Uranus from Hubble WFC3 on December 25, 2011 Filed under pretty
pictures, amateur image processing, Uranus, Hubble Space
Telescope, atmospheres Astronomers exercised a "Hubble Target of
Opportunity" to image Uranus when ground-based photos revealed
that bright storms had blossomed in its midlatitudes. Processed
image copyright Ted Stryk, raw data courtesy STScI / Heidi
Hammel The storms are more visible when viewed through longer-
wavelength filters at 889 and 906 nanometers, where methane gas
is strongly absorbing. Where there are clouds containing
condensed methane droplets, they appear bright against the very
dark planet. STSCI / Heidi Hammel / Emily Lakdawalla Dark and
bright spots on Uranus These images are composed of two views of
Uranus taken through methane band filters at 889 and 906
nanometers. In the right-hand image, a yellow circle shows the
location of a dark spot with a companion bright spot. This work
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License