Lick Observatory, Mt.Hamilton, California		W. M. Keck Observatory, Hawaii

URANUS: Clouds and Rings visible using Adaptive Optics

URANUS: FIRST AO IMAGE (2000) Near infrared image of Uranus taken by Keck II that marks the first ground-based detection of the faint inner rings around that planet. The image is obtained at infrared wavelengths between 1.6 and 2.3 micro-meters. The planet itself is artificially darkened by a factor of about 20. Clearly visible are the methane haze layer on Uranus's south polar cap, and the tiny cloud features at high northern latitudes. Inside the bright epsilon ring three faint rings can be discerned, which each consist of multiple ringlets. (de Pater, I., S.G. Gibbard, B. Macintosh, H.G. Roe, D. Gavel, and C.E. Max, 2002. Keck Adaptive Optics Images of Uranus and its Rings. Icarus 160, 359-374.)