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URANUS IN INFRARED2.66 light-hours Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and the third largest in our Solar System. The northern hemisphere (left of the rings) is emerging from decades of darkness. The bright white and blue spots in the southern hemisphere are clouds above the planet’s atmosphere. Methane in the upper atmosphere absorbs red light, giving the planet its blue-green colour. Uranus is spinning on its side, probably because of a collision with a large object early in the Solar System's history. Credit: California Association For Research In Astronomy / Science Photo Library. |