The color of the Uranian rings

Voyager Imaging Science experiment images of the Uranian rings, taken with violet, clear, and green filters, are analyzed and found to be consistent with very dark alpha, beta, eta, gamma, delta and epsilon rings, as well as with flat spectra throughout the visible. These results are comparable to the latest Voyager results, which indicate a lack of color in the satellites of Uranus that stands in striking contrast to the reddish systems of Jupiter and Saturn. The Uranian rings' association of flat spectrum and low absolute reflectivity lends support to the compositional uniqueness of the ring material; carbon is suggested as a likely primary component of the rings.