ARC-1986-AC86-7042

Range: 1 illion km. ( 600,000 mi. ) Resolution: 140 km. ( 90 mi. ) P-29539C This Voyager 2 image of Uranus was captured as the spacecraft was leaving Uranus behind on its cruise to Neptune. The image is a color composite of three photographs taken through blue, grren, and orange filters. Thin thin crecent seen here is at an angle of 153 degrees between the the spacecraft, the planet, and the sun. Even at this extreme angle, uranus retains the pale blue-green color seen by the ground based astronomers and recorded by Voyager 2 during its historic encounter, this color results from the presence of methane in Uranus' atmosphere. The gas absorbs red wavelengths of light, leaving the predominant hue seen here. The tendency for the cresent to become white at the extreme edge is cased by the presence of a high-altitude haze. Voyager 2, having encountered Jupiter in 1979, Saturn in 1981, and Uranus in 1986, will proceed on its jouney to Neptune. Closest approach is scheduled for August 24, 1989.

Date: 1986-01-24
Photographer / author: JPL
Collection: ARC
Archive: NASA Image and Video Library
Type: photograph