@S1-A.ARPA,@MIT-MC.ARPA:ARG@SU-AI.ARPA (09/13/85)
From: Ron Goldman <ARG@su-ai.arpa>
Uranus Looks Like 'Blue Marble' In First Color Photo By Voyager 2
By LEE SIEGEL
AP Science Writer
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Voyager 2's first color photograph of Uranus
makes the solar system's seventh planet look like a ''blue marble,''
a NASA spokesman said Thursday.
The space probe, due to fly past Uranus next Jan. 24, took the
photograph July 15 when it was 153 million miles from the solar
system's third largest planet, said Jim Doyle, a spokesman for the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory.
The lab, which runs NASA's unmanned space program, released the
composite photograph Thursday.
''The planet looks like a blue marble, just about that size'' in the
photograph, Doyle said.
The bluish tint is Uranus's actual color. Methane gas in the
planet's atmosphere absorbs red light from incoming sunlight, leaving
blue to reflect into space as the dominant visible color, he
explained.
The color photo was made from three black-and-white, narrow-angle
camera photos of Uranus, filtered through blue, green and orange
filters, respectively, then superimposed, Doyle said.
Images of four of Uranus's five moons - Ariel, Umbriel, Titania and
Oberon - were superimposed on the color image and their brightness
enhanced 10 times, NASA's announcement said. They appear as tiny,
barely visible white dots in the photo.
''The smallest of the five satellites, Miranda, is still not
visible'' to Voyager 2, Doyle said. ''It's either too far away or
behind the planet.''
The probe also was unable to photograph any of Uranus's clouds or
its nine known rings, which ''are too narrow and dark to be seen at
this time,'' Doyle said.
Voyager 2, launched Aug. 20, 1977, will become the first spacecraft
to fly past Uranus next year, at a distance of about 66,000 miles.
Uranus is one of the solar system's giant, gaseous planets. The
others are Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. Uranus is four times the size
of Earth. Jupiter, the solar system's largest plant, is 11 times the
size of Earth.
kim@mips.UUCP (Kim DeVaughn) (09/17/85)
[ ... go ahead, eat my bits ...] > Uranus Looks Like 'Blue Marble' In First Color Photo By Voyager 2 > By LEE SIEGEL > AP Science Writer > PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Voyager 2's first color photograph of Uranus > ..... > others are Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. Uranus is four times the size > of Earth. Jupiter, the solar system's largest plant, is 11 times the > size of Earth. Four, eleven !!??! Did I miss something last night (like the solar system being re-engineered :-) )? /kim -- UUCP: {decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!decwrl!mips!kim DDD: 415-960-1200 USPS: MIPS Computer Systems Inc, 1330 Charleston Rd, Mt View, CA 94043
chris@umcp-cs.UUCP (Chris Torek) (09/21/85)
>> PASADENA, Calif. (AP) ... >> Jupiter, the solar system's largest plant, is 11 times the size of Earth. ----- > Four, eleven !!??! Did I miss something last night (like the solar system > being re-engineered :-) )? Solar system? I thought they were talking about gardening. :-) -- In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 4251) UUCP: seismo!umcp-cs!chris CSNet: chris@umcp-cs ARPA: chris@maryland