The NASA New Horizons probe took pictures of two objects in the Kuiper Belt and sent them to Earth over a record distance
For 27 years, the record of Voyager 1 remained unbroken: The spacecraft, which was launched in 1977 to study the outer planetary system, sent in 1990 a recording to Earth, the story under the name "Pale Blue Dot" (pale blue dot) wrote. On it is the earth as a tiny point from a distance of 6.06 billion kilometers or 40.5 astronomical units. Never before had a photograph of the earth been taken from such a great distance, or even more: never before had a picture been created at such a distance with man-made technology.
The Earth as a tiny dot (middle right): Voyager 1 shot from 1990.
Snapshot in the Kuiper belt
Now the long distance record has been surpassed, although not with our planet in the picture: As the US space agency Nasa reports, the probe New Horizons in December 2017 sent images of two objects of the Kuiper belt from a distance of more than 6.12 billion kilometers or 40.9 astronomical units to Earth. The objects that appear as color points on the record images bear the names 2012 HZ84 and 2012 HE85. They are classified as Kuiper belt objects because they are located in this ring-shaped region outside the Neptune orbit. The Kuiper belt is named after the US astronomer Gerard Peter Kuiper, who had already theoretically predicted its existence in the 1950s.
Photographs of the two Kuiper Belt objects 2012 HZ84 and 2012 HE85. - derstandard.at/2000074089055/New-Horizons-schickt-Fotos-aus-sechs-Milliarden-Kilometern-Entfernung
New Horizons is likely to set some records. After their spectacular flyby to Pluto, the so-called Kuiper Belt Extended Mission (KEM) was approved, which stipulates, among other things, that the probe on 1 January 2019, the Kuiper belt object 2014 MU69 at only 3,000 kilometers distance and investigate. In addition, the probe will take a closer look at around 20 other objects in the Kuiper belt from a greater distance.
New Horizons is expected to get in touch with a Kuiper Belt object next year. - derstandard.at/2000074089055/New-Horizons-schickt-Fotos-aus-sechs-Milliarden-Kilometern-Entfernung
Lonely pioneer
From Voyager 1, however, no further record images are to be expected. To save energy, the probe has switched off its camera system. History continues to write: In 2012, she entered the interstellar space as the first man-made object, currently located about 21.11 billion kilometers (141.13 astronomical units) away from our Sun - and still in contact with Earth.