NASA renamed asteroid

Scientists at the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) have named the outer planet Neptune (Kuiper belt object - KBO) Ultima Thule a new name is Arrokoth. Reason: The old, unofficial name (Ultima Thule) made people think of the Nazis.

The official name of this celestial body (an asteroid) is 2014 MU69 , however the group participating in the spacecraft control center 'New Horizons' calls it 'Ultima Thule' - referring to the wonderland located in the North and the end of human life.

Arrokoth asteroid.

However, this 'nickname' was quickly criticized. A reporter of 'Newsweek' magazine (USA) recalled that the name was covertly supported by the Thule Association (related to Nazi Germany after World War I). end) taking advantage.

On November 12, 2019, NASA held a new naming ceremony for asteroid 2014 MU69. Now, it's called Arrokoth. In the Powhatan / Algonqian Indian language (an indigenous culture in the state of Maryland - USA). 'Arrokoth' means ' sky'.

When flying through the asteroid Arrokoth, the New Horizons spacecraft collected quite a lot of data. This data continues to be sent to Earth for analysis.

Scientists know that the asteroid Arrokoth has an odd shape. Some people think that it looks like two pieces of french fries, stuck together in a pan.

Others say that it looks like a snow scarecrow! In fact, Arrokoth seems to have formed as a result of the soft collision of two smaller objects. Arrokoth may be covered with methane or frozen nitrogen, so it has a light red color.

'The name Arrokoth is an expression of the inspiration we get when we look at the night sky, look at distant stars and think of different worlds from ours' - Alan Stern, The director of the New Horizons Mission Research Group, said so.

Arrokoth is the most studied object far from Earth. According to the researchers, since its creation (about 4.5 billion years ago) this asteroid has hardly changed over time, hardly affected by any external agents.

Thorough studies of this asteroid help scientists better understand the birth of the Solar System.

1. Unusual signals from "unreachable asteroids"
2. Decode the Solar System from a peanut-shaped cosmic object