This is an image of Uranus in false color.
Click on image for full size
NASA

Uranus Clouds, Overview

The clouds of Uranus, composed of methane crystals, are found very low in the troposphere, and are difficult to distinquish below the smog haz es of the planet's atmosphere. False color is used, in the image of Uranus to the right, to bring out the cloud pattern. In the image, the atmosphere displays a pattern of concentric circles. This is because the ax is of Uranus faces us, and the center of the image is the north pole of Uranus. The winds of Uranus blow clouds counterclockwise in the picture, as opposed to left to right as they would in an image of Jupiter.

Because Uranus lies on its side, with the north pole facing the sun for a whole season, Uranus' meteorology should be very strange.


Last modified May 7, 2009 by Randy Russell.

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