Gravity waits for no one, least of all politics, and I, for one, think that’s refreshing. Unaffected by the shutdown of the U.S. government, New Horizons is still on course for its New Year’s encounter with 2014 MU69 (nicknamed “Ultima Thule”). The show will go on! The spacecraft will be fine, its operators at APL will be at their consoles, and the Deep Space Network is ready to receive the data. All the facts in my What to Expect post remain true. Here’s how to keep up with the mission:

When does New Horizons fly by 2014 MU69/Ultima Thule? When will we get pictures? Read my article.

Where can I watch New Horizons flyby live events? On NASA TV.

Whom do I follow on Twitter for news? Check my list of people in the know about the MU69 flyby.

Where can we see the latest imaes from LORRI? At the New Horizons website.

And now, what you’re all here for -- the pictures. I will regularly update this post with the latest photos and key tweets, placing the most recent ones at the top.

Update 31 December 2018 19:52 UT

At a press briefing today, the team shared the Failsafe A photo, which shows about 4 or 5 pixels across 2014 MU69. It's not enough for detail, but enough to know it's not round. We still don't know its not-round shape: More like Itokawa or Eros or Churyumov-Gerasimenko? We'll find out a bit more with the Failsafe B downlink tomorrow. (For an explanation on what the Failsafe downlinks are, read this blog post.)