Photo Gallery: Uranus

Uranus Rings

Photograph courtesy JPL

Star trails streak across the rings of Uranus in this dramatic image captured by Voyager 2. The combination of unique geometry (it was taken from the highest phase angle at which Voyager imaged the rings) and a 96-second-long exposure reveals lanes of fine dust particles not visible from other viewing angles. These images and others captured by Voyager 2 in 1986 allowed scientists to identify 11 known rings around Uranus.

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Uranus Haze

Photograph courtesy NASA

This computer enhancement of a Voyager 2 image emphasizes the high-level haze in Uranus's upper atmosphere. Clouds are obscured by the planet's overlying atmosphere, which is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. Uranus's blue color comes from a small amount of methane in the atmosphere, which absorbs the red portion of the light that passes through it.

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Uranus in True and False Color

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL

These two pictures of Uranus—one in true color (left) and the other in false color—were compiled from images returned in 1986 by the narrow-angle camera of Voyager 2. The true-color image shows how humans would see the planet from the vantage point of the spacecraft. The false-color image brings out subtle details, such as a dark polar hood surrounded by lighter concentric bands. This banding could be haze or smog, concentrated over the pole and arranged into bands by movement in the upper atmosphere.

Uranus's Cloud Bands

Photograph courtesy NASA/JPL

These true- and false-color images, taken in 1997, show banded clouds on Uranus. The planet's atmospheric details are very difficult to see in visible light. The bulk (80 percent or more) of the mass of Uranus is contained in an extended liquid core consisting primarily of "icy" materials (water, methane, and ammonia), with higher-density material deeper down.

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Uranus Moon Miranda

Photograph courtesy NASA/STI (Science and Technical Information) Program

The unusual surface of Miranda, one of Uranus's 27 known moons, is a jumble of haphazard features: huge fault canyons, terraced layers, and a mixture of young and old surfaces. Since the mixing of ancient and recent surfaces is rare in planetary geology, scientists have postulated two explanations for the different ages of the numerous valleys and cliffs on Miranda. One theory is that Miranda could have shattered as many as five times and was then reassembled. Another hypothesis is that upwells of partly melted ice forced new surfaces to emerge.