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NASA NEWS MU69 Casts Shadow On Earth In July 2017 (SOFIA)

1,132 views · Published 15 June 2017 · 1:18 · Indexed 5 October 2026

Channel: Watching the Times · 2017 · People & Blogs

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NASA says - "the team is planning observations of a target it doesn’t fully understand"
NASA says This particular Kuiper Belt objects orbit is still largely unknown.
NASA also says, it is a "ancient object – considered one of the early building blocks of the solar system"
This object will be casting a shadow on earth on July 10th and July 17th where the telescope on NASA's airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy(SOFIA) should be able to improve its measurements by maneuvering into the very center of the occultation shadow. This shadow will occur in the Pacific Ocean. 

Just recently NASA had this say about this target object  "It was the most technically-challenging and complex stellar occultation observation campaign ever attempted: At least 54 observing teams with dozens of telescopes dispatched across two continents, positioned to catch a rare, two-second glimpse of a distant Kuiper Belt Object passing in front of a star. 

SOFIA will provide the best vantage point to observe the July 10th occultation since the shadow falls in the middle of the Pacific Ocean

On July 17th they will redeploy with two-dozen small mobile telescopes to far southern lands in Patagonia, Argentina to observe the third and final event. They will be able to probe even more deeply for debris around MU69.

The New Horizons spacecraft will explore this "target" in a flyby on New Year’s Day 2019.

-Laura Wells 

My Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/523095264383181/

Link - NASA - https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-team-digs-into-new-data-on-next-flyby-target

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