Uranus has never looked better. The Voyager 2 spacecraft took the gas-enshrouded ice giant's first and only close-up in 1986 (left), but even tweaking the contrast (middle pole, in false color) could not reveal much character to the sun's seventh most distant planet. Now, new technology and exceptionally good observing conditions one night last July have yielded the sharpest views yet of Uranus.
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