New views of Uranus provide new perspective on the search for exoplanets

A four-panel image. The top two panels are diagrams of Uranus – spheres with gridlines going longitudinally and latitudinally. On the top left, the view from Hubble, the southern pole of the planet faces 3 o’clock. On the top right, the view from New Horizons, the southern pole faces 10 o'clock. The bottom left panel is Hubble's actual view of Uranus – the planet is a light blue sphere, with a white circle covering the right half of the planet (the southern pole). The bottom right panel is the actual view of Uranus from New Horizons. The planet appears as a tiny whiteish dot.

New images of Uranus taken from the Hubble Space Telescope compared with ones taken from the New Horizons Spacecraft give scientists different views of the planet. Image credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, Samantha Hasler (MIT), Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), New Horizons Planetary Science Theme Team

New images of the planet Uranus, taken simultaneously from two vantage points using NASA’s New Horizons Spacecraft and the Hubble Space Telescope, offer important insights for exoplanetary observation. Comparing the data from the two viewpoints revealed that planets may be dimmer than predicted when measured at certain angles, and offered valuable context for interpreting atmospheric conditions. The research, led by EAPS PhD student Samantha Hasler, will help scientists design and calibrate future direct-imaging observatories in the hunt for planets around other stars.

Read the full story at NASA’s Hubble site.