What do Uranus's cloud tops have in common with rotten eggs?

Hydrogen sulfide, the gas that gives rotten eggs their distinctive odor, permeates the upper atmosphere of the planet Uranus - as has been long debated, but never definitively proven. Based on sensitive spectroscopic observations with the Gemini North telescope, astronomers uncovered the noxious gas swirling high in the giant planet's cloud tops. This result resolves a stubborn, long-standing mystery of one of our neighbors in space.

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Credit: NASA/JPL

This image of a crescent Uranus, taken by Voyager 2 on January 24th, 1986, reveals its icy blue atmosphere. Despite Voyager 2's close flyby, the composition of the atmosphere remained a mystery until now.

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Uranus seems like a mystery to you? That's not surprising! The planet appears as a quiet and still ice giant, but there is more going on than meets the eye.