Uranus. Two infrared images of Uranus, showing opposite sides of the planet. The northern hemisphere (left of rings) is coming out of many decades of

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Uranus. Two infrared images of Uranus, showing opposite sides of the planet. The northern hemisphere (left of rings) is coming out of many decades of darkness. The bright white and blue spots are clouds above the Uranian atmosphere. Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and the third largest in the solar system. Methane in the upper atmosphere absorbs red light, giving the planet its blue-green colour. Uranus' tilt is thought to have been caused by a collision with a large body early in the solar system's history. Images gathered by the 10-metre Keck Telescope, Hawaii, on 11-12 July, 2004.

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Size: 2850px × 2219px
Photo credit: © CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN ASTRONOMY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -infrared, 11-12, 11/07/2004, 12/07/2004, 2004, astronomical, astronomy, atmosphere, cloud, clouds, duo, gas, giant, hemisphere, infrared, ir, july, keck, methane, northern, pair, planet, planetary, ring, ringed, rings, solar, southern, space, system, telescope, tilt, tilted, uranus, weather