The sounds of URANUS are energetic and relaxing with multiple sounds sweeping in every direction. The beginning of this recording is busy, with many sounds swirling about. Then it abruptly changes and becomes vast, beautific and sweeping.

The greenish color of the atmosphere of URANUS is due to methane and high altitude photochemical smog. Voyager II acquired this view of the seventh planet while departing the Uranian system in late January 1986. This image looks at the planet approximately along its rotational pole.

For more information about plasma and magnetic fields and their relationship to Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, DC, B.F.A.'s sound recordings from space, consult the April 1991 issue of Scientific American Magazine for an article entitled "Collisionless Shock Waves".

Special thanks to our friends and contacts at various U.S. National Space Agencies and Universities. This Space Recording Series is dedicated to the memory of Fred Scarf, PhD, who developed the acoustic recording project for Voyager and is directly responsible for the sounds you hear on these recordings from space.

Authentic photos have been made available, courtesy of JPL and NASA.

Planet Profile

Mass (kg)............................................5.69 x 10^26

Diameter (km)........................................120660

Mean density (kg/m^3) ...............................690

Escape velocity (m/sec)..............................35600

Average distance from Sun (AU).......................9.539

Rotation period (length of day) (in Earth hours).....10.2

Revolution period (length of year) (in Earth years)..29.46

Obliquity (tilt of axis) (degrees)...................26.7

Orbit inclination (degrees)..........................2.49

Orbit eccentricity...................................0.056

Mean temperature (K).................................88 K (1 bar level)

Visual geometric albedo..............................0.46

Atmospheric components...............................97% hydrogen, 3% helium, .05% methane

Rings.........270,000 km in diameter, but only a few hundred meters thick.

Particles are centimeters to decameters in size and are ice (some may be covered with ice); there are traces of silicate and carbon minerals. There are four main ring groups and three more faint, narrow ring groups separated by gaps called divisions