Aurorae on Uranus
These are among the first clear images, taken from the distance of Earth, to show aurorae on the planet Uranus. Aurorae are produced when high-energy particles from the Sun cascade along magnetic field lines into a planet's upper atmosphere. This causes the planet's atmospheric gasses to fluoresce. The ultraviolet images were taken at the time of heightened solar activity in November 2011 that successively buffeted the Earth, Jupiter, and Uranus with a gusher of charged particles from the Sun. Because Uranus' magnetic field is inclined 59 degrees to its spin axis, the auroral spots appear far from the planet's north and south poles. This composite image combines 2011 Hubble observations of the aurorae in visible and ultraviolet light, 1986 Voyager 2 photos of the cyan disk of Uranus as seen in visible light, and 2011 Gemini Observatory observations of the faint ring system as seen in infrared light.

NASA, ESA, and L. Lamy (Observatory of Paris, CNRS, CNES)

Uranus Ring System
This dramatic Voyager 2 picture reveals a continuous distribution of small particles throughout the Uranus ring system. Voyager took this image while in the shadow of Uranus, at a distance of 236,000 kilometers (142,000 miles and a resolution of about 33 km (20 ml). .

NASA/JPL

Uranus - Full-disk View of Titania
Voyager 2 obtained this full-disk view of Uranus' moon Titania in the early morning hours of Jan. 24, 1986, from a distance of about 500,000 kilometers (300,000 miles).

NASA/JPL

Uranus' Upper Atmosphere
This computer enhancement of a Voyager 2 image, emphasizes the high-level haze in Uranus' upper atmosphere. Clouds are obscured by the overlying atmosphere.

NASA/JPL/USGS

Uranus, towards the planet's pole of rotation
These two pictures of Uranus were compiled from images recorded by Voyager 2 on Jan. 1O, 1986, when the NASA spacecraft was 18 million kilometers (11 million miles) from the planet.

NASA/JPL

Complex Terrain on Ariel, Satellite of Uranus
View of Ariel, a moon of Uranus, taken by the Voyager 2 spacecraft on January 24, 1986.

NASA/JPL