Radio astronomers have used microwave observations to spot the first polar cyclone on Uranus, seen here as a light-colored dot to the right of center in each image of the planet. The images use microwave wavelengths (K, Ka, and Q from left to right). Different color are used for each. The findings confirm that all planets with substantial atmospheres in our solar system show signs of a vortex around their poles. This true of the gas giants and the rocky planets.Image Credits: NASA / JPL-Caltech / VLA
This zoomed-in image of Uranus captured byJWST’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) reveals a stunning view of the planet’s rings. The planet displays a blue hue in this representative-color image made by combining data from two filters, 1.4 (blue) and 3.0 microns (orange).
The picture of Uranus was taken by Voyager 2 after is flew past the planet in 1986,
Oberon is the outermost major moon of the planet Uranus. It is the second-largest and second most massive of the planet’s moons. The Uranian system has been studied up close only once by Voyager 2 in January, 1986. Several of those images have been used to map about 40% of the moon’s surface. Oberon is named after the mythical king of the fairies in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
This Voyager 2 color image of the Uranian satellite, Miranda is a composite of three shots taken through green, violet, and ultraviolet filters from the narrow angle camera. It is the best color image of Miranda returned to date. Miranda, just 480 km across, is the smallest of Uranus’ five major satellites. It was taken in 1986 during Voyager 2’s fly of Uranus.
Back 1986, Voyager 2 flew by the planet Uranus and gave us our only set of closeup data so far. Recently, that flyby data has shown us the Uranus is even stranger than we thought.
This snapshot of Uranus taken by the Hubble Space Telescope reveals a vast bright cloud cap across the north pole which is believed to be caused by the planet’s odd orientation. Unlike the other planet in the Solar System, Uranus is tipped over almost onto its side. During the planet’s summer the Sun shines almost directly onto the north pole as a result of the extreme tilt and never sets. It’s almost mid summer on Uranus, and the polar storm may have formed because of seasonal changes in atmospheric flow.
This infrared image of the planet Uranus was captured by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope during the planet’s 2008 equinox. Every 42 years, the ring (and satellites) plane of Uranus line up with the Sun causing them to appear on edge from Earth’s point of view. A one minute exposure time was used, the maximum allowable to prevent the moving satellites from appearing as streaks. The IR filter used matches the absorption bands of the methane in the atmosphere of Uranus, making the relatively bright planet (almost) completely disappear. That permits the otherwise invisible rings and small satellites of Uranus to be detected instead of being lost in the glare of the planet. The bright spots on each side of Uranus are Miranda (~470 km diameter) and Ariel (~1100 km diameter). Two much smaller satellites can be seen just above the ring plane,to the left of the planet. Puck (~150 km diameter) is closer to the Planet than Portia (~100 km diameter).
Saturn’s rings are so prominent that they easily visible from Earth with a small telescope. All the other gas giant planets have ring as well, but they weren’t discovered until we were able to look at those planets from above the Earth’s atmosphere. Here are some pictures of the ring system around Uranus taken by the Hubble Space Telescope as our point of view shifted over several years. The next time the rings will be edge-on will be in 2049.
