It was known as Ultima Thule, which means in Latin, “beyond the known world.” It was changed because Ultima Thule had some significance regarding Nazi sympathizers. It became Arrokot, which comes from the Powhatan tribe of the Chesapeake Bay. It means “sky.”

Arrokot is only about 20 miles across. It sits one billion miles past Pluto. New Horizons was launched in 2006, before the discovery of Arrokot. New Horizons caught some spectacular photographs of Pluto and her moons. It had enough fuel to fly by Arrokot, so they did some delicate maneuvering.

This has fascinated me since I saw the NOVA program. It has to be the most lonesome object in the Solar System. It just sits there in quiet dignity. Did it even notice that an alien spaceship flew by and took pictures?