Pluto

This 2018 illustration provided by William Hartmann and Michael Belton shows a depiction of the Oumuamua interstellar object as a pancake-shaped disk. A study published in March 2021 says the mystery object is likely a remnant of a Pluto-like world and shaped like a cookie. (William Hartmann and Michael Belton via AP)

No cigar: Interstellar object is cookie-shaped planet shard

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Our solar system’s first known interstellar visitor is neither a comet nor asteroid as first suspected and looks nothing like a cigar.

This Jan. 1, 2019 image from NASA shows Arrokoth, the farthest, most primitive object in the Solar System ever to be visited by a spacecraft. Astronomers reported Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020 that this pristine, primordial cosmic body photographed by the New Horizons probe is relatively smooth with far fewer craters than expected. It's also entirely ultrared, or highly reflective, which is commonplace in the faraway Twilight Zone of our solar system known as the the Kuiper Belt. (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute/Roman Tkachenko via AP)

NASA’s space snowman reveals secrets: few craters, no water

NASA plans to send a drone to Saturn’s largest moon

New Horizons team members and guests watch a live feed of the Mission Operations Center (MOC) as the team waits to receive confirmation from the spacecraft that it has completed the flyby of Ultima Thule, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019 at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland. Photo Credit: (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP)

Spacecraft opens new year with flyby on solar system’s edge

FILE - This composite image made available by NASA shows the Kuiper Belt object nicknamed "Ultima Thule," indicated by the crosshairs at center, with stars surrounding it on Aug. 16, 2018, made by the New Horizons spacecraft. The brightness of the stars was subtracted from the final image using a separate photo from September 2017, before the object itself could be detected. (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute via AP)

The Latest: NASA spacecraft dashes by world beyond Pluto

Newest Images of Ultima Thule Unveiled by Boulder-born New Horizons Mission

The most dramatic images to date from the New Horizons flyby of the Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule were released Friday, revealing numerous surface features not visible in earlier photographs, including several bright, circular patches of terrain.

FILE - This illustration provided by NASA shows the New Horizons spacecraft. NASA launched the probe in 2006; it’s about the size of a baby grand piano. (NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI via AP)
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Pluto explorer ushering in new year at more distant world

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The spacecraft team that brought us close-ups of Pluto will ring in the new year by exploring an even more distant and mysterious world.

FILE - This illustration provided by NASA shows the New Horizons spacecraft. On Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2018, New Horizons fired its thrusters to make course adjustments for a New Year’s Day 2019 flyby of a teeny, frigid world dubbed Ultima Thule, 1 billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto. (NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI via AP)

NASA’s Pluto explorer adjusts course as next icy world looms

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The NASA spacecraft that explored Pluto has adjusted course as its next target looms.

New nickname for Pluto-explorer’s next target: Ultima Thule

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — There’s a new nickname for the icy world next up for the spacecraft that explored Pluto: Ultima Thule.

This December 2017 false-color image made available by NASA in February 2018 shows KBO (Kuiper Belt object) 2012 HZ84. This image is, for now, one of the farthest pictures from Earth ever captured by a spacecraft. It was made by the New Horizons at 3.79 billion miles from Earth. (NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute via AP)

Farthest photos ever taken, from nearly 4 billion miles away

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The NASA spacecraft that gave us close-ups of Pluto has set a record for the farthest photos ever taken.