# Talk:486958 Arrokoth

Why was the information about Ultima Thule being used by Nazis removed? ✶Quxyz✶ 06:24, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

Looking at the removal of the mention, it appears like Newsweek is not a good enough source to determine whether the "change" of name was influenced by any links to far-right terminology at all. "Ultima Thule" was never its official name. The cited phys.org article for the paragraph makes it clear that the team is aware that there was a controversy, though NASA "did not comment on whether the Nazi controversy played a role in it being discarded." in response to a query from AFP.
Wording this in a way that hedges the mention of the alleged controversy (with a citation to a reliable source, not newsweek) in order to ensure it's not falsely portrayed as the definitive reason for the final name being different from the informal nickname would seem like a good change. Sprintente (talk) 05:28, 3 December 2024 (UTC)
Apparently the NY Times is not a good enough source either?  The controversy was stupid but it happened.  Removing references to it because it is embarrassing is dishonest.  82.15.19.183 (talk) 23:15, 1 April 2025 (UTC)
Changed as suggested by 82.15.19.183. I've also reinstated the Newsweek reference, but adding the NY Times article for further support. @Sprintente: The NY Times draws a direct connection, and it credits Newsweek. Whether this was what led the IAU to choose a different name is impossible to answer, because that's a decision that was made behind closed doors. The fact remains that multiple scientists and historians have made the connection, and are cited by a reliable source. Renerpho (talk) 20:27, 2 April 2025 (UTC)
Thank you to 82.15.19.183 for finding a reliable source. I did not, nor did the person removing it, claim the NY Times is not a reliable source. Please assume good faith. Sprintente (talk) 10:01, 17 April 2025 (UTC)

In the wake of the changes made to Neptune's images to bring it closer to true color, I would like to bring up that I am fairly certain that the images of Arrokoth on its page are also inaccurate and heavily saturated. Tholins, although often termed as appearing "red" by astronomers, almost never appear truly red in the colloquial sense on astronomical bodies -- this extends from Pluto and Charon to Europa's linea, which all appear muddy brown. Therefore, it should stand to reason that Arrokoth's true color would likewise also be similar; it may be best to find a more accurate color image of Arrokoth. ArkHyena (talk) 00:55, 9 January 2024 (UTC)

Isn't it a BW image with superimposed color? — kwami (talk) 06:13, 8 April 2025 (UTC)
It's a LORRI image with color from lower resolution MVIC data, yes (which is okay, that's how all of New Horizons's color images were created). I agree it's oversaturated, similar to that Neptune image, and wouldn't be comfortable with calling it "true color". ArkHyena's point -- that images of this kind give a wrong impression of what "red" means, just like we got a wrong impression of Neptune's "blue-ness" -- is valid. The Arrokoth image compares to true color roughly as this Pluto image compares to this true-color one. Both the first of these Pluto images and the Arrokoth image were described by NASA as "enhanced color". Renerpho (talk) 11:52, 8 April 2025 (UTC)
For reference, there is this discussion on Commons, which -- while ultimately found invalid for formal reasons -- did summarize the problems with the Neptune image. Renerpho (talk) 11:55, 8 April 2025 (UTC)
I meant that if it's colorized B+W, it's not true color. — kwami (talk) 12:04, 8 April 2025 (UTC)
@Kwamikagami: We could argue about that, but I think that's not the main issue, and doesn't get us very far. "True color" means approximating the color perception of the human eye. There are no strictly true color images of any astronomical object because they all go through some image processing, and almost always have their B/W data taken separately. Renerpho (talk) 12:07, 8 April 2025 (UTC)

It has been a while since this article has been reviewed, so I took a look and noticed the following:

An "update needed" orange banner added by Renerpho in March. Is this banner still valid?
"The Outer Sanctum" is also an unreliable source, as it is a personal blog.
If the banner is valid, should this article go to WP:GAR? Z1720 (talk) 20:51, 4 November 2025 (UTC)