Uranus in natural colors

Caption NASA originale"These 2 pictures of Uranus were compiled from images recorded by Voyager 2 on Jan. 1O, 1986, when the NASA spacecraft was 18 MKM (11 MMs) from the Planet. The images were obtained by Voyager 2 narrow-angle camera; the view is toward the planet's pole of rotation, which lies just left of center. The picture on the left has been processed to show Uranus as human eyes would see it from the vantage point of the spacecraft. The second picture is an exaggerated false-color view that reveals details not visible in the true-color view - including indications of what could be a polar haze of smog-like particles. The true-color picture was made by combining pictures taken through blue, green and orange filters. The dark shading of the upper right edge of the disk is the terminator, or day-night boundary. The blue-green appearance of Uranus results from methane in the atmosphere; this gas absorbs red wavelengths from the incoming sunlight, leaving the predominant bluish color seen here".