images

Uranus -Voyager 2

by

Nasa/JPL/Novapix

Reference

a-ura03-00006

Date

2006-10-08

This image shows a crescent Uranus taken by Voyager 2 on January 24, 1986. This planet's natural blue-green color is due to the absorption of redder wavelengths in the atmosphere by traces of methane gas. Uranus' diameter is 32,500 miles, a little over four times that of Earth. The hazy blue-green atmosphere probably extends to a depth of around 5,400 miles, where it rests above what is believed to be an icy or liquid mixture of water, ammonia, methane, and other volatiles, which in turn surrounds a rocky core perhaps a little smaller than Earth.