Twitteratti Just Can’t Get Enough of This Distant World ‘Snowman’

The new images reveal Ultima Thule as a “contact binary,” consisting of two connected spheres, resembling a snowman.

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft recently beamed back the first detailed images of Ultima Thule – the most distant and possibly oldest space object ever explored – and Netizens are already having a field day.

After flying by the most distant object ever explored, @NASANewHorizons beamed back the 1st pictures & science data from #UltimaThule. This data is helping us understand how planets form — both those in our own solar system & those orbiting other stars: https://t.co/cp8lE03Cl5 pic.twitter.com/CUaOK1LZBG

— NASA (@NASA) January 2, 2019

The new images – taken from as close as 27,000 kilometres on approach – revealed Ultima Thule as a "contact binary", consisting of two connected spheres ( larger sphere "Ultima" and the smaller sphere "Thule"), resembling a snowman.

Meet #UltimaThule! What you’re seeing is the 1st contact binary ever explored by a spacecraft. This object, which we can now see is a contact binary, used to be 2 separate objects that are now bound together. Watch for more @NASANewHorizons science results https://t.co/ZuxLDtzW9c pic.twitter.com/uF9VfgN4Fh

— NASA (@NASA) January 2, 2019

Here are some of the hilarious memes inspired by first detailed images of Ultima Thule.

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— London Barcelona (@TBizzle_IceBurg) January 2, 2019

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— Sherry 😈 (@OTPDeckerstar) January 2, 2019