Uranus

 

         

 

Uranus imaged on 8 December 2021 from Singapore. Unlike the other planets of the solar system, Uranus is tilted so far that it essentially orbits the sun on its side, with the axis of its spin nearly pointing at the sun. In this image the "north" pole is on the left, slightly lighter in color.   Uranus gets its blue-green color from methane gas in its atmosphere. Sunlight passes through the atmosphere and is reflected back out by Uranus' cloud tops. Methane gas absorbs the red portion of the light, resulting in a blue-green color.

Combination of two images reveals four of Uranus moons. Titania and Oberon, the largest moons of Uranus, may be hiding buried oceans. The moons' surface temperature is about -200 deg.C, freezing the water rich surface covering it in ice. There could be enough radiactive elements deep inside the moons that would release heat and melt the water from the interior, thus creating water oceans.