University of Virginia, College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Ultima Thule Occultation in Senegal

September 12, 2018

University of Virginia astronomers Mike Skrutskie and Anne Verbiscer led a group of undergraduate UVA students to Sénégal to participate in a campaign to observe the occultation of a distant star by the Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule. Ultima Thule is the target of a flyby by the New Horizons spacecraft on January 1, 2019. The occultation can reveal details about Ultima Thule, such as its diameter and may reveal whether it is surrounded by a ring or moons.

You can learn more in this NASA Press Release or in the New York Times

Image: