This shape could match the optical signature & solar sail behavior observed by the interstellar interloper ʻOumuamua last year, if viewed from the edge of the "pancakes".
That is the rotational axis of Ultima Thule, as seen in the simulation. It is pependicular to the view. A sideways view would mimic ʻOumuamua.
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I think this is the first time a science article made me laugh.
Monkey bread, sticky pastry, lumpy pancakes.
Too bad you can't find a baked-goods analogy for "take a brisk walk into a wall."
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Elsewhere in this edition of NYT is “Tiny Love Stories”. At the opposite end of the love spectrum: this beautiful, blue rotating image, “A numerical simulation of the merger of the two objects that became Ultima Thule.” How can you not love that?
Thank you.
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I am teaching Kubrick's '2001:A Space Odyssey ' this semester, and find both the simulation and the actual image here as confirmations that Kubrick was quite accurate in capturing the pacing and movement of objects in space (51 years ago)!
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@Carrollian I think that's an interesting point.
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Good write up! The photo of the object is far more compelling than the numerical simulation and illustrates well what the article discusses about the shape and surface features.
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