COMPOSITION

The composition of the Uranian atmosphere is different from that of Uranus as a whole,
consisting mainly of molecular hydrogen and helium.[16] The helium molar fraction, i.e. the number of
helium atoms per molecule of hydrogen/helium, was determined from the analysis of Voyager 2 far
infrared and radio occultation observations.[17] The currently accepted value is 0.152±0.033 in the
upper troposphere, which corresponds to a mass fraction 0.262±0.048.[16][18] This value is very close
to the protosolar helium mass fraction of 0.2741±0.0120,[19] indicating that helium has not settled
towards the centre of the planet as it has in the gas giants.[20]

The third most abundant constituent of the Uranian atmosphere is methane (CH4),[21] the
presence of which has been known for some time as a result of the ground-
based spectroscopic observations.[16] Methane possesses prominent absorption bands in
the visible and near-infrared, making Uranus aquamarine or cyan in colour.[22] Below the methane
cloud deck at 1.3 bar methane molecules account for about 2.3%[23] of the atmosphere by molar
fraction; about 10 to 30 times that found in the Sun.[16][17] The mixing ratio is much lower in the upper
atmosphere due to the extremely low temperature at the tropopause, which lowers the saturation
level and causes excess methane to freeze out.[24] Methane appears to be undersaturated in the
upper troposphere above the clouds having a partial pressure of only 30% of the saturated vapor
pressure there.[23] The concentration of less volatile compounds such
as ammonia, water and hydrogen sulfide in the deep atmosphere is poorly known.[16] However, as
with methane, their abundances are probably greater than solar values by a factor of at least 20 to
30,[25] and possibly by a factor of a few hundred.[26]

Knowledge of the isotopic composition of Uranus's atmosphere is very limited.[27] To date the only
known isotope abundance ratio is that of deuterium to light hydrogen: 5.5+3.5
−1.5×10−5, which was measured by the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) in the 1990s. It appears to

be higher than the protosolar value of (2.25±0.35)×10−5 measured in Jupiter.[28] The deuterium is
found almost exclusively in hydrogen deuteride molecules which it forms with normal hydrogen
atoms.