New Horizons is So Far Away, it Can Measure the True Darkness of the Universe

NASA's New Horizons Spacecraft has completed its flybys of Pluto and Arrakoth and is now about 8 billion kilometers from Earth. Although astronomers are looking for another Kuiper Belt target, they can send it towards; the spacecraft is perfectly positioned to look at the Universe itself. At such a great distance, the spacecraft is beyond the dust that causes light pollution in the inner Solar System, darker than the darker skies on Earth. This unique vantage point will measure just how dark the...