---
title: "Watch The Most Distant Object Ever Observed Tumble Through Space"
description: "On New Year's Day, NASA's New Horizons mission photographed the snowman-like space rock, Ultima Thule. On Tuesday, NASA released a time-lapse video."
date: "2019-01-16"
modified: "2019-01-16"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/watch-nasa-video-ultima-thule"
categories:
  - "Off-World"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "NASA"
  - "space"
  - "the digest"
  - "ultima thule"
---

# Watch The Most Distant Object Ever Observed Tumble Through Space

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/watch-nasa-video-ultima-thule.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Snowball Effect

NASA scientists strung together still photos to create a video of Ultima Thule, [the space rock](<https://futurism.com/nasas-new-horizons-team-reveals-new-details-about-ultimate-thule>) first photographed by the New Horizons mission at the beginning of the year.

The clip, [published on Tuesday](<http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Galleries/Featured-Images/pics/loop_scale_cap.gif>), shows the snowman-like object — which is the object most distant object ever observed by a spacecraft — tumbling through the void of space.

![](<http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Galleries/Featured-Images/pics/loop_scale_cap.gif>)

## Keep it Moving

Ultima Thule completely rotates about once every 16 hours, [according to *The Associated Press*](<https://apnews.com/5805a20b1be84b91a09becc9275d29fc>). The timestamp on NASA's new animation shows that it includes images taken between 8 p.m. on December 31 and 5 .a.m on January 1, stitched together to loop over a few seconds.

The space rock looks small in the clip, but Ultima Thule is actually a massive, 21 mile-long behemoth hurtling through space.

**READ MORE:** [Lights, camera, action! Tumbling space snowman in film debut](<https://apnews.com/5805a20b1be84b91a09becc9275d29fc>) \[*The Associated Press*\]

***More on New Horizons:*** ***[New Horizons Will Fly Past the Most Distant Object We’ve Ever Visited](<https://futurism.com/new-horizons-visit-ultima-thule-most-distant-object>)***

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)