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A Near-Infrared View of Uranus, Its Ring system, and Two Satellites |
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This image of Uranus, its ring system, and two of
its satellites Miranda (top-center) and Ariel (bottom-left)
is from Subaru Telescope's Coronagraphic Imager with
Adaptive Optics (CIAO) combined with Subaru Telescope's
adaptive optics system (AO).
On March 13, 1781, British astronomer William Herschel
discovered an object that appeared large compared to
a star during observations with a homemade 6.3 inch
(16 cm) telescope. The object, which was initially thought
to be a comet, turned out to be a new planet outside
Saturn's orbit, and was named Uranus.
Uranus revolves around the Sun in approximately 84 years
on an elliptic orbit whose average radius is approximately
1.7 billion miles (2.8 billion kilometers). Unlike other
planets, Uranus spins on its side with respect to its
orbital plane. Since 1851, over 10 satellites and 10
rings have been discovered around Uranus.
This image was taken during tests of the combined use
of CIAO and AO in July 2001. It combines near-infrared
images in three different filters, so the colors are
not the same as what we would see in the optical. In
this color scheme, methane, the dominant component of
Uranus's atmosphere, shows up as blue.
Scientists from several research institutes and universities,
in addition to the National Astronomical Observatory
of Japan, participated in the development of CIAO and
Subaru Telescope's AO system. The team from Kobe University
processed this image.
The image was first introduced to the public in a Japanese
television program "Youkoso Senpai" ("Welcome
back Graduate!") by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation
(NHK) on January 20, 2002.
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(february 21, 2002) |
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