The Hubble and New Horizons spacecraft observed the planet Uranus at the same time but from different angles.

Hubble orbited the Earth at a distance of about 1.7 billion miles from Uranus. New Horizons, on the other hand, was on the far side of the planet, 6.5 billion miles from Uranus.

Why did they take these images?

NASA continues to study the atmospheres and potential habitability of exoplanets, and has important observatories such as the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope, scheduled for launch in May 2027.

Scientists used the gas giant Uranus as an exoplanet “double” by comparing Hubble's high-resolution images with New Horizons' lower-resolution images. This method helped them understand what kind of findings they might encounter when observing planets around other stars.

Image descriptions:
1 - Hubble's actual image of Uranus - the planet is a light blue sphere with a white circle covering the right half of the planet (south pole).

2 - The real view of Uranus from New Horizons. The planet appears as a small whitish dot.

 

Image credits: NASA, ESA, STScI, Samantha Hasler (MIT), Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), New Horizons Planetary Science Theme Team; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Joseph Olmsted (STScI)