A view of Uranus taken from spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986
© NAS
Celestial shades of blue. Uranus turns 238
Uranus was named after the Greek god of the sky—but has become the 'butt' of many middle-school jokes. (Sorry, we couldn’t resist.) The planet is, along with Neptune, considered an ‘ice giant,’ with an unusual number of ‘ices’ in its atmosphere, including frozen water, methane, and ammonia all hovering above its small, rocky core. Not only is it cold out there, but it’s also a little lonely. Uranus can’t support life as we know it, and the unmanned space probe Voyager 2, which took this photo, is so far the only spacecraft to fly by.
Related Images
Jazz saxophonist John Coltrane and band performing in 1961 in London, England
Baby giant panda in the snow, China
The moon
American black bear cub in spring, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Giant panda eating bamboo, Chengdu, China
Common raven sitting on a branch
Great hornbill, Khao Yai National Park, Thailand
Southern rockhopper penguins, Falkland Islands
Today on Bing
Marine iguanas, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
Mar 13, 2025
Lesser flamingos flying over Lake Magadi, Kenya
Mar 13, 2024
