Double Target

New Horizons was 18,000 miles (28,000 km) away when it acquired this image of 2014 MU69, also known as Ultima Thule, about 30 minutes before its closest approach on New Year's Eve night. The object consists of two asteroids that stuck together in a low-speed collision, probably several billion years ago. MU69 is about 20 miles (32 km) long. New Horizons passed as close as 2,200 miles (3,500 km) from the object, and will transmit higher-resolution images over the coming days and weeks. MU69 is the farthest object every encountered by a spacecraft, at a distance of about four billion miles (6.5 billion km) from Earth. [NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI]