There’s a spacecraft that three years ago sped by Pluto at 36,000 miles per hour. It took many a spectacular photograph, many of which are on display in Wednesday night’s eerie and compelling “Nova” episode “Pluto and Beyond.”
When NASA’s New Horizons launched on Jan. 19, 2006, Pluto, discovered and routinely described as Planet X in 1930, was still a planet. But astronomers took a vote in late 2006 and decided it was not a planet.
Hypothesized as recently as the 1950s to be as large as Earth, Pluto is in fact far smaller than Earth’s moon, sporting a diameter of less than 1,500 miles. It makes a strange 248-year orbit around the sun. On rare occasion it is closer to Earth than Neptune.
As this latest “Nova” episode makes plain, scientists looking at the 2015 photos of Pluto speculated that there could be a layer of ocean below its surface.
In 1992 direct evidence was discovered of something called the Kuiper Belt, a truly massive cloud of flotsam just outside (and also far outside) Neptune’s orbit. Pluto is believed to be the largest piece of matter in the Kuiper Belt.
On June 26, 2014, long after the launch of New Horizons, astronomers discovered in the Kuiper Belt the 25-mile-long object dubbed Ultima Thule. Following the Pluto flyby, New Horizons was remotely ordered to fly within 2200 miles of Ultimate Thule, which is believed to be one of the oldest things in our solar system.
Thirty-three minutes after The Times Square Ball dropped to welcome 2019, New Horizons reached its assigned position. Six hours later, telemetry from the spacecraft completed its 4-billion-mile journey to Earth.
“Pluto and Beyond” utilizes the Jan. 1 telemetry to fill us in on what New Horizons has taught us about Pluto and Ultima Thule.
Premiering or returning tonight:
American Beauty Star (Lifetime) Jan. 2
Black Ink Crew Chicago (VH1) Jan. 2
Call My Agent (Netflix) Jan. 2
Criminal Minds (CBS) Jan. 2
Family By The Ton (TLC) Jan. 2
Grown-ish (Freeform) Jan. 2
Love and Hip Hop Miami (VH1) Jan. 2
Man’s Greatest Food (Cooking) Jan. 2
Masked Singer (Fox) Jan. 2
My 600-lb. Life (TLC) Jan. 2
Mythbusters Jr. (Science) Jan. 2
Nova (PBS) Jan. 2
Project Runway (Lifetime) Jan. 2
SEAL Team (CBS) Jan. 2
Repeats of “Chicago PD” and “The Goldbergs” tied a football game the day after Christmas:
Wednesdays, Nov. 14-Dec. 26, 2018
(adults 18-49; older weeks in parentheses; repeats in gray)
0.7 (---) (---) (1.1) (---) (---) (1.0) Chicago PD
0.7 (0.4) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) College Football
0.7 (0.5) (1.1) (1.2) (1.2) (0.6) (---) The Goldbergs
0.6 (0.4) (1.0) (0.9) (1.0) (---) (---) American Housewife
0.6 (---) (---) (1.2) (---) (---) (1.3) Chicago Fire
0.6 (---) (---) (1.2) (---) (---) (1.2) Chicago Med
0.6 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Kennedy Center Honors
0.5 (0.5) (0.4) (1.5) (1.5) (0.6) (1.4) Empire
0.5 (0.6) (1.4) (1.3) (1.3) (0.9) (---) Modern Family
0.4 (0.5) (0.9) (0.8) (0.9) (0.6) (---) Single Parents
0.4 (0.2) (0.4) (0.4) (0.3) (0.6) (0.4) SportsCenter
0.4 (0.4) (0.5) (1.2) (1.1) (0.5) (1.1) Star
0.4 (0.4) (0.4) (0.4) (0.5) (---) (---) Vikings
0.3 (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (---) (---) (---) Catfish
0.3 (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (---) (---) Grocery Games
0.3 (---) (---) (0.5) 0.8 (---) (---) Magnum PI
0.3 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) NFL Live
0.3 (0.2) (0.3) (---) (---) (---) (---) Property Bros
0.3 (0.3) (---) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) Shattered
0.2 (---) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (---) (0.3) Homestead Rescue
0.2 (0.2) (---) (---) (---) (0.3) (---) House Hunters
0.2 (0.3) (---) (---) (---) (0.3) (---) House Hunters Intl
0.2 (0.3) (0.4) (0.3) (0.3) (---) (0.3) Rachel Maddow
0.1 (---) (0.2) (0.2) (0.3) (---) (0.3) All American
0.1 (---) (0.4) (0.4) (0.5) (---) (0.4) Riverdale
