NASA's New Horizons mission team is looking forward to an extended mission past Pluto, as the New Horizons spacecraft has been observing this object known as 1994 JR1, measured at 90 miles across. This icy rock is found inside the Kuiper Belt which has been orbiting some 3 billion miles from the sun. By studying these objects, scientists hope to unlock the secrets of the early solar system, as icy objects like these are considered as remnants from the past.

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This new series of photos were taken by the spacecraft's camera, the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI), was captured last April 7 and 8 from a distance of 69 million miles. The first observations were made last November, as New Horizons detected 1994 JR1 from a distance of 170 million miles away.

According to New Horizons scientist Simon Porter who is also fro the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, there are several crucial findings about this icy object. These new findings are taken from November 2015 and April 2016, which helped the team to identify the location of 1994 JR1 in as close as 600 miles, which has been improving for Kuper Belt objects. Past theories involve that this icy object was once thought to be a quasi satellite of Pluto.

Based on observations from last month, scientists have determined the rotation period of this icy object, by tracking the light changes that are reflecting off from sunlight, where one full day equals to 5.4 hours. According to John Spencer who is also from the Southwest Research Institute, this builds up the excitement for exploring new places beyond the solar system. 

Spencer adds that these observations are also pivotal for practicing zooming in on distant icy objects such as 20 possible ancient Kuiper Belt objects, when NASA approves this extended mission for New Horizons. 

Last July 14, 2015, New Horizons completed its closest approach to Pluto obtaining the first ever high resolution images of the dwarf planet along with its five moons. To date, the probe is flying towards another Kuiper Belt object known as 2014 MU69 which will arrive on January 2019.

Tagsnew horizons pluto, NASA New Horizons, kuiper belt, kuiper belt object, Pluto