Voyager Farewell Image Target Name:   Uranus Spacecraft:   Voyager 2 Produced by:   Calvin J. Hamilton Copyright:  © Calvin J. Hamilton Date Taken:   January 25, 1986 Date Released:  August 7, 2001 (Publisher Permission Request)

• Uranus

This view of Uranus was recorded by Voyager 2 on January 25, l986, as the spacecraft left the planet behind and set forth on the cruise to Neptune Voyager was 1 million kilometers (about 600,000 miles) from Uranus when it acquired this wide-angle view. The picture has a resolution of 46 km (30 mi). The thin crescent of Uranus seen here at an angle of 153 degrees between the spacecraft, the planet and the Sun. Even at this extreme angle, Uranus retains the pale blue-green color seen by ground-based astronomers and recorded by Voyager during its historic encounter. This color results from the presence of methane in Uranus' atmosphere; the gas absorbs red wavelengths of light, leaving the predominant hue seen here. The tendency for the crescent to become white at the extreme edge is caused by the presence of a high-altitude haze.