun fact: the term “nostalgia” was originally coined by a Swiss physician to describe the constellation of symptoms we now know as PTSD.

[@lljjay2602]

@@DanielVerberne I'm even later than you lol.

[@IamINERT]

KSP :)

[@Andrew17B]

i love the intro, its so soothing and calming to me

[@jack0cat]

I just discovered this beautiful channel the wonderful background music and the most pleasant narration I’ve heard. Yep I’m binge watching ❤️👍 just down right spectacular.

[@mst4309]

Isn’t New Horizons soon to become the furthest object humans have ever sent? Because it is so fast?

[@adamkey1934]

No. It will never overtake Voyager 1.

[@astrumspace]

By the time it got to the Kuiper Belt, it was actually travelling slower than the Voyagers. Voyagers got big speed boosts from many gravity assists. New Horizons took a more direct route, and as a result, didn't get as many gravity assists, and its speed suffered as a result. So no, it will never overtake the Voyagers.

[@CarlosAM1]

no

[@einball]

@@astrumspace Never say no, you you human with a filthy short lifespan. Who knows how many unforeseen assists there will be! :D

[@bigsmall246]

@@einball space is insanely empty, so it's unlikely for it to ever pass near enough another object for a gravity assist. even if it does pass by an object, it is more likely to collide into that object than to receive a gravity assist.

[@clairpahlavi8830]

These double lobed asteroids are very common due their electrical formation. Even the little Martian "blueberries" contained some with double lobes.

[@dan.j.boydzkreationz]

Finally someone else who mentioned these things. I also compared them to results from an arc welder, and Comet 67-P

[@amandawilcox9638]

This lifetime science fiction junkie is thrilled to see the stunning photos from Arrokoth. It's exciting that New Frontier has enough fuel for another adventure. Tks!

[@paulhaynes8045]

Excellent yet again - many thanks for making this series. The only odd thing is the complete lack of any mention of the most obvious thing about Arrakoth - that it is clearly a snowman!

[@user-oz3oe6px8j]

Its amazing how scientist could analyze a rock that is outside of solar system

[@Dragrath1]

It is in our solar system though? The solar system in terms of area dominated by the Sun's gravity enough for stuff to orbit it extends out to over 2 light years over half the distance to the Alpha Centauri system at least in regards to the Oort cloud. Now interstellar space starts at the edge of the heliosphere or the sun's magnetosphere which the Voyagers encountered around 100~120 AU or so out but they are still in the solar system as well even if they are also in interstellar space because the latter just means they are experiencing the galactic wind rather than a solar wind.

[@SuperFish40]

Wow, the way they predicted its shape blew my mind

[@markosullivan6444]

Superb video of (part of) an astonishing mission. I'd not seen the high resolution images, nor the animation of New Horizon's approach.

[@AvB.83]

Was fascinated by the initial coverage, but I had never seen those better images. Incredible. The precision of this flyby is just insane. An object, about 30 km across, at a distance of 6,600,000,000 km from earth, after 13 years of travel, passing at 14 km/s... and any changes to New Horizons trajectory could only have been made after it passed Pluto.

[@yggdrasil9039]

Arrokoth is 36km long. Amazing that we even knew about it beforehand given how far away KPOs are. It would pretty sensational if New Horizons stumbled across Planet X. Or confirmed the existence of the Oort Cloud.

[@TSPH1992]

Planet 9

[@danimal865]

Its a cosmic snowman, that lost its head.

[@stephenmassey2682]

Informative, graphs and charts, 3D simulations. Worth watching.

[@sunilmeena2949]

Thanks Alex for your amazing narration 🔥

[@Wolfie387]

Brilliant insight. Thank you

[@litephaze]

I totally agree! The funny-looking peanut-shaped object is undoubtedly a product of two objects melded or joined into one. As always, great work! I LOVE how you cover subject matters that one would otherwise NEVER hear about!

[@57curtnevan]

First time he hasn't sounded sedated! Very cool segment. Thanks!

[@Hybearr6]

Loved the video! One minor detail, the drone sound in the music throughout the first minute of the video only shows up in the left channel in stereo sound. Personally found this to be really grating, but I understand if you like the effect. Overall the sound design in your videos is phenomenal. Just found that one thing to be uncomfortable and figured I would mention it on the off chance it was something you just hadn't noticed. Cheers man, and have a great day.

[@eniocs1428]

Please, Ganymede next! Love your videos!

[@pixxelwizzard]

This video is so well made. The sense of fascination and wonder it fills me with... I can't believe man can find a moving 32km object billions of kilometers from earth and hit it with such precision and accuracy. And then thousands of us back home get to watch with emoji inspiring expressions on our faces. Thank you for this gift of a channel.

[@kevinbrady3063]

Curiosity continues to achieve and amaze! Mind blowing 👍

[@oldscooljoe6194]

In the far distant future we will capture arrakoth and put it in a museum, a space museum in space ofcourse.

[@danielshneider8876]

Arrokoth is so cool!

[@mikearst2940]

Another terrific video, thank you. What of that odd oval feature on the larger lobe? Have the scientists commented about it?

[@Lavonne9870]

Has anyone pointed out the seemingly lined-up holes on the edge of the larger body?

[@astrowales5581]

4:38 it a sad snowman

[@cmdredstrakerofshado1159]

Great video . I like the image at 4:41 Arrokoth looks like a frowning snow man from that side view 🤣😉.

[@badAim2]

Humans: We visited an asteroid near Pluto, by sending a probe that flew by 3500 km of it! Aliens mining asteroids: WHAAA...?!

[@Sebastianmaz615]

Once leaving Pluto there was still 3 more yrs of traveling! Then when it's only 172 million km away the final approach begins?! There's absolutely no way I can begin to fathom/understand how much space is in the universe.

[@sentence2sentience835]

Nor can anyone else. Same goes for deep time to our 120 yr maximum lifespan comprehension.

[@Psionetics]

Great episode!!

[@BorisNoiseChannel]

Going by the titles of these videos, those scientists are in a constant state of shock

[@tuxuhds6955]

It's a Proto Snowman - Just add carrot!

[@N0Xa880iUL]

That thumbnail is eerie.

[@jonathanr2830]

Very well done. Thank you.

[@NineEyeRon]

Astrum is my bedtime listen, always gives a good night sleep.

[@depressedyouth]

Proof that there are aliens. They made a snowman

[@sneeringimperialist6667]

E. T. Sculpted in methanol and hydrogen cyanide ice...

[@sentence2sentience835]

Snowalien lol.

[@HitBoxMaster]

I prefer the original name, Ultima Thule. It was a lot cooler.

[@oragamiowl5031]

Yeah but it has horrible connotations given that it’s the mythical homeland of they Aryan race.

[@Getoffmycloud53]

@@oragamiowl5031 Wokeism will be the end of humanity, cuddling us to death with damaging euphemism like an overprotecting parent - lest we hurt ourselves.

[@Niko..]

@@Getoffmycloud53 You sound triggered

[@oragamiowl5031]

@@Getoffmycloud53 Triggered, indeed. It would only be ‘woke’ if it had been named that for centuries & it was a modern change. It wasn’t even officially named Ultima Thule! Also why on Earth would you even want it to be named after something with Aryan connotations? That’s not ‘woke’ mate but it does say something rather uncomfortable about you!

[@oragamiowl5031]

@@Getoffmycloud53 Well you’re the one bemoaning the loss of its Aryan connotations & calling that decision ‘woke’ so you tell me?

[@geraldmeehan8942]

Thank you for the video it is remarkable for New Horizons to reach such a small object so far out. Truly fascinating

[@rpbajb]

Hubble didn't do ALL the preliminary observations. As I recall, the occultation was observed from SOFIA, an airborne observatory. Very cool video. Subbed.

[@Eremon1]

Until we find a method of communication that is faster than light we won't be doing much science beyond these distances without humans being there or A.I. intelligent enough to do the work of a human.

[@anirudhsreeram4015]

That is not possible, actually. Information simply cannot travel faster than light. That is the nature of the universe.

[@Eremon1]

@@anirudhsreeram4015 Not at all true. There are particles that travel faster than light as well as quantum effects which are instantaneous despite any distance.

[@AllKindsOfCoolThings]

Thanks!

[@bier00t]

Should also mention other Pluto moons which were also photographed for the first time

[@illustriouschin]

The merger area is brighter in the same way that plastic is brighter in areas where it is stressed by bending.

[@daos3300]

it's not made of plastic

[@dillphin5238]

Yay Astrum

[@Erde_midget770]

Yeaahh

[@Shady]

Sounds like a zone name in World of Warcraft.

[@CosmicAliveness]

These are the best videos on KZbin

[@DR-mp4gv]

Hopefully the next explorer mission can "gas up" when it comes across one of these.

[@cannibalbananas]

It looks like a rocky little snowman ☃️

[@vincemartinez171]

Ancient aliens agree?

[@zainiikhwan9405]

Flattened rocky little snowman :p

[@velcroman11]

Some pictures of Arrokot sort of remind me of the foetal baby seen at the end of the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey.

[@Raz.C]

@ Astrum You're young, aren't you? Because it seems like you skipped that part of our technological evolution where we had these things called Dial-Up Modems. That was how we used to access the internet back in the old days. The average speed back then was around 33 Kb/s to 56 Kb/s For those of us who remember what THAT was like and how painful it was to have to do anything over the internet that was bandwidth-intensive (downloading songs could take minutes/ hours, downloading movies could take days, downloading games could take weeks!), well, the amount of progress we've seen is nothing short of miraculous. To think that we're able to receive information from a probe 45 AU away at a rate of 1Kb/s is pretty fucking amazing stuff!! Sure, 1 KB/s sounds really slow and compared to most broadband connections these days, it really is. But for those of us who remember _the good old days_ of the internet, we also remember that even at speeds of only 1Kb/s, as long as you're continuously connected and you don't have other things draining your bandwidth, you can just leave it to download and you'll have all the data you could want, before too long.

[@ludaheracles7201]

Nice one asstrum