Ariel transits Uranus
Ariel transits Uranus The Hubble Space Telescope pointed toward Uranus on July 26, 2006 at about 15:30 UTC to take the images used to assemble this color view of Ariel, the fourth largest of Uranus' moons, transiting the planet's disk. NASA / STScI / Larry Sromovsky / processing by Ted Stryk

The rings are also faintly visible, as is Miranda, just below the rings to the left of the disk. Another spot to the left of Uranus is a background star. Telescopes across Earth focused on Uranus for a several-year period of intensive study surrounding its December 2007 equinox.