Keck Adaptive Optics Images of Uranus and Its Rings

Abstract We present adaptive optic images of Uranus obtained with the 10-m W. M. Keck II telescope in June 2000, at wavelengths between 1 and 2.4 μm. The angular resolution of the images is ∼0.06–0.09″. We identified eight small cloud features on Uranus's disk, four of which were in the northern hemisphere. The latter features are ∼1000–2000 km in extent and located in the upper troposphere, above the methane cloud, at pressures between 0.5 and 1 bar. Our data have been combined with HST data by Hammel et al. (2001, Icarus 153 , 229–235); the combination of Keck and HST data allowed derivation of an accurate wind velocity profile. Our images further show Uranus's entire ring system: the asymmetric ϵ ring, as well as the three groups of inner rings (outward from Uranus): the rings 6+5+4, α+β, and the η+γ+δ rings. We derived the equivalent I / F width and ring particle reflectivity for each group of rings. Typical particle albedos are ∼0.04–0.05, in good agreement with HST data at 0.9 μm.