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back to article Thought you'd seen everything there is to Ultima Thule? Check this out: IN STEREO!

The New Horizons scientists have released a fresh 3D image of the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 – also known as Ultima Thule. While most eyes were on this week's SpaceX shenanigans (spoiler: the Crew Dragon returned to Earth OK) the New Horizons mission combined images taken at slightly different viewing angles to create a " …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Not doing that again...

    Tried staring at the image cross-eyed, saw Google staring back at me....

    9 0 Reply
    1. ThomH
      Reply Icon

      Re: Not doing that again...

      It doesn't appear to be a cross-eyed image; it's a relaxed-eyed one. I looked into it, and it looked into me.

      10 0 Reply
      1. David Given
        Reply Icon
        Linux

        Re: Not doing that again...

        I made a cross-eyed version, which I find substantially easier to see.

        https://photos.app.goo.gl/2a62dQdEXoGh3QDQ6

        Icon: closest thing to a duck I could find.

        3 0 Reply
      2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Re: Not doing that again...

        It's the top pair on the linked page which is indeed a relaxed eye version which I find straightforward. The cross eyed version I find just plain weird.

        1 0 Reply
  2. Chris Gray 1
    Thumb Up

    Kewl!

    I bought a couple of random-dot-stereogram posters years ago, and so became quite good at doing the trick of manually looking at 3D images. This one works fine for me - no squinting needed. Thanks - I saved a copy!

    6 0 Reply
    1. Not also known as SC
      Reply Icon
      Pint

      Re: Kewl!

      Thanks for the suggestion - I'd forgotten about those and apparntly I can still 'see' 3D images after all those years without too much trouble.

      2 0 Reply
    2. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Happy

      Re: Kewl!

      the red/cyan colors were a bit off for the movie glasses I have laying about, but the cross-eye version worked really well. The way I manage the cross-eye is to look at my finger tip and move it around until the images converge, then enjoy!

      0 0 Reply
  3. VeganVegan
    Thumb Up

    Looks like a turtle

    with its head sticking out and legs all tucked in,

    saying "Didn't they tell you that It's turtles all the way down?"

    2 0 Reply
  4. ColonelDare
    Alien

    That was so weird...

    I was sober and still seeing double.

    A couple of pints and it was all clear again. A nice view of a distant relative.

    A few more and the Imperial Death Star was clearly visible.

    Thanks Kewl for the tip. BTW I found it easier by saving the image in a new tab [right click]. That way there is no web page to distract.

    All good and well done to the boffins who pulled it off!!

    Now a few more and it might be animated in full Technicolor...........

    2 0 Reply
  5. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Alien

    Looks Familiar

    More and more like the rubber duck's dad.

    P.S. Always wanted a valid excuse to use that icon :)

    3 0 Reply
  6. AndrueC Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Not bad. It looked funny as soon as I saw it and my eyes crossed and produced the third 3D image almost automatically.

    That's quite a dent on the duck's noggin.

    1 0 Reply
  7. The Nazz

    Incorrect squinting.

    I must be unable to squint correctly. All i see now is four "mono" piccies of UT with a blue Java 9 article between them.!

    Whisper it, what are we supposed to see? Does it have a blue F button on it yet?

    0 1 Reply
  8. Stuart Halliday

    Squint and I see a wee job ie...

    0 0 Reply
  9. Chris Gray 1
    Go

    Go for *three*

    Nazz, try to get it to be just 3 images, and concentrate on the middle one - its the one with left & right overlayed. Make sure you are looking straight at the image, too.

    3 0 Reply
    1. Neil Barnes Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Go for *three*

      This works for firefox; other browsers can, I assume, do something similar:

      1) 'view image' to get rid of the clutter

      2) crtl-scroll to set the width of the picture to about 125mm - so each is offset 62mm from the other

      3) then relax your eyes to see three images and concentrate on the middle one.

      That's setting the interocular distance so that your eyes can point straight ahead.

      1 0 Reply
  10. Winkypop Silver badge
    Paris Hilton

    Should have gone to Specsavers!

    Feel dizzy now

    1 0 Reply
  11. bazza Silver badge

    And Quite Right Too!

    As has become the norm, the team is positively squeaking with excitement at the new imagery.

    It's easy to admit that I would be squeaking excitedly too. It's pretty exciting just looking at them!

    0 0 Reply
  12. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Pint

    I still find this amazing...

    Twelve light-hours out and we can still get images like this. Not bad for a troop of monkeys shouting at the monkeys in the next tree... this one's on me.

    8 0 Reply
  13. redpawn

    If you are having trouble seeing it...

    I got a nice view using relaxed eyes and reading glasses. Ultima definitely appears flattened as opposed to sphereish, nice! If you are having trouble seeing this, try reading glasses, get close to the screen ~30cm, relax your eyes and concentrate on the center image. You may need to be a bit closer or farther depending on the size of your screen and the strength of your glasses. Good luck.

    0 0 Reply
    1. bombastic bob Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Happy

      Re: If you are having trouble seeing it...

      cross-eyed version: look at finger tip, move until images converge. And like with the straight-on version, stay focused on center image. You can't do this with the 'straight on' version, though, youll ned a 'cross eye' version to do this.

      0 0 Reply
  14. M.V. Lipvig Silver badge
    Boffin

    That is WILD!

    Did the relaxed eye version, and the center image went totally 3D! Until my eyes teared up, thinking about what I was seeing. This is as close as any of us will ever get to seeing a rock this far away, barring a quantum leap in spacefaring technology.

    1 0 Reply
  15. Jan 0 Silver badge

    I see a leprous elephant head, pointing it's trunk at me.

    1 0 Reply
  16. Baldrickk
    Alien

    Fantastic

    but a little (just a little) tweaking might need to be done to account for the disparity between the two viewing distances. There is enough alignment based ghosting to make my eyes ache a little (and makes them sensitive to the 60hz refresh rate of my monitor)

    Edit: the full size cross-eyed one seems to be better aligned - I was looking at the parallel one before...

    The fact that we can do this is amazing. It really makes it seem more real than a grainy black and white photo does in 2D.

    0 0 Reply
  17. DuncanLarge Silver badge

    Magic eye

    I loved looking at Magic Eye pictures as a kid.

    I still have the knack of diverging my eyes upon command (this is the opposite from going crosseyed which I can do and feels way different). No 3D glasses needed :)

    1 0 Reply
    1. Baldrickk
      Reply Icon

      Re: Magic eye

      Me too, I still do.

      Am able to view both ways instantly :)

      1 0 Reply
  18. Tikimon
    Devil

    GIANT ALIEN CHICKEN LEG

    Maybe I'm just hungry, and as a Southern guy fried chicken is often on my mind. But mighty Odin, what monster space-bird did that leg COME from? Asteroid impacts could be the least of our problems if furious giant space chickens come to avenge their legions of slaughtered terrestrial descendants.

    VOTE NOW! Which movie character/replicant would you choose to save us all from... (wait for it...) Angry Birds In Space?

    0 0 Reply
  19. MrKrotos

    Cross eyed

    I managed to get the cross eyed version to work without squinting, but to me it looks like a giant question mark sitting on its side. No idea where the duck went :P

    0 0 Reply

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