This is planetary radio show more than ever.

Hello again everyone, we're back with public radio's half hour devoted to space exploration.

I'm Matt Kaplan.

This week, a visit with the Starship Voyager's sometimes cranky doctor.

It may have been after Robert Picardo's most famous role,

but there's much more to this talented fellow who cares deeply about our destiny in the solar system and beyond.

We'll begin our visit with him right after Emily visits beautiful blue Uranus. on us. Hi, I'm Emily Lochawala with questions and answers. A listener asked, why is Uranus's face so bland?

Unlike the brightly colored atmospheres of Saturn and Gorman, is your

atmosphere's atmosphere appears to be a muted serene blue.

However, the atmospheres of all of the giant planets are actually very similar. All of the giant planets are actually very similar.

All of the giant planet atmospheres are organized into horizontal bands of varying color and brightness.

These horizontal band structures are thought to result from atmospheric convection caused by a balance between the heating of the atmosphere from above by the sun and from below by internal heat sources.

Giant Jupiter and Saturn have a large internal heat supply and so have active bright-colored

atmospheres, but muted Uranus has virtually no internal heat.

Strangely, Neptune, which is very similar to Uranus in size and composition, does have a strong internal heat source.

The combination of its strong internal heat source and relatively small size makes Neptune the windiest

giant planet with wind speeds approaching the speed of sound over 500 meters

per second or over 6,000 miles per hour. So within all this drama, Uranus indeed seems to be a very boring place.

But that may change soon.

Stay tuned to planetary radio to find out why. Please state the nature of the medical emergency.

That may mean nothing to you but Star Trek fans know the emergency medical

hologram has just materialized out of thin air.

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