Uranus from Earth
Date: 11 Jul 2004

An infrared composite image of the two hemispheres of Uranus obtained with Keck adaptive optics.

The component colors of blue, green, and red were obtained from images made at near infrared wavelengths of 1.26, 1.62, and 2.1 microns respectively. The images were obtained on July 11 and 12, 2004.

The representative balance of these infrared images which were selected to display the vertical structure of atmospheric features gives a reddish tint to the rings, an artifact of the process.

The North pole is at 4 o'clock.

Credit: Lawrence Sromovsky, University of Wisconsin-Madison/ W. M. Keck Observatory