Rings and Moons Circling Uranus

This wider view of Uranus reveals the planet's faint rings and several of its satellites. The area outside Uranus was enhanced in brightness to reveal the faint rings and satellites. The outermost ring is brighter on the lower side, where it is wider. It is made of dust and small pebbles, which create a thin, dark, and almost vertical line across the right side of Uranus (especially visible on the natural-color image).

The bright satellite on the lower right corner is Ariel, which has a snowy white surface. Five small satellites with dark surfaces can be seen just outside the rings. Clockwise from the top, they are: Desdemona, Belinda, Portia, Cressida, and Puck. Even fainter satellites were imaged in deeper exposures, also taken with the Advanced Camera in August 2003.

About the data

The Uranus ACS/HRC data are from the HST proposal 9725 : E. Karkoschka and M. Tomasko (U. AZ)

The Uranus STIS/CCD data are from the HST proposal 9035 : E. Karkoschka (U. AZ), M. Lemmon (Texas A&M), M. Tomasko (U. AZ)

Note: Uranus images within this press release were taken with ACS/HRC. They were color calibrated using STIS/CCD data of Uranus.