From 2001 to 2007, Uranus's motion around the Sun has brought spring to its northern hemisphere. These images taken through Keck II's K prime filter. The images also show how the Adaptive Optics system has improved over time. In the final image, the planet seems brighter because Earth (and Keck) are on the dark side of Uranus' rings; when the image was brightened to make the rings more easily visible, the planet was also brightened.

Imke de Pater, Seran Gibbard, Heidi Hammel / W. M. Keck Observatory